The Vintagent Classics: The films that inspired us. 

THE BLACK SIX (1974)

Run Time: 1:34:00
Director: Matt Cimber
Writer: Mikel Angel (as George Theakos), Matt Cimber
Cast: Robert Howard, Cindy Daly, Mikel Angel

FILM MAKERS

“See the 6 biggest, baddest and best waste 150 motorcycle dudes!”

The Black Six is a 1974 American blaxploitation and outlaw biker flick written by Mikel Angel and directed by Matt Cimber. The “Black Six” was played by six then-current National Football League stars, and was one of the first all-black biker films.

Filmed on location in Frazier Park, CA. Several of the football players were disappointed with elements in the original script, especially that the black motorcyclists would be killed in the end, despite the fact that they stood for truth, justice and the American way. As a result of their protests, an inconclusive ending was shot.

SUMMARY

“Six Times Tougher Than ‘Shaft’! Six Times Rougher Than ‘Superfly’!”

An African American veteran of the Vietnam War (played by Gene Washington) returns home to find that his brother (played by Robert Howard) has been killed. The killing was done by a white supremacist motorcycle gang, led by Ben “Thor” Davidson, who objected to the fact that Howard had been dating Thor’s sister. Washington and his motorcycle gang, known as the Black Six, vow to avenge his brother’s death.

Veterans of the Vietnam War, they have rejected putting themselves into situations where they might be forced to resort to violence. But as six black men riding around the country on motorcycles—not surprisingly—they find themselves in tense situations quite a bit more than most other people.

The Six encounter a number of obstacles, including hostile motorcycle gangs (particularly Thor’s), and racist policemen. The movie climaxes with an inconclusive battle royal between the Six and Thor’s Caucasian-supremacist biker gang, in which Thor (apparently) blows them and himself up by igniting the gas tank of his own motorcycle. The film concludes with the caption ‘Honky, look out…Hassle a brother, and the Black 6 will return!’.

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Watch the full film on CINE MECCANICA

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