The Mack - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of The Mack or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to The Mack

[ethel]

When Goldie and Slim are brought out of the pool room by the cops with shotguns, you can see a sign with the director's name "Campus" as they walk on the sidewalk.

[claude]

In an article on the 40th anniversary screening of the film at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in the September 25, 2013 edition of the Los Angeles Times, director Michael Campus noted that the film opened in a little over 20 theaters in African-American communities, and that the film out-grossed such hits at the time as The Godfather (1972) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972) in those venues.

[lonnie]

Frank Ward was shot in the back of the head and killed during the filming of the movie. Many blamed the Black Panthers for the hit on Frank Ward and without Ward's protection, the filmmakers and cast had to retreat to safer grounds in L.A. to finish filming. The Mack was dedicated to Frank Ward, but Black Panther leader, Huey P. Newton, still insisted that the premiere benefit the Panthers' milk fund in Oakland city. -via Soul Train.

[phyllis]

Juanita Moore plays Max Julien's mother in this. She also played his mother in Uptight (1968).

[fred]

Goldies car is a 1972 Cadillac Fleetwood Eldorado with extensive customization done by Stephenson's Automotive Innovations of Los Angeles.

[jeffrey]

The infamous Player's Ball scene was largely Richard Pryor's idea. Other parts of the story Pryor took directly from people who he knew living this lifestyle. These included putting a man in the trunk of a car with rats, and forcing a drug pusher to stab himself at gun point.

[bryan]

The 1983 reissue contained an alternate score added by the distributors. This score was composed by Alan Silvestri. Oddly enough, this alternate score is not on the current DVD.

[jessie]

This movie entered the non-competitive category of The Cannes Film Festival on May 11, 1983, ten years after its release.

[bryan]

According to Max Julien on the DVD commentary, Richard Pryor and producer Harvey Bernhard had a heated argument during filming. Later that night, Pryor was going to Bernhard's hotel room to attack him with a sock filled with ball bearings, until Julien calmed Pryor down.

[charlie]

Max Julien found the scene where the cop is shown to be sleeping with a big, black woman offensive. Michael Campus shot it behind his back. When he asked why he shot the scene, Michael Campus said he wanted the character to be shown as decadent. Julien found this even more offensive, because of the girls race and weight making it decadent. To this day, Julien finds this one scene to be his only regret about the film. The actress in the scene (Norma McClure) is said to not have been acting, and did not enjoy doing the scene.

[nina]

According to director Michael Campus, screenwriter Robert J. Poole started developing the treatment and script on toilet paper while he was in prison.

[tamara]

This movie was viewed in True Romance (1993) by Drexl (Gary Oldman).

[russell]

Ranked number twenty in Entertainment Weekly's "Top 50 Cult Films of All Time".

[liam]

Max Julien made major contributions in the designing of the much heralded costumes.

[dustin]

Max Julien's own mother was slain about five months prior to production just as Goldie's mother is murdered.

[dustin]

Goldie's brother is based off Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, who were friends of Max Julien. Many of his speeches are word for word Huey P. Newton speeches.

[sophie]

For a long time, it was only available in bootleg format, and in edited forms, until an official VHS release.

[carla]

Max Julien's role as "Goldie" is based on the real life pimp and drug dealer from Oakland, Ca., Frank Ward, who was known as one of the biggest African American dope dealers and pimps of that era.

[ray]

After Ward gave them permission to film The Mack, the crew had access to locations that were like a golden treasure for that type of film- underground barbershops, fancy nightclubs, pool halls, etc. The pimps, women, homeless people, and junkies shown in the film were all authentic and supplied by Ward, under his close supervision. -via Soul Train.