Two Phildelphia con men try to evade gangsters they have conned and cops who are trying to put them in jail.

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manuel-pestalozzi from Zurich, Switzerland
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Frankly, this film bowled me over. Do not think of blaxploitation but of one of David Mamet's better movies or Federico Fellini's "Il Bidone". It is perfect in every sense of the word. A good, concise story, thrilling from the first second to the tragic ending, unforgettable dialogue, artful location shooting in Philadelphia, interesting editing, fabulous performances by largely unknown actors and a character that should enter the annals of great screen heroes: The hustler and compulsive liar Blue Howard, brilliantly played by Mel Stewart (actors got Oscar nominated for less).

Trick Baby starts with a beautifully minimalistic setting - a stage really for a con trick: In a dreary hotel room that has seen better days, Blue, an elderly African American, prepares the setting (screwing off light bulbs, distributing full ash trays). Then he receives his young partner White Folks ("he ain't white, he just looks it", insists Blue) who accompanies an old white man. Blue plays the part of a hard pressured hustler who has some stones to sell, White Folks the part of the tough guy representing a possible buyer, keeping the price low by menacing behaviour. The old white man falls for it and buys the stones - actually junk - for 10000 dollars.

Luck begins to change soon after that, and Blue and White Folks have to use their talents to keep alive. This does not prevent them from pulling a few con tricks in between. It is convincingly shown that they are actually addicted to it and instinctively spot a good opportunity every other minute. Lying by telling stories that are untrue is presented as an art form and as a strategy to get some meaning out of life. This is done in a moving way and less sarcastically than Mamet usually does. Blue does not hesitate to tell a preacher spontaneously an elaborate story about a fugitive from Down South he has to rescue in order to get the preacher's help - and you can observe how the desparate Blue draws life force from his very telling this lie (you need a lot of acting talent to convey this).

Although Blue and White Folks operate as a pair, Blue is the main character of Trick Baby. He is the leader of the team. He shows fatherly feelings towards his young partner who Blues claims is the son of a black mother. Blue feels responsible for White Folks when things turn ugly. It is Blue who tries to rescue White Folks who got wounded. He cons himself into an optimistic mood up to the tragic end of the movie and does not give up until his heart stops beating - which makes Blue Howard a hero in a twisted sort of way.

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brefane from United States
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This is not a blaxploitation film. Based on the novel by Iceberg Slim(apparently a "trick baby" himself),this is an interesting and original twist on the con man theme. And yes,it could have influenced Mamet. The con men, their relationship with Dot(Dallas Edward Hayes) and the real estate swindle bring to mind Mamet's House of Games and Glengary Glenross. Trick Baby contains serious social and moral implications that make it more akin to Felini's Il Bidone(The Swindlers)than to either Skin Game(71) or The Sting(73). The basic problem for me is that the plot doesn't build from the character and milieu established in the first half of the film. The second half becomes somewhat typical,sacrifices characterization for action,and meanders. The scene with Reverend Josephus, goes on too long and kills the momentum. One of the stings, involving a man and a deliberately dropped wallet is confusing because it's not clear how the con works. Kiel Martin and Mel Stewart never break character,work well with and against each other, and Hayes is terrific. The rest of the cast varies in quality. The settings and locations are evocative and well-chosen. Larry Yust's direction, like the editing, is not consistently good. An interesting and watchable film that deserves more attention. Let's hope for a DVD release.

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VincentElgar from United Kingdom
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An interesting, extremely well-performed little movie about a pair of Philadelphia con artists who get more than they bargain for when they cross swords with a corrupt cop and the local Mafiosi.

Trick Baby begins well and builds up midway to a terrific foot-chase through the seamier side of the city. In the second half it starts to run out of steam and becomes a little predictable. Things are bogged down especially by a lengthy scene involving a preacher, who is the only character that strikes a false note. In spite of this the movie never loses one's attention completely. The cast down to the supporting players is excellent: Beverly Ballard particularly shines as a woman used and abused by slick operator White Folks (Kiel Martin) and Dallas Edward Hayes does terrific work as the ruthless and relentless cop.

The use of locations is terrific, and the movie has a rawness and immediacy utterly missing from thrillers today. Minor reservations aside, Trick Baby is well worth a look – 8/10.

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msroz from United States
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After recognizing Mel Stewart, who is a very good actor, I watched "Trick Baby". I'm glad I did. It turns out that all the acting was very good and so was the script and the location work.

I classify this movie as 70s noir (which runs something like 1965-1980), falling between the classic noir of an earlier era that runs to about 1965 and the more intense neo-noir that starts up somewhere in the 1980s. The 70s noir category has movies like "Dirty Harry", "Lady in Cement", "Klute", "The Last Embrace", "Madigan", "Marlowe", "The Outfit", "The Outside Man", "Prime Cut", and "Play Misty for Me". They are in color, and they have a different look and feel than a black and white noir, but their story elements and characters are what contribute to making them noir. Photographic style and location work add too, but that's another factor that's more technical.

A noir movie often has main characters who are criminals or not fully on the up and up. Here we have two con men, who are likable and who play on people's greed so that the marks who are trying to cheat the con men seem deserving of their fate. A noir movie often has people trying to achieve a dream, like a big score, but then things go wrong, or their errors and emotions lead them astray, or rivalries and others intervene. That element is present here too. The result in many noirs is that there is no happy ending, and that happens here too. Then too, other noir elements are corrupt cops and grotesque side characters, and we definitely get these here. There is one blonde woman in particular who comes to mind who throws herself at the younger con man, who is black but looks white.

So, although the film plays as fun and light in the first third, it grows increasingly serious as it moves on, and that seriousness is a noir quality. Themes enter in having to do with race, racial fear and racial identity, greed and miscalculation, and police corruption.

Like blaxpoitation films from this period, it is set in a black neighborhood and the lead protagonist is black, but it does not at all glorify violence or run into stereotypes. That and its serious themes separate it from the blaxpoitation label. And that's why I think it's more accurate to think of it as in the 70s noir category.

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planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida
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While this movie is set mostly in the Black neighborhoods of Philadelphia, many of the Whites are quite prejudiced and many of the actors are Black, this really isn't a blaxploitation film--though Netflix has categorized it that way on its web site. Instead, it's like a more modern version of THE STING with a multiracial cast.

Mel Stewart ("Henry Jefferson" from ALL IN THE FAMILY) and Kiel Martin star as con-men who swindle the wrong man. The old guy they cheat out of $10,000 suffers a fatal heart attack when he realizes he was swindled AND he's the uncle of a mob boss--who now has ordered the deaths of these cons. However, unlike THE STING, there is some rough language, nudity and a very, very downbeat ending. I enjoyed the film and appreciated seeing these two lesser name actors getting a chance to play leads, but hate seeing it branded with the label "blaxploitation" because many take this to mean that the film is cheap and formulaic--which it certainly isn't. Hardly a great film, it is still well worth a look for an interesting story.

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Righty-Sock (robertfrangie@hotmail.com) from Mexico
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The story is that of two con-men: White Folks (Kiel Martin), who had a black mother and a white father and whose skin is white; and Blue Howard ( Mel Stewart), a grizzled black veteran who has taught his young protege everything he knows about the art of dishonest tricks…

Together they cheat the Mafia and the police; they make $10,000 and have to give some of it away to the local black protection retailer; they set up a confidence property deal to get by fraud some over-greedy white businessmen out of $150,000, but cannot quite shield the stolen loot…

The distinguished trait of the film is that not all the blacks are all good, and not all the whites are all bad… What is more, it makes a point of showing that black men can play on their color to win their own ends…

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(stevenfallonnyc@yahoo.com) from NYC
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I took a chance on "Trick Baby" totally out of nowhere because I like good blaxploitation, and the premise of young white guy/older black guy pulling cons seemed like a fun one. I didn't even realize at first who the actors were - Mel Stewart a.k.a. "Henry Jefferson" from my favorite TV show All In The Family, and Keil Martin from one of my favorite movies, "Moonrunners" (which evolved into The Dukes of Hazzard). So seeing these two guys peaked my interest in this flick immediately! I imagine it's a rare treat to see these two actors in lead parts, and they really do make the most fun out of it. It's great casting - these two guys really have very decent chemistry together, and it's obvious they are having a blast doing this movie.

So yes, they are two con men who use race in their cons, and they pull off the biggest con of their life. But then later they take on a con which makes that one seem like small potatoes, and they also have a gangster and a crooked cop after them.

This one has it all - early 70's dirty Philly street scenes, Pimpmobiles, pimps and hookers, exciting chases (especially a suspenseful foot chase), cool action, decent humor, pretty girls, cold as ice bad guys, and even decent cinematography. Sure, there are a few minor plot holes but the direction is tight and the film is never dull. There are a few more familiar faces from the early 70's, and Stewart and Martin are having such a good time that the viewer can't help but enjoy what's on screen. No, this film isn't going to make anyone gasp at its greatness, but it is definitely a fun way to spend 90 viewing minutes. It's a shame that good, gritty stuff like this isn't made anymore.

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pparasxoudis82 from Chania, Greece
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It's a movie about two grifters one black/ one white trying to score big in the '70s around Philadelphia. It has one of the best depiction of male bonding(don't think dirty!!!). One of the best buddy movies ever made. Think Lethal Weapon made on the other side of the law with much less explosions and definitely more subtle. Even better than 48 hours. This movie was made a decade two early.

When movies like Night Moves (1975) by Arthur Penn , The Long Goodbye (1973) and Straight Time (1978)by Ulu Grosbard and Dustin Hoffman were made in the '70s not that many people show them. Now that they are rediscovered people claim that they are small masterpieces. The truth is that they were made within the studio system(funded by them) and for even that decade they didn't seem to find an audience(Straight Time did make some money - according to IMDb - but comparing it with the success that other Hoffman's movies had in the seventies it is a modest one financially speaking). In each one of those three movies there was a big star: Gene Hackman, Elliot Gould and off course Dustin Hoffman.

Trick Baby was also made by a big studio Universal. But it seemed destined to be a blaxploitation movie. Instead the director gave them something much more. It wasn't just a movie for black audience like Shaft , Black Caesar or any Pam Grier movie. I'm not saying that these movies were only seen by African Americans. Just that the intention of the studio was to make as much money as they could from that untapped market when they show the success of Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971) (how much money could be made with such a small investment). But when a movie like this came along they couldn't understand it. It didn't have a strong male lead like Melvin Van Peebles ,Fred Williamson or a sexy one like Pam Grier.

******* Minor SPOILERS !!!!!!! ********************

Instead they got a black middle aged bald man (with no sex appeal at all - just watch the sex scene and you'll understand) and a white dude(!!). Even more the character played by the white man was supposed to be mixed raced. Half black, half white!!! ******* ********************

So you had a movie with two lead actors that none knew them (and their career since then was limited to one TV-Show for each one in the eighties), a movie with no clear message ( it didn't have the bald statements that movies like Sweet... and Shaft had ), it took place mainly in the black neighborhoods of Philadelphia and basically a movie about two hustlers trying to score big. No wonder that no one show this film. But what bothers me particularly is that no major critic had step up and spoke about this film!!! It is not just about the life of grifters. It isn't just a House of Games set in the '70s.(not that the Mamet film isn't close to a masterpiece)

Larry Yust gave us a movie about the elusive American Dream. About the racial tensions of the seventies and what it is to be black. The contempt that white people(especially the upper class)had for the African Americans. The willingness that white people had to exploit everyone else just along as nobody caught them red handed. And most of all is about the black identity issue. What it was for an African American to be growing up and living in a country that didn't felt like they belong to. Trying to make ends meet even by coning someone else. If it was a white dude's money even better. But we also see the relationships withing the black community and how they relate to the whites and people of mixed racial backgrounds. Personally I think that this movie has one of the most interesting descriptions of racial relationships in the '70s. Even the best films of that golden era couldn't compare with the depiction found in this film. And most of all with such a subtle way!!!! Don't be fooled about my ranting. People are being scammed and shot. This is a genre movie. A movie about criminals trying to make money. Just not the way that Hollywood has made us used to. No explosions, no unnecessary gunfire and car chases. Just the right amount.

Finally what I'm trying to say is that this is a minor masterpiece of that era. It belongs up there with the movies mentioned above. People should see this movie. If you come across a DVD. Bye it immediately!! I just hope that more people will found about this film. It is kind of depressing that film scholars and critics are always finding out hidden gems(overlooked masterpieces) from earlier decades and so long no one has step up to write about this movie. It deserves to be rediscovered.

Enjoy!

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Woodyanders (Woodyanders@aol.com) from The Last New Jersey Drive-In on the Left
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Shrewd black veteran "Blue" Howard (a fine performance by Mel Stewart) and his equally wily mulatto young protégé Johnny "White Folks" O'Brien (an excellent portrayal by Kiel Martin) are a couple of ace con men who have just pulled off the biggest scam of their lives. However, Blue and Folks have to evade both brutal corrupt cop Dot Murray (a first-rate turn by Dallas Edward Hayes) and several vengeful mobsters while sweating out 24 hours in order to pick up their money. Director Larry Yust, who also co-wrote the crafty and involving script with A. Neuberg and T. Raewyn, does a commendable job of adapting Iceberg Slim's novel: Yust makes terrific use of the authentically gritty Philadelphia locations, relates the gripping story at a brisk pace, but still manages to spend some time developing the sharply drawn characters, maintains a tough, hard-edged tone throughout, sprinkles the barbed dialogue with plenty of appropriately rough and profane language, and delivers a few exciting action set pieces in the lively and suspenseful last third (a lengthy foot chase rates as the definite rousing highlight). The sound acting from the able cast helps a lot: Stewart and Martin display a believable and engaging chemistry in the leads, with solid support from Beverly Ballard as sweet mark Susan, Vernee Watson-Johnson as Blue's foxy and unfaithful wife Cleo, and Ted Lange as Melvin the Pimp. Isidore Mankofsky's cinematography vividly captures the sordid urban environment. James Bond's funky score hits the get-down groovy spot. The surprise bummer ending packs a devastating punch. Recommended viewing.

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Uriah43 from Amarillo, Texas
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Two con-men in Philadelphia by the name of "Blue Howard" (Mel Stewart) and "White Folks" (Kiel Martin) find that they may have gone too far when they conned an older white man out of $10,000. What they didn't count on was the man having a heart attack and being the father of the local mafia godfather. Yet instead of lying low or possibly fleeing the city both Blue and Folks decide to continue in their trade. Anyway, while not necessarily as good as some of the other "blaxploitation" films of this particular time it managed to pass the time for the most part. But that's about all I can say as there really wasn't anything spectacular or memorable about it. For what it's worth though I thought Vernee Watson-Johnson (as "Cleo Howard") looked nice and probably should have been given a bit more film time. But that's just my opinion. In short, I suppose it deserves an average rating.

The entire film was shot on location in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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All the extras in the bar were regulars who patronized said bar.
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Kiel Martin did all of his own running in the foot chase sequence.
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The ending murder sequence took place on West Philadelphia's famous 52nd st. STRIP..
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con artist|passing for white|blaxploitation|heart attack|mafia|based on novel|

AKAs Titles:


Certifications:
Norway:16 / USA:R