Melvin Van Peebles was born on 21 August 1932.

He made three films that I know him for. They all deal with racial issues in different ways. And all of them are thoughtful and even challenging in a modern context.

His first feature film was The Story of a Three-Day Pass, which he shot in France. It starred Harry Baird, who I remember most fondly for his last film, Four of the Apocalypse.

Based on the success of that film, he went to Hollywood. He directed Watermelon Man from a screenplay by Herman Raucher. This was unusual as normally Van Peebles wrote his own films. It’s a funny film with perfect casting of Godfrey Cambridge in the lead.

But he is most remembered for his third film: Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song. It is his most important. It more or less invented blaxpoloitation. And in some ways, I see it as the only blaxploitation film. To me, the genre is defined as films by Black filmmakers for Black audiences. Non-Black filmmakers made most blaxploitation films. And even with films like Shaft, the effort was to appeal to a wider audience. There’s nothing wrong with this. It is important for films to make money.

Note that Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song is not an easy film. The opening sequence is brilliant but it is also hard to watch — especially how it is extended long past what was required. And the production values are not great. I still recommend that everyone watch it. It’s hard to find a good widescreen print of the film, but OK.RU has one.

But for modern viewers, I recommend watching Baadasssss (2003) to celebrate Melvin Van Peebles birthday. It is directed and co-written by Melvin’s son, Mario Van Peebles. Additionally, he stars as his father, which is interesting since Mario played Sweetback as a child in the original film. In addition to providing a good overview of the original film, he does a great job of contextualizing it. And this is a great print:

Other 21 August Anniversaries

Filmmakers

• Friz Freleng (1905-1995): One of the most important directors during the golden age of Warner Bros Cartoons. It was the creator of Porky Pig, Sylvester the Cat, and more.
• Paul Landres (1912-2001): Director of The Vampire and The Return of Dracula.
• Peter Weir (1944-): Director of Witness, The Truman Show, and more.
• Patty McCormack (1945-): The Bad Seed herself!
• Kim Cattrall (1956-): Actor known for Police Academy, Big Trouble in Little China, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and more.
• Carrie Anne Moss (1967-): Actor known for The Matrix, of course, but other films like Red Planet, The Crew, Memento, and more.

Films

• The Seventh Victim (1943): A woman looks for her missing sister and finds a Satanic cult.
• An American Werewolf in London (1981): Two American tourists are attacked by a werewolf while in England. One dies and the other, well, you know. Arguably the best werewolf film ever made.
• Blade (1998): A half-vampire fights the vampire threat. Excellent film that started an equally strong franchise.
• Carnival of Souls (1998): Loose remake of the classic. I just can’t force myself to watch it.
• Devil In the Flesh (1998): New student goes after her teacher.
• The Risen (2004): A space probe brings an evil space alien back that threatens the Earth.
• Strange Aeons: The Thing on the Doorstep (2005): Lovecraft story about a man who marries a mysterious woman with bad intentions.
• Rising Dead (2007): Bioweapons during World War IV cause zombies.
• Inglorious Bastards (2009): Tarantino does Naziploitation
• The Minstrel Killer (2009): Racist cop tracks serial killer who only targets white women.
• Unhinged (2020): A psychopath stalks a woman who honked at him. It’s pretty vile if you think much about it.

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Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song starring Melvin Van Peebles poster via Wikipedia. It is in the public domain.