Truck Turner (1974) – Pursuit Of The Pimpmobile

Big black baldy bail bondsman bounty hunter Truck Turner busts heads in this gloriously fun 70’s smasher starring that Hot Buttered Soul Love Machine himself Isaac Hayes. Not only does he get to trash a whole array of pimps and dealers, he gets to take on the soundtrack duties, adding the funk grooves to the proceedings. Nothing sounds better than watching crazy clothed pimps and hoes and wrecking ball car chases accompanied to the sound of wah wah guitar, dirty basslines, horn stabs and funky as hell drum breaks.

Injured former professional footballer Mack “Truck” Turner and his partner and good friend Jerry (Alan Weeks) work for bondsman Fogarty (Dick Miller) who has a pimp on the books called Gator (Paul Harris) who has skipped bail. Truck meets up with an old retired pimp friend Duke (Scatman Crothers) who points Truck and Jerry in the right direction.

This leads to what I had been waiting for, the chase theme from the soundtrack called “Pursuit Of The Pimpmobile“. It’s a 9 minute track and I’ll tell you I wasn’t expecting most of it to be in the film as the boys chase Gator across town, through backstreets, highways and some real random sets, like running across a water processing plant into an underground factory. With all the smashing and tires burning and some grand theft auto you also get a mass brawl in a bar. It’s a real frenzied action packed scene filled with frills and spills with a heap of comedic leanings. It’s a joyful sequence.

Here’s the trailer.

Dorinda – “We call her Turnpike, cuz you gotta pay to get on and pay to get off!”

Another deep joy is in the form of a certain sexy communications officer from Star Trek Lieutenant commander Nyota Uhura otherwise known as Nichelle Nichols. She looks like she having a ball playing Gators main girl and madame to a whole harem of prostitutes called Dorinda. Pulling off an amazing selection of bonkers looking outfits whist she barks orders and harsh put downs to everyone she meets. Anyone who lusted after Uhuru in their teens get a few nice little side boob action shots here and there. But damn this girl is one scary mo-fo!

Now to add to all the madness going on, in enters big bad number one pimp Harvard Blue aka Mr Big aka Kananga from Live and Let Die the one and only, the formidable Yaphet Kotto. He stands in with a whole bunch of comical dressed other pimps and to add to Trucks woes they order a gang of cleaners in to cause mayhem, hitman called the insurance men.

Through all this crazy our Truck has his girl, the hot Annie (Annazette Chase) to look after when she is just released from jail and also her pet cat! Promoting a strange love making scene with a box of Kentucky Fried Chicken and the onlooking pussy cat.

Annie – “Wow you wanna give me beer and screw me!”
Truck – “Alright alright alright we’re stop and get something to eat first!”

Directed by Jonathan Kaplan who bought us a different truck smasher in the likes of White Line Fever but also another blaxploitation film called The Slams starring Jim Brown which I really wouldn’t mind seeing.

Fun Fact – I read that Isaac Hayes and his band played the entire score for director Jonathan Kaplan at Hayes’s home. I bet that was an amazing night of jams.