DOLEMITE: A Celebration Of Independent Moviemaking

As of January 30th, Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite is my pick for the number one movie of 2019. It gripped me from beginning to end, and I found that it’s the kind of movie I will watch repeatedly. Prior to this, my former number one pick did not make too many top ten lists, which might be an absolute shame, since it had such a positive and hilarious message. My former number one and current number two pick has to be the Netflix original Dolemite Is My Name.

Dolemite Is My Name stars Eddie Murphy as Rudy Ray Moore, a struggling entertainer determined to make his mark in show business. After finding success in the underground comedy scene, and selling records from the trunk of his car, Moore gets the idea to put his on-stage alter ego, the fast-talking Dolemite, on the big screen. There are, naturally, several hurdles Moore and his friends and coworkers endure to make it.

An inexperienced cast and crew, financial woes, and distribution issues become only a few issues that almost prevent Dolemite from reaching theaters. Rudy Ray Moore reminds me a bit of Ed Wood (Bride of the Monster). There are unintentionally funny moments in Dolemite like in an Ed Wood movie, but the comparisons don’t stop there. Both Moore and Wood have the same independent movie-making spirit; having a set vision for how their story should be told and their troubles being outside the system. Dolemite is My Name made me appreciate its source, Dolemite, even more in its celebration of following your dream.

Limited Finances

In this day and age, to finance a film, an independent director might set up some sort of crowdfunding online (like the guys that made Kung Fury) to get cash for production. These sources weren’t available pre-internet, so it begs the question of how one would raise money? The answer: out of their own pocket, and with the help of family and friends. Fortunately for Moore, he had plenty of those.

In order to get his movie going, Moore would ask relatives for cash and sold his things to make it happen. He raised a reasonable amount, lived in near poverty, but got the movie made. To aid in keeping costs down, everyone brought their own clothes, he cast friends, and used college students as the crew.

Moore did not let finances stop him from achieving his goal. He poured everything into this movie. That is the true independent movie-maker, putting as many resources as you can to make this baby grow. Keep in mind, having the money doesn’t necessarily make you talented.

Learn From Doing

Like Ed Wood, Moore did not receive a film school education. He only had experience as a comic, and hoped to translate this Dolemite character on the big screen. The problem was that neither Moore or his friends had movie experience. How to fix this? Find people that know a bit about movies and learn from them.

Moore recruited actor D’Urville Martin to play both the villain Willie Green and serve as director since he had screen acting experience. To put his idea in screenplay format, Moore used playwright Jerry Jones (who also played the cop, Blakeley). With these two, Moore learned the arts of directing and screenwriting, and the film grew organically.

As mentioned above, film is a collaborative process. It takes many hands and brainpower to put a movie together. At times, once you learn a few things, you have to express those ideas to other people, even if they seem strange or make little sense. Judging from what I saw in Dolemite, Dolemite Is My Name did a plausible recreation on what happened during the making of this cult classic.

A Strong Vision

This is the plot description of Dolemite, according to IMDb.com: “After he is released from jail, a pimp takes on the criminals and corrupt police officers who framed him in the first place.” At first glance, it sounds like the plot of a standard blaxploitation movie from the era. Did you know, however, that the movie also has kung-fu fighting prostitutes?

Moore’s character of Dolemite is a master of kung-fu (though Moore doesn’t know kung-fu), is a weapons expert, a ladies man, a master of rhymes (Moore is considered the godfather of hip hop), and insults. Here are a few: “You no-business, born-insecure, jock-jawed motherf**ker! / Dolemite is my name, and f**kin’ up motherf**kers is my game! (I’m in tears typing this). As you see, he has a clear idea of exactly what this character is all about.

The fighting is sloppy, the insults hilariously bizarre, as continuity errors abound, but Moore goes all in without a care in the world. Cast and crew may have given him strange looks and not completely understood his vision, but he made it work. On a shoestring budget with a group of relative unknowns, he made a cult classic!

The Effect of Dolemite

The movie cost an estimated $100,000 to make, and ended up grossing $12 million at the box office. It spawned two sequels and comedian Aries Spears parodied the character on Mad TV in the 1990s. Finally, the phenomenal Eddie Murphy played him in Dolemite Is My Name. Not too shabby for a nearly 45-year-old low budget movie character.

None of this would be possible without Moore’s insistence of doing things his way. He had a wild idea, got his pals and like-minded folks together, wrangled some money, and went out to make a movie. Dolemite looks like everyone had a blast, which is what movie-making should be. I salute Rudy Ray Moore, and all other independent artists that do what they do. Keep up the good work, and don’t let anyone stop you from following your dream.

Have you seen Dolemite? Do you hope to make your own movie someday? Please leave a comment below.