cult film freak: DIRECTOR JONATHAN KAPLAN LOCKS JIM BROWN INTO 'THE SLAMS'

Jim Brown in THE SLAMS Year: 1973 Director: Jonathan Kaplan Rates: ***1/2

A year before directing Isaac Hayes in the violent yet breezy blaxploitation TRUCK TURNER, director Jonathan Kaplan put Jim Brown in prison for a more sparse and serious THE SLAMS, mostly taking place behind bars but without relying on melodramatic prison tropes, since everything that goes down... from bullies to shiv-fights to mean guards... is tightly connected to the plot...

Where Jim Brown, an idealistic criminal from a groovy heist prologue, stole and hid loot from the mob, and, once locked-up, a gangster hires gigantic convict Ted Cassady to attempt getting the formidable Brown to confess...

Roland Bob Harris and Jim Brown in THE SLAMS

Making the more cerebral than physical, fast-talking prison captain Roland Bob Harris a far more effective villain (better than a stereotypical tyrannical warden), connecting to Brown's newscaster girlfriend Judy Pace while working with pimp Paul Harris (also a pimp in TURNER), to either locate the money or plan a mutual escape...

And while the predictably safe and self-contained Jim Brown's tough enough from any interior adversary, Jonathan Kaplan's creative 70's-style direction keeps the suspense on par with the non-stop action.