Abar, the First Black Superman

Abar, The First Black Superman is a 1977 blaxploitation superhero film directed by Frank Packard and starring J. Walter Smith, Tobar Mayo, and Roxie Young.[1] When it was released on VHS in 1990, it was re-titled In Your Face.

Abar, the First Black Superman
Directed byFrank Packard
Produced byJ. P. Joshua
Written byK. Walter Smith (scenario)
Screenplay byJames Smalley
Story byJames Smalley
StarringJ. Walter Smith
Tobar Mayo
Roxie Young
CinematographyRonald Víctor García
Edited byJack Tucker
Production
company
Jos-To Productions
Distributed byMirror Releasing
Xenon Productions
Release date
  • March 1977 (1977-03) (US ltd.)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Premise

Upon moving into a bigoted neighbourhood, the scientist father of a persecuted black family gives a superpower elixir to a tough bodyguard, who then becomes a superpowered crimefighter.

Cast
  • J. Walter Smith as Dr. Kinkade
  • Tobar Mayo as John Abar
  • Roxie Young as Mrs. Kinkade
  • Gladys Lum as Debbie Kinkade
  • Tony Rumford as Tommie Kinkade
  • Rupert Williams as Jim Kinkade
  • Tina James as Susan Kinkade
  • Art Jackson as Dudley
  • Allen Ogle as Peabody
  • Joe Alberti as Hunt
  • Dee Turguand as Mabel

Production

The film was the brainchild of James Smalley, a black pimp from Louisiana, and Frank Packard, a white actor and screenwriter; it was filmed partly in a working whorehouse. Smalley ran out of money before the film was completed, and had to sell the film to the owner of a film processing lab to settle his unpaid bills.[1]

Originally titled SuperBlack, it was completed in 1975, but not released until 1977, under the name Abar, The First Black Superman; it would be renamed again for VHS release as In Your Face. Its original release was very limited, primarily to what was known as the "Chitlin' Circuit" of Southern drive-ins.[1]

The film was shot in the Baldwin Hills and Watts neighbourhoods of Los Angeles without permits to do so, and at one point actual motorcycle gang members who had been hired to play a black motorcycle gang surrounded the cars of the white police officers who had been called in to shut down shooting. The officers chose to stay in their cars.[1]

References
  1. Smith, Richard Harland. "Articles: Abar, the First Black Superman (1977)" TCM.com
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