Hit Man (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) (1972)

BERNIE CASEY makes his motion picture starring debut as Tyrone Tackett, a super-slick street hustler determined to avenge his brother’s death in MGM’s ‘Hit Man.” MAT NO. 2B METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER Presents Vy PN Starring BERNIE CASEY Co-Starring PAMELA GRIER Screenplay by GEORGE ARMITAGE Based Upon the Novel ‘‘Jack’s Return Home’”’ by TED LEWIS Produced by GENE CORMAN Directed by GEORGE ARMITAGE METROCOLOR CAST OF CHARACTERS THrOne Tackette oc). cn. a Re os RS BERNIE CASEY LETS Pcl fo FBR cine. (NAO ieee, ee i PAMELA GRIER Laural:Gariootem c8 es sc sO es ee LISA MOORE InvelleWay, 2... Mest eae Ot, Ree BHETTY WALDRON Srerwood Eris...) Sag cys Re ok a eae ees ga SAM LAWS Rochelle-Vackett ... 34.....-0.3 22.44 7 See CANDY ALL Theotis Oliver... 0.00 Salis oO: ee DON DIAMOND INAMOUZ NRO late chin as cect) ath Oe ees apne EDMUND CAMBRIDGE Shag Merriweather................ Pie ice Pi eee ee BOB HARRIS JUMUSESWITCS 2 ee RUDY CHALLENGER DNCAMSISESN ci.) Seether es See eee TRACY ANN-KING GONE ees ewe et ate italian Rice Wario at eR CHRISTIPHER JOY BAD YATE ccs. 20 foetal ahve a alge ahead ROGER E. MOSLEY CREDITS DIRECTEO I DY nee inert tn ee as Patek woe Se GEORGE ARMITAGE PGOGUCEOND Yer: 5 cise rie vues © oho eran es eee GENE CORMAN SenecnplayiDy wees sl he sds bahelbiee saw ees GEORGE ARMITAGE Based Upon the Novel STACK SERECURNPMOME! DY ii Ce ue ka oe te eee TED LEWIS INVEST CTD Vath Ono Toda ST A aac TE ea ata 4. H. B. BARNUM Directoron Photography: a4. 4 ales eet Ra ANDREW DAVIS BUIMGECICOl eae Qe tne. wns cars nies auateeeeet MORTON TUBOR PrOGUCtiOnuMAaNnagen. one: wn ks de hoes DON HEITZER ASSiStantiDirectOnercc «2 oss wi es ate Be GEORGE VAN NOY ATED INE CLOD AE Med on a arian Ae emcee ars ecen eeea tae ae LYNN GRIFFIN SEES SSS Mc eh iy ea ne Cie Rs ar aU aR aie ALEX VANDERKAR WARGO DG renga matic heir | ede nae mink Leth ie JODIE TILLEN Casting Coordinator ins eet. G! EDWARD LONDON A Penelope Productions, Inc. Picture In Metrocolor Rated ‘‘R’’ GENE CORMAN, A TRENDSETTING PRODUCER Gene Corman is a producer who starts trends. And once that trend has taken hold, he is not about to let go. His latest film, “Hit Man” to be released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, is a case in point. It follows ‘‘Cool Breeze,’’ also produced by Corman and released by MGM this past year. The cast of the new contemporary action drama is headed by Bernie Casey and co-stars Pam Grier, Lisa Moore and Bhetty Waldron. George Armitage, who wrote the screenplay, makes his directorial debut with ‘“‘Hit Man.” Actually, Corman’s trend-setting with black-oriented films goes back over ten years. At that time he produced a motion picture called ‘“‘The Intruder,’’ which dealt with racial intolerance and injustice in the South. ‘‘It exposed the doctrine of hate and prejudice,”’ Corman says, ‘‘but it turned out that the film was far ahead of its time.’’ The then-explosive nature of the film kept ‘The Intruder’ from receiving the exposure it rightfully deserved.” With the excellent response to his ‘‘Cool Breeze’’ this year, Corman felt encouraged to produce another film in the now totally accepted field of black action dramas of today. ‘‘Hit Man”’ he feels comes into the marketplace at just exactly the right time for all audiences. “You don’t make films for white audiences, and you don’t make them for black audiences,’’ Corman says. ‘‘You make them for the total audience. In ‘Hit Man’ | feel we have contemporary action drama which will appeal to all segments of today’s motion picture audience. After all, drama is universal. It draws no color lines. If you have a good story to tell, and in ‘Hit Man’ we have one of the best, it can be told well if you organize a group of talented actors. “As in ‘Cool Breeze,’ we were most fortunate in assembling a really top group of actors for the starring roles. With Bernie Casey, the former pro-football great of the Los Angeles Rams, heading the cast, we have other fine performers like Bhetty Waldron and Lisa Moore in top roles, and we were happily able to bring back from ‘Cool Breeze’ both Pam Grier and Sam Laws.”’ Gene Corman and his brother, Roger, the producer-director, himself responsible for many outstanding feature pictures two years ago, formed a production company, New World Pictures, which has an average output of approximately ten pictures a year. The two operate together as well as on separate projects of their own. Gene Corman comes to the ranks of today’s busiest producers particularly well prepared for the task. A 1948 graduate of Stanford University, he served as an executive with Music Corporation of America, at that time one of the world’s leading talent agencies. As Corman says, “‘Having been greatly involved in the production and packaging of so many motion pictures, while representing such stars as Joan Crawford, Fred MacMurray, Ray Milland and Harry Belafonte, the move to the other side of the desk and into the active role of a producer semed a natural evolution.”’ Corman intends to keep up the fast pace for himself. Following “Cool Breeze’’ and ‘‘Hit Man,’ he is now actively planning other contemporary action films to follow them. Tyrone Tackett (BERNIE CASEY) ponders his next move in his crusade of vengeance, as he attempts to comfort his niece, Rochelle (CANDY ALL) in a key scene from MGM’s “Hit Man.” MAT NO. 2C LS SS SS sss