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

Bs: ae SAM LAWS co-stars as Sherwood, a close friend of the family, who collaborates with Tyrone Tackett (BERNIE CASEY) in uncovering the mystery surrounding his brother’s death in MGM’s “Hit Man.” 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. 1D ENERGY SOURCE “| have no real problems in my personal life,’ says entertainer Sam Laws, ‘‘and none in my professional activities.’’ He attributes his private security and the success of his new-found Hollywood acting career to a philosophy generally labeled science of mind. The 254 pound actor-singer, soon to be seen with Bernie Casey and Pam Grier in ‘‘Hit Man’’ for MGM release, insists, ‘‘I never let anything become problematic. Situations arise, but | never let my thinking carry them into problems. My attitude towards life developed shortly after | left Washington, D.C. to pursue a singing career in New York. | had 22 good, rewarding years in New York before | moved West and | attribute my good fortune to my philosophy. “There is perfect law and perfect order in the universe,’’ believes Laws, recently seen in MGM's “Cool Breeze.” “If | hit a problem | can’t solve, | let it go after a little work. You can become so frustrated you cease to function. You’d be surprised how things work out if you handle them properly. “It applies to everything. When | go for an interview, | go with a positive attitude. If | don’t get the part, | feel there must be something better for me. | strive to do my best and often it’s not quite what they had in mind. You take it all as it comes. You get what you need, so long as you don’t expect frivolity and stupid things. “| just kind of dropped into acting because of this belief. It's made for a wonderful life, being able to act and continue my singing,’’ says the Delaware-born, Washington, D.C. raised artist who has earned the title of Mr. Stylist on the nightclub circuit. “My first acting was in the New York production of ‘Cabin In The Sky’ in 1964. | never pursued it, because singing is my first love, but the jobs have come. And when | moved to Los Angeles | had singing and acting offers.”’ He recently appeared at Beverly Hills’ Ye Little Club and the Los Angeles Mark Taper Forum productions of ‘‘Murderous Angels” and ‘The Blacks.”” His greatest public exposure has been in TV guest-starring roles and such movies as ‘‘The Pawnbroker,”’ ‘‘The All American Boy,” ‘‘The Grissom Gang,” and ‘‘Up Tight.”’ In addition to ‘‘Hit Man” he has another new film coming out titled “Walking Tall.’’ Until recently Laws was best known for his popular club act, during which he performs show-stopping imitations of such talents as Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaugh, Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae and Pearl Bailey. “| feel very good about the future because | know my source. Not just the source of energy, but the source of everything | need. | would say in each of us there is a God in the making. We just must take the time to develop it. Then we can accomplish anything good that we desire.”’ MAT NO. 1E PAM GRIER stars as Gozelda, a sensuous young beauty, in her quest for fame and fortune would even sell her soul to the devil, in MGM’s ‘Hit Man.” MAT NO. 1H NO MEDICAL NEEDS When lovely, brown-eyed Pamela Grier enrolled in Colorado’s Metropolitan State College a couple of years ago, she had every intention of becoming a doctor. She gave up that idea, however, possibly because she made pulses throb too rapidly, and instead became one of Hollywood's most popular new actresses, currently starring opposite Bernie Casey in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s release of the Penelope Production, ‘‘Hit Man.’ Oddly enough, Pamela — who prefers to be called Pam — has yet to appear in a medical show, either on television or in movies. She grew up in the typical suitcase surroundings of an Army brat. She was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, but a few weeks later her serviceman father was transferred to Denver, Colorado. By the time she was six the family had moved again — this time to Swindon, England, just outside London. The next move was to San Francisco, California, and then back to Denver, which finally became home for the Griers. Pam, by the way, is a cousin of actor-singer Roosevelt (Rosey) Grier, once a member of the Los Angeles Rams professional football team’s ‘‘Fearsome Foursome.” A singer as well as an actress, Pam several times has lent her voice to background vocals for recording artists, such as Lou Rawls, Bobby Womack and cousin “Rosey.”’ In “Hit Man’’ Pam portrays Gozelda, a sensual young beauty whose claim to fame is her starring performances in pornographic movies. “Hit Man,” produced by Gene Corman and directed by George Armitage, has Casey, also a former Los Angeles Ram, in the role of a powerful underworld figure trying to avenge his brother’s death. The film is the eleventh for Pam, who made her debut in the much talked about ‘‘Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.”” Some other credits include ‘‘Blacula,’’ ‘‘Twilight People,’ ‘Women in Cages” and one of 1972’s big boxoffice successes, ‘‘Cool Breeze,’’ also for MGM. But it was her singing which first planted the idea of an entertainment career in Pam’s mind, although at first the thought probably was subconscious. “| started singing early in life, and while in high school was a member of a gospel choir that had its own weekly television show,” she says. While still in college, she entered the Miss Colorado contest in the Miss Universe competition and was first runnerup. An agent suggested she give Hollywood a fling. That suggestion was about all Pam needed. She chucked her medical books into the trash can, packed her much-traveled suitcase and was off for Hollywood. After a year of drama study, cheap hamburgers and temporary office jobs, she got her first role — and from then on Pam Grier was on her way. __