Mandingo movie storyline. It’s the mid-nineteenth century Louisiana. Falconhurst, a run down plantation, is owned by Warren Maxwell, and largely run by his son, Hammond Maxwell, who walks with a limp due to a childhood accident. Hammond is under pressure to get married and produce a male heir to continue the Maxwell legacy before Warren dies.
With no experience courting a potential bride – his sexual experiences confined to slaves and whores – Hammond ultimately chooses his cousin Blanche for his wife in what would not be considered a courtship in its true sense. In turn, Blanche agrees to the marriage largely to escape the realm of her sadistic brother, Charles.
As his father tells him is custom, Hammond, while on his and Blanche’s honeymoon in New Orleans, also obtains a slave as a go to sexual partner, he buying Ellen, who he met when she was given to him in hospitality when visiting who was then her master. Concurrently, Hammond also purchases Mede, a Mandingo, as a slave, something Warren had always wanted because of their physical strength. The plan with Mede is to breed him with their female slaves to produce further Mandingos who they can sell for a higher price than other black slaves.
However, Hammond, out of circumstance, uses Mede in the potentially lucrative sport of no holds barred slave fighting, often to the death. Hammond and Blanche end up having an unsatisfying marriage largely due to something Hammond discovers on their wedding night, he turning to Ellen instead as the preferred woman in his life. Blanche, in return, takes her anger out on Hammond in the only way she knows how. In the process, it is their slaves who pay the price for their problems.
Mandingo is a 1975 American historical drama film directed by Richard Fleischer and starring James Mason, Susan George, Perry King, and boxer-turned-actor Ken Norton. The film was released by Paramount Pictures. Based on the 1957 novel Mandingo by Kyle Onstott, and on the 1961 play Mandingo by Jack Kirkland (which is derived from the novel), Mandingo received mixed reviews upon release, but was a box office hit. It was followed by a sequel in 1976, titled Drum, which also starred Norton. Sylvester Stallone was an uncredited extra.
Mandingo (1975)
Directed by: Richard Fleischer
Starring: James Mason, Susan George, Perry King, Lillian Hayman, Richard Ward, Brenda Sykes, Ken Norton, Paul Benedict, Ben Masters, Louis Turenne, Ray Spruell, Louis Turenne
Screenplay by: Norman Wexler
Production Design by: Boris Leven
Cinematography by: Richard H. Kline
Film Editing by: Frank Bracht
Costume Design by: Ann Roth
Set Decoration by: John P. Austin
Music by: Maurice Jarre, Hi Tide Harris, Muddy Waters
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: July 25, 1975 (United States)
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