Velvet Smooth

Velvet Smooth is a 1976 American blaxploitation film directed by Michael L. Fink and starring Johnnie Hill. The screenplay concerns a crime lord who hires a female private detective to find out who's stealing his business. This was the only film role for Hill and co-star Emerson Boozer who had played for the New York Jets (1966–1975).

Plot
Somebody's running a takeover on crime lord King Lathrop's (Owen Watson) operation using goons in nondescript full-face masks. Clueless, King Lathrop calls private detective Velvet Smooth (Johnnie Hill) for help. With the help of her friends Ria (Elsie Roman), a lawyer, and Frankie (René Van Clief), she infiltrates the criminal underworld to investigate.

Velvet finds this may be an inside job led by King Lathrop's man Calvin (James Durrah). When Velvet reports this to Lathrop, he denies it at first but the problems come closer to Calvin. Hurt by it all, Lathrop fires Calvin. Although Lathrop thinks Calvin masterminded the take-over on his own, Velvet remains unconvinced and seeks further to find out who was the man behind the man.

Cast

 * Johnnie Hill as Velvet Smooth
 * Owen Watson (as Owen Wat-son) as King Lathrop
 * Emerson Boozer as Mat
 * Rene Van Clief as Frankie
 * Elsie Roman as Ria
 * Moses Lyllia (as Moses Illiya) as Sgt. Barnes
 * Frank Ruiz as Lt. Ramos
 * James Durrah as Calvin Christopher
 * Thomas Agero as Snake
 * Wilfredo Roldan (as Wildredo Roldan) as Rodriquez
 * Michael Scorpio as Martinez
 * Allen Ayers Jr as Johnson
 * Hector Quinones as Player
 * Sydney Filson (as Sidney Filson) as Dealer
 * Sam Schwartz as Captain O'Reilly
 * Gary Catus as Digger
 * Tanka Ramos as Thug with Snake
 * Teddy Wilson as Masked Man #1
 * Butch Oglesby as Masked Man #2
 * Chino Diaz as Masked Man #3/Barnes' Gang
 * James Martin as Masked Man #4/Barnes' Gang
 * Jack Levy as Dry Cleaning Store Owner
 * Russell Brown as Newspaper Eddie

In other media
Former Mystery Science Theater 3000 cast members Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett released a RiffTrax audio commentary of the movie on February 28, 2020.