Dolemite
Dolemite is a 1975 film from the USA, directed by D'Urville Martin, running 90 minutes. reelscum files it under blaxploitation.
- Year
- 1975 · 1970s films
- Country
- USA
- Runtime
- 90 min
- Director
- D'Urville Martin
- Updated
- 10 Aug 2026
- Obscurity
- cult (47/100)
Defined in the glossary: Blaxploitation
Technically inept and completely irresistible. Boom mics in every other shot.
Rudy Ray Moore turns his raunchy stand-up character into a film with almost no money and less technical competence, and the seams are the appeal. Boom mics dip into frame, fights miss by a foot, and Moore commits so completely that the whole thing floats on sheer will.
It should not work and it is irresistible, a monument to doing it yourself when nobody will do it for you. Eddie Murphy loved it enough to make a whole film about its making.
Incompetent in every technical sense and impossible to dislike.
Trailer
The numbers
Nobody has rated this yet. Be the first to make a claim you'll have to defend.
Your call
Where to watch
Legal options in USA
Links open in a new tab (↗). Availability data via TMDB and changes constantly, so confirm on the service. Legal options only. Checked 8 Nov 2026. All options ↗
Discuss with AI
Open a chatbot with a question about this film already typed out. Useful for a second opinion, plot detail, or where to find a copy.
Written about
- Blaxploitation, 1971 to 1975
Melvin Van Peebles caught gonorrhea on his own set, filed a workers' comp claim, and bought more film stock with the settlement. Four years later the studios had mined the audience out and moved on.
Filed alongside
Abby
The blaxploitation Exorcist. A minister's wife is possessed by a sex demon. Warner Bros sued.
Trouble Man
Cool to the point of refrigeration, scored by Marvin Gaye the one time he ever bothered.
Truck Turner
Isaac Hayes in front of the camera for once, and Nichelle Nichols swearing.
Scream Blacula Scream
The rare sequel that adds Pam Grier and a shred of dignity.
The Spook Who Sat by the Door
The most political film the blaxploitation boom made, pulled from cinemas and buried for thirty years.
J.D.'s Revenge
A dead 1940s gangster possesses a mild law student. Blaxploitation crossed with the supernatural.
Ganja & Hess
An art film that was sold as a vampire picture. Recut and buried for decades.
Black Mama White Mama
The Defiant Ones with Pam Grier, shot in the Philippines by a Filipino who actually knew the terrain.
Cotton Comes to Harlem
Two Harlem detectives chase a stolen fortune hidden in a bale of cotton. The one that opened the door.
Black Belt Jones
Jim Kelly karate-chops the mob to save a Watts dojo. Blaxploitation meets kung fu, joyfully.
Hell Up in Harlem
Larry Cohen's weekend sequel to Black Caesar, rougher and more berserk than the original.
The Mack
Half drama, half documentary of 1970s Oakland. The real players are in it.