This week we're stepping back into 1972. Murfreesboro, Tennessee only has the Martin Theatre in Jackson Heights Plaza and the Marbro Drive-In. March 13, 1972 was a Monday and you've only got a couple of choices of movies, but they are both fantastic.
Blaxploitation classic Shaft is the only movie at the Marbro on this evening. If you're not hooked from the opening credits scene of Shaft walking down the streets of New York City while the Oscar winning best song by Isaac Hayes "Them From Shaft" plays then you might want to check your pulse. Richard Rountree is just electric cool as private detective John Shaft. Renowned photo journalist and Civil Rights legend Gordon Parks directed the film. He was the first major black director in Hollywood. The future Huggy Bear of Starsky And Hutch is in the movie too - one of my favorite actors Antonio Vargas.
Godzilla Vs. The Smog Monster is on the big indoor screen of Martin Theatre. The Japanese title is Gojira tai Hedora. A deadly monster Hedora has been spawned due to our pollution mixing with alien bacteria that had crashed on Earth via meteorite. He attacks Japan breathing poisonous fumes. This is the trippiest of the Godzilla films with some wild animated scenes. There's also a bit where Hedora menaces a discotheque. Godzilla comes to the rescue of humanity and even shows he can fly! It's a very entertaining kaiju film. It was always a treat to see when it came on television during my childhood years and it's still a treat to see on the Blu-ray I own of it. Who knows, perhaps in an alternate universe there's a Shaft Vs. Godzilla movie. Next week I'll be talking earliest Troma Team movies and how crazy things were back in the early 80's.
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