A woman looking for adventure finds romance, excitement and danger in her viewfinder in this action-packed comedy-drama. Friday Foster (Pam Grier) is a beautiful and ambitious young photographer who is working as an assistant at Glance Magazine, edited by the hard-boiled Monk Riley (Julius Harris). When Riley can't get in touch with his first-call photographer, he calls Foster with a very important New Year's Eve assignment -- reclusive billionaire Blake Tarr (Thalmus Rasulala), often called "the black Howard Hughes," is expected to be coming to Los Angeles, and Riley wants pictures of Tarr's arrival. But Foster gets more than she bargained for when Tarr is ambushed by a gang of assassins disguised as security guards. The next day, Foster is helping to shoot a fashion show introducing new creations from flamboyant designer Madame Rena (Eartha Kitt) when Clorils Boston (Rosalind Miles), a model who has known Friday since childhood, is stabled to death. Colt Hawkins (Yaphet Kotto), a private detective who is on the scene, offers to help Friday track down Clorils' killer after she notices that the same mysterious man (Carl Weathers) was present at both crimes. Foster and Hawkins discover the two killings are connected by a plot hatched by an underground group called "Black Widow" to kill off powerful and influential African-Americans. But who is behind the conspiracy, and can they be stopped in time? Also starring Godfrey Cambridge, Paul Benjamin, Scatman Crothers and Ted Lange, Friday Foster was based on the comic strip by Jim Lawrence and Jorge Longeron; running from 1970 to 1974, it was the first syndicated strip with an African-American woman as the leading character. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
This attempt to make a more polished version of the kind of film that made Pam Grier popular has good intentions to spare, but never quite realizes its ambitions. The first is that it is too cheaply made to achieve the Hollywood gloss it aspires to. Arthur Marks' direction is competent, but uninspired, resulting a movie with a static, flat look reminiscent of a television movie. The second reason is that its aspirations to slickness rob it of the kinetic punch that infused past Pam Grier vehicles like Coffy and Foxy Brown. As a result, it feels like a tame version of these films despite a reasonable amount of action. However, Friday Foster remains a worthwhile excursions for blaxploitation fans thanks to its once-in-a-lifetime cast, which features everyone from Yaphet Kotto to Scatman Crothers. This cast offers up plenty of scene-stealing turns, the best being Eartha Kitt's witty work as a bitchy fashion designer and Ted Lange's slick performance a flashy pimp with designs on the film's leading lady. Despite all this star power, Grier manages to hold her own with a performance that utilizes her trademark mix of poise and sassiness. Whether she is mingling with the jet set or duking it out with tough guys, Grier is always believable and easy to like. In the end, Friday Foster lacks the consistency and inspiration of the best blaxploitation films, but its stellar cast and Grier's solid work make it worthwhile for genre enthusiasts. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide
Arthur Marks - Director, Stanley Frazen - Editor, Chuck Stroud - Executive Producer, Luchi de Jesus - Composer (Music Score), Bodie Chandler - Composer (Music Score), Bodie Chandler - Songwriter, Harry May - Cinematographer, Arthur Marks - Producer, Richard Geary - Stunts Coordinator, Arthur Marks - Screen Story, Orville H. Hampton - Screenwriter
Friday Foster (Grier) is a magazine photographer who refuses to heed her boss's admonitions against becoming involved in the stories to which she is assigned. After witnessing an assassination attempt on the nation's wealthiest African-American and then seeing her best friend murdered, Friday finds herself targeted for death. She teams up with private detective Colt Hawkins (Kotto) to investigate, and soon, the two are hot on the trail of plot to eliminate the country's African-American political leadership.
In addition to the standard blaxploitation plot elements, the film also dealt with the themes of the power and importance of African-American political unity and the potential threat thereto posed not only by the perceived white power structure, but also by those African-Americans willing to betray that goal in search of reward from that establishment.
