Charlie Steel

Another of the so-called "B-scheme" films subsidized by the South African government during the apartheid era as entertainment for blacks who were excluded from theatres showing regular fare, 1984’s Charlie Steel—written and directed by Bevis Parsons—delivers a riff on hard-boiled American detective movies, especially of the blaxploitation variety. Sol Rachilo stars as Charlie, a private investigator hired by a rich friend to rescue his daughter Dudu (Sonto Mazibuko), who has been kidnapped and is being held for ransom. Charlie tries to infiltrate the gang, only to be recognized by one of the villains and taken captive himself. After escaping, he reverts to his old military commando mode to attack their hideout, setting up a face-off with the thuggish Boss (Thapelo Mofokeng). Rachilo, who comes across as a weird combination of suave Shaft and scruffy Columbo, brings an agreeably raffish air to what is obviously a very low budget effort. As with other releases in this series, Charlie Steel holds greater interest as an artifact of a grim era in recent African history than for any inherent cinematic quality. A strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)