Mandingo (1975)

Mandingo is a 1975 American historical melodrama film focusing on the Atlantic slave trade in the Antebellum South. The film's title refers to the Mandinka people, who are referred to as "Mandingos", and described as being good slaves for fighting matches. The word is also used as a pejorative to describe a hypersexual Black man. Produced by Dino De Laurentiis for Paramount Pictures, the film was directed by Richard Fleischer. The screenplay, by Norman Wexler, was adapted from the 1957 novel Mandingo by Kyle Onstott, and the 1961 play Mandingo by Jack Kirkland (which is derived from the novel).

The film stars Perry King as Hammond, the son of cruel slave owner Warren Maxwell (James Mason). Hammond is known to have sex with female slaves on his father's plantation, and his father orders him to marry a white woman to produce grandchildren with no black ancestry. Hammond marries Blanche (Susan George), his cousin, who becomes jealous that he pays more attention to his black lover Ellen (Brenda Sykes) than to his wife, leading Blanche to force the Mandingo fighting slave Mede (Ken Norton) into a sexual relationship with her.

Mandingo received negative reviews upon release. However, retrospectively, the film's reception became much more favorable. It has been variously seen as a big-budget exploitation film made by a major studio, a serious film about American slavery, examining historical horrors committed against African Americans, or as a work of camp. It was a box office hit, and was followed by a sequel, Drum (1976), which starred Norton as a different character and Warren Oates as Hammond.