Black Eye

Black Eye is a 1974 American neo-noir action and blaxploitation film produced by Pat Rooney, directed by Jack Arnold and starring Fred Williamson. The film was based on the 1971 novel Murder on the Wild Side by Jeff Jacks. Plot A Los Angeles private investigator, Stone, is enlisted to investigate multiple murders that are connected to a cane that was stolen from a deceased silent movie star. Stone is drawn into intrigues involving a young woman who has run away from home to join a religious cult, and ultimately uncovers a heroin ring. Cast Fred Williamson as Stone Rosemary Forsyth as Miss Francis Teresa Graves as Cynthia Richard Anderson as Dole Richard X. Slattery as Bowen Larry Mann as Avery Brett Morrison as Majors Susan Arnold as Amy Frank Ashmore as Chess Theodore Wilson as Lindy Belinda Balaski as Mary Joanne Bruno as Moms Nick Ramus Production Black Eye, originally entitled simply Stone (the protagonist’s name), was conceived as “a Raymond Chandler-style detective story," and is set in Santa Monica and Venice, California. Director Jack Arnold shot the entire movie on location, none which was filmed in a studio. Arnold’s “speed and efficiency” in executing the picture earned him high praise from producer Pat Rooney, who thanked Arnold publicly in a promotional advertisement in The Hollywood Reporter.