Hot Potato

Hot Potato (also known as Twist the Tiger's Tail) is a 1976 American action film written and directed by Oscar Williams. The film was a Fred Weintraub and Paul Heller production starring Jim Kelly, who also arranged his own fight scenes. Hot Potato was filmed on location in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It is a follow-up to Black Belt Jones. The film was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. This film came along toward the end of one genre in film and helped mark the beginning of a new genre. It provides a bridge from what is commonly known as blaxploitation film to the kung fu genre made popular by Bruce Lee. Hot Potato and films like it entertained the same audience as the popular black films of the early seventies i.e. Super Fly, Shaft, and Black Caesar which were opposed by the activist organizations NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and CORE (Congress of Racial Equality). However, such films also provided an international audience. This phenomenon meant the same amount of money could be invested to make a film with less political hassle and more profits. Plot Hot Potato begins in Chang Lan, a fictional country somewhere in east Asia. The villain Carter Rangoon (Sam Hiona) orchestrated the kidnapping of a U.S. senator's daughter a Ms. June Dunbar (Judith Brown). Rangoon's demands were to see aid to Chang Lan or Ms. Dunbar would be executed. The U.S. was in a difficult situation. They were not welcome in that area of the world and had little influence in the region. They sent in whom the general (Ron Prince) described as their best man, Black Belt Jones (Jim Kelly). Jones assembled a small force of mercenaries to assist in the task at hand. Johnny Chicago (Geoffrey Binney), whose primary motivation in life was money, was the first the mercenaries introduced in the film. The duo of Jones and Chicago were joined by Pamala (Irene Tsu), a Chang Lan operative who was to act as the group's interpreter and guide. She quickly proved her usefulness as a skilled fighter as she took on several goons refusing assistance from Jones and Chicago. Finally the group joins up with Rhino (George Memmoli) at a brothel. Rhino is a grotesque Italian from Texas with a passion for women and food.