BOOK OF NUMBERS (1973) ***

The ‘70s was the highwater mark for Blaxploitation movies.  It was also the heyday of period gangster pictures that were inspired by the success of Bonnie and Clyde.  Book of Numbers represents one of the few times the two genres intersected.

Raymond St. Jacques (who also directed) and his protegee Philip Michael (Miami Vice) Thomas come into a small southern town and set up a numbers operation.  It’s an overnight sensation and that of course, makes the white gangsters take notice.  Naturally, a war starts between the two factions.

Book of Numbers could’ve been content being a black action movie, but it’s much more than that.  It also functions as a slice of African-American life during the Depression era.  There are little touches like seeing the characters have family dinners and attending church that a white filmmaker might’ve forgone in favor of more plot and/or action scenes.

It’s also pretty funny too.  I liked the part when D’Urville (Dolemite) Martin and his pals dressed up in KKK attire to ransack a place.  Of course, they wind up running into the real deal and a fight breaks out.

Even at a relatively-scant 81 minutes, there are a few lulls here and there.  Thomas’ narration is a bit extraneous in some scenes too.  However, the dynamic between St. Jacques and Thomas is endearing enough to make up for a lot of its shortcomings.  There’s a scene late in the picture where St. Jacques must humiliate himself in front of a white courtroom to save his operation that drives a wedge between him and Thomas.  Their interaction in the next scene is an interesting depiction of not only race relations in the south, but also of the generation gap between African-Americans as well.