Trailer—Walk Proud

source: Walk Proud

Walk Proud (1979) is about the life of teenage Emilio Mendez who is of mixed heritage (ethnic Mexican and Caucasian) and struggles with his loyalty to his gang when the lovely Sarah Lassiter (Sarah Holcomb) enters his life. With no future in being a street gang member, learning the truth about his heritage and the love of Sarah brings Emilio to a crossroads to where his life is going. Being harassed by the police, rival gangs and his cohort Cesar (Pepe Serna) questioning his loyalty will lead Emilio to a fateful decision that he must make walking proud. I was impressed by the movie because it's been knocked for have Robby Benson playing a Chicano. Once you learn about his true background, the story makes sense and is realistic because I have meet people like his character Emilio. Co- stars Trinidad Silva, Ji-Tu Cumbaka, Gary Cervantes and Panchito Gomez help Benson carry the movie and the underrated acting they provide make this movie a winner. Watch for character actor Brad Sullivan who has a small part as Jerry Kelsey, Emilio's estranged father.

Robby Benson and a cast of others star in this love/action type story. When Benson gets involved with a girl in school he starts to try and distance himself from his friends. This is a hard to find movie. I don't think I've ever seen it on tv. But if you ever come across it you should give it a look!

I always loved Robby Benson when I was a kid. So when I saw a title in the TV guide line up, that I had never heard of, I set out to give it a shot. But watching this movie Robby couldn't keep up the "gangsta" strut throughout. I guess I just look for inconsistencies. The movie itself wasn't all that bad. Typical 70's Robby stuff. Trinidad Silva (Hill Street Blue's fame) of course has his Chicano gangster character down pat. I happened to come across this movie in the movie guide for an Encore channel. I thought I would give it a go. All-in-all not a bad movie, if you can get past the typical "hokey" 70's gang stereotypes. Think Shaft or Foxy Brown. But, if you like Robby, I think you will like the movie.

This is the infamous riot inducing Chicano gang flick. Two theatres in LA were nearly levelled by outraged Hispanic patrons who took offense at this minstrel show. The ultra-vanilla Robbie Benson dons brown contacts, dark makeup & seems to be channelling the Frito Bandito as a Latin gang member (?!). He then trashes his friends & heritage when he hooks up with a nice white girl. WALK PROUD has all the racial sensitivity of BIRTH OF A NATION & while it is absolutley (unintentionally) hilarious, it is still depressing to consider that as late as 1979 there were still people in Hollywood this clueless & unintentionally rascist. Luckily the impact of the box office failure of this soggy tamale was that we were spared many more awful Robbie Benson performances. Benson did have one more ethnic slur of a performance though. In 1981 he lumbered though the unwatchable THE CHOSEN where he played a Hassidic Jew in a film that advanced anti-semitism more than David Duke ever could.

I just saw this film and I can't remember when but it had to have been in 1979 or 1980 of what I do remember, barely, is the ending. It was a shock though to see this completely and I don't quite understand why Robbie Benson was cast in this role but then again Hollywood is idiotic and should be recognized for what it usually does which is not helping matters any, especially on the cultural and social tip. Not saying anything against American actor Robbie Benson but this is just dumb. So, if I were to accept the idea that the actor's role is to try to assume the part of the character that he or she is trying to portray from males assuming female roles and vice versa to attempts in portraying other ethnicities, persons of different eras, ages, epochs and so on and so on etc. ad infinitum. To me, it smells like deceit and patronizing. Again, nothing against the talented actors and actresses in the film but straight to the writers and producers who are the idiots. I'm relieved that it failed but I'm also glad that this is around to show people the dumb stuff that Hollywood people were generating.

Very interesting little gang drama movie. Robbie Benson as a Chicano named Emilio Mendez was an experience to see. I feel he did a good job. Complete with brown contacts and a brown tan! He looked so different. i always wondered how the movie would played had he just used his own eye color as there is light eye-colored Latinos.he probably would have been called "El Guero"(The White Boy) Sarah Holcomb did an interesting part as the Anglo girl who falls in love with Benson's Chicano boy. Too bad she basically did no more acting after this.(she did 4 movies and a video in all her short career!) Henry Darrow (whose real is Enrique Tomás Delgado) did a OK turn as Mike Serrano. How ironic that in the 60's, Darrow was the ultimate Latin heartthrob on television. With a smooth, ingratiating style and a killer smile that brightened up the small screen. The same way Benson was now doing here. Pepe Serna as Cesar, the leader of the gang, seemed a little to old (for me) somewhat to be the leader of any gang. He would have done better in the Henry Darrow role I think. Trinidad Silva did much better as Dagger. He just seem more real and more relaxed as if that was just really him.. I'll always remember him as 'Frog' in the film Colors(1988) Too bad he he was killed that same year in a car accident. he was a very decent actor. Ji-Tu Cumbuka had a nice role as Sgt. Gannett who is investigating the gang on many related charges. Eloy Casados was OK as the leader of the opposing gang and Daniel Faraldo was somewhat over acting as El Tigre, a member of Casado's gang. Faraldo nowadays somewhat resembles Al Pacino! Lol Irene DeBari as Benson's mom did a credible job. Gary'Carlos'Cervantes as always does a good "Homeboy from the Barrio" A similar role he has done in many roles. Panchito Gomez had a little role here but he was still a little one himself(He was 15 but looked younger). Panchito was always a good reliable little actor for these type of movies but just vanished in 2003 and hasn't been seen since, And Angel Salazar, who had a minor role here but 4yrslater would rise to 'A' class with Scarface(1983) as Chi Chi with Al Pacino. interesting trivia: 3 actors here later went on to star in Scarface(1983): Pepe Serna,Angel Salazar and Gary 'Carlos'Cervantes. Serna received 4th billing here but in Scarface, he got 12th. While Salazar who got 29th here got 10th in Scarface and Cervantes who got 16th billing here, got 25th in Scarface! my how things change. And last but not least, Thomas Rosales Jr. a staple in almost all action films as a stunt person, did the stunts for this film also. Interesting choice of music, Elton John and and Santana even Benson singing his own composition: "Adios Yesterday"

It's a good thing that this movie was a box office flop. It shows Mexican American stereotypes in late seventies Los Angeles in a way that is at times cartoonish and at other times very one-dimensional and at one moment patronizing, another moment condescending. Robby Benson is completely wrong as the American born what do you call a teenager with a Mexican mother and a white father who never took responsibility for him. He has no idea about his father until his grandmother dies and he goes down in Mexico where he meets his dad which begins to upset his whole identity. He's part of what he called "a club" which is really a gang, filled with anger and violence and stereotypical immaturity. All of the Mexican Americans speak with an accent that is very Speedy Gonzales / Frito Bandito in nature, and at times, Benson is so breathy that you fear he'll pass out from talking too much and not breathing while saying his lines. But there's a tenderness to his character underneath the violence, even before he finds out his true parentage, having fallen in love with a nice white girl (Sarah Holcomb) and even getting to meet her parents, given a warning by her possessive father. But it's more than the stereotypes that causes this film to fail. The situation is over the top and often unrealistic, and any attempts to be sincere fall flat. But it's not the complete disaster that its reputation has gotten, just disappointing considering that it could have really been an important film padded shoulder a more well-rounded view of the Mexican-American community. Benson isn't awful. He just isn't this character.

source: Walk Proud