Black Rebels / Murder In Mississippi

Starring: Rita Moreno & Sheila Britton Director: Richard L. Bare & Joseph P. Mawra

DVD Features:

Audio:

• Dolby Digital Mono - English

Additional Release Material:

• Bonus Featurette - 1. THE NEGRO FARMER, 1937 US Dept. of Agricultural short
• Trailers - 1. Theatrical trailer for BLACK REBELS under the title, LOLA'S MISTAKE
               2. THE COLOR OF HER SKIN
               3. FREE WHITE AND 21
               4. HIGH YELLOW
               5. THE HOOKERS
               6. MY BABY IS BLACK

Text/Photo Galleries:

• Photo Gallery - 1. Drive-in Exploitation Art with Audio Oddities

Description by OLDIES.com:

"We don't want your kind around here!" When drug-dealing Buck kills the boyfriend of Lola Montalvo (West Side Story Oscar winner Rita Moreno) then pins the rap on her brother, Lola seeks revenge by pretending to love Buck - moments after Buck's former girlfriend (Dyan Cannon!) tries to stick a switchblade in his back! All of which culminates in a race riot at the home of a high-school rich kid involving black, white, and Mexican gangs, undercover cops, Lola's poor ol' papa, and even a pool full of naked girls. Originally released as This Rebel Breed, producer William Rowland revamped this racially-charged teensploitation classic by adding nudie sex scenes and re-releasing it on the exploitation circuit as Lola's Mistake, Three Shades of Love, and Black Rebels!

Plus: Voter registration leads to Murder in Mississippi when a "cracker" Sheriff arrests white dilettante Carol Byrd and two other "Communist Yankees" for "agitating colored folks." Though her friends are killed, Carol is kept alive as the personal sex slave of two white-trash cretins in this nasty lesson in racial intolerance from the director of Olga's House of Shame. The 1964 murders of three civil-rights workers so appalled the nation that Hollywood waited 24 years before tackling the subject with 1988's Mississippi Burning. Not so with this eager-to-offend exploitation gem, loosely based on the killings and geared for the grindhouse crowd, which remains profoundly disturbing today.

Product Description:

Dated teen drama BLACK REBELS (1960) mixes violence, racial tension, and soft-core sex into an uncomfortable yet fascinating stew. The soapy plot has Hispanic Lola romancing and then plotting revenge on Buck, the white gang leader who killed her brother, while a race riot between black, white, and Hispanic gangs erupts at their high school. Thrown in for good measure are drug dealers, undercover cops, parents who just don't understand, and a significant amount of skinny dipping.

The staggeringly exploitative MURDER IN MISSISSIPPI (1965) is another, more disturbing racially themed movie, and it has not aged gracefully. Loosely inspired by the tragic real-life murder of three civil rights workers in Mississippi in 1964, this grindhouse flick has three crusading Northerners assaulted by rednecks; the men are killed, but pretty Carol is kept alive as a sex slave for two "crackers." From the director of CHAINED GIRLS and OLGA'S HOUSE OF SHAME, the movie is profoundly offensive, but certainly an unusual viewing experience in today's more sensitive climate.

Plot Keywords:

Drama | Racism

Cast and Crew: