Story of movie Good Guys Wear Black : Good Guys Wear Black is a 1978 American action film starring Chuck Norris and directed by Ted Post. This was the second film to feature Norris as the star. The film featured a first screen appearance by Norris' brother Aaron Norris and final appearances by Lloyd Haynes, Dana Andrews and Jim Backus.
| Good Guys Wear Black | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Ted Post |
| Produced by | Allan F. Bodoh Mitchell Cannold Michael Leone |
| Screenplay by | Bruce Cohn Mark Medoff |
| Story by | Joseph Fraley |
| Starring | Chuck Norris Anne Archer Soon-Tek Oh Dana Andrews James Franciscus Lloyd Haynes Jim Backus |
| Music by | Craig Safan |
| Cinematography | Robert Steadman |
| Edited by | Millie Moore William Moore |
Production company | Action One Film Partners, LTD Mar Vista Productions Western Film Productions |
| Distributed by | American Cinema Releasing |
Release date |
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Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1 million |
| Box office | $18.3 million (United States) |
Screenplay
Back in 1973, one United States Senator Conrad Morgan (James Franciscus), the chief delegate diplomat in negotiating the terms of the end of Vietnam War, made a deal in Paris, France with Kuong Yen, the North Vietnamese negotiator. The deal called for Yen to release certain key CIA POWs in exchange for Morgan setting up a death-trap for an elite group of CIA assassins, known as the Black Tigers. The treaty signed, the Black Tigers were sent into the jungles of 'Nam to their unknowing demise, under the guise that they were on mission to liberate American POWs. However, the negotiators failed to realize one thing: the commando's team leader was one Major John T. Booker (Chuck Norris). So, needless to say and despite all odds, Booker survives. As do the four men wise enough to have remained in his general vicinity.
Five years after returning from Vietnam, Booker, now living in Los Angeles, California, is now working as a political science professor at UCLA, donning a post-war moustache, and with a hobby of race car–driving. Booker lectures to a bunch of kids on how the war should not have happened, and that the U.S. should not have been involved. He then jokes about singing patriotic songs the following week to atone. Sitting in on one of his lectures is a bright female reporter named Margaret (Anne Archer) who starts asking some very specific questions about the botched rescue mission. It seems that someone is slowly killing all the surviving members of the special forces team.
Booker is suddenly thrown back into his past when Morgan's appointment as Secretary of State spurs Yen to blackmail his ex-negotiations buddy into making good on his unfinished deal: the extermination of the Black Tigers.
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Chuck Norris | Major John T. Booker (The Black Tigers) |
| Anne Archer | Margaret |
| James Franciscus | Conrad Morgan |
| Lloyd Haynes | Murray Saunders |
| Dana Andrews | Edgar Harolds |
| Jim Backus | Albert (The Apartment Doorman) |
| Lawrence P. Casey | Mike Potter (The Black Tigers) |
| Anthony Mannino | Gordie Jones (The Black Tigers) |
| Soon-Tek Oh | Mjr. Mhin Van Thieu (The Black Tigers) |
| Joe Bennett | Lou Goldberg (The Black Tigers) |
| Jerry Douglas | Joe Walker (The Black Tigers) |
| Stack Pierce | Holly Washington (The Black Tigers) |
| Michael Payne | Mitch (The Black Tigers) |
| David Starwalt | Steagle (The Black Tigers) |
| Aaron Norris | Al (The Black Tigers) |
| Don Pike | Hank (The Black Tigers) |
| Benjamin J. Perry | Finney (The Black Tigers) |
| Kathy McCullen | Kelly |
| Michael Stark | Pitman |
| James Bacon | Senator |
| Hatsuo Uda | Shoeshine Man |
| Virginia Wing | Mrs. Mhin Van Thieu |
| Viola Harris | Airline Ticket Agent |
| Jacki Robins | Fat Lady |
| Pat E. Johnson | CIA Agent |
| Warren Smith | James (Morgan's Chauffeur) |
| Dick Shoemaker | Newscaster |
Norris said a friend wrote the script from a storyline he devised with one of his students.
Chuck Norris had a long dialogue scene with James Franciscus about the Vietnam War. Steve McQueen, who Norris knew, saw it and advised Norris to let support characters take care of the exposition, "then when there's something important to say, you say it." "Let the co-stars do the b.s. dialogue," Norris says McQueen told him. "I do it. Eastwood does it. Bronson does it."
The movie grossed $18 million at the box office, due in part to a year-long publicity tour Norris did. It received generally poor reviews.
Chuck Norris' character in The Expendables 2 is named Booker "The Lone Wolf", in homage to John T. Booker in Good Guys Wear Black.
- Chuck Norris filmography
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