Abar, the First Black Superman{{short description|1977 film by Frank Packard}}

{{Multiple issues|
{{One source|date=April 2016}}
{{Unreliable sources|date=November 2019}}
}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Abar, the First Black Superman
| image =
| caption =
| director = Frank Packard
| producer = J. P. Joshua
| writer = J. Walter Smith ''(scenario)''
| screenplay = James Smalley
| story = James Smalley
| starring = J. Walter Smith<br>Tobar Mayo<br>Roxie Young
| music =
| cinematography = [[Ronald Víctor García]]
| editing = Jack Tucker
| studio = Jos-To Productions
| distributor = Mirror Releasing<br>Xenon Productions
| released = {{Film date|1977|3||''US ltd.''}}
| runtime = 102 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}

'''''Abar, The First Black Superman''''' is a 1977 [[blaxploitation]] [[superhero

film]] directed by Frank Packard and starring J. Walter Smith, Tobar Mayo, and
Roxie Young.<ref name=tcmart /> When it was released on VHS in 1990, it was re-
titled '''''In Your Face'''''.

==Premise==
Upon moving into a bigoted neighbourhood, the scientist father of a persecuted
black family gives a superpower [[elixir]] to a tough bodyguard, who then becomes a
[[Superhero|superpowered crimefighter]].

==Cast==
* J. Walter Smith as Dr. Kinkade
* Tobar Mayo as John Abar
* Roxie Young as Mrs. Kinkade
* Gladys Lum as Debbie Kinkade
* Tony Rumford as Tommie Kinkade
* Rupert Williams as Jim Kinkade
* Tina James as Susan Kinkade
* Art Jackson as Dudley
* Allen Ogle as Peabody
* Joe Alberti as Hunt
* Dee Turguand as Mabel

==Production==
The film was the brainchild of James Smalley, a black pimp from [[Louisiana]], and
Frank Packard, a white [[actor]] and [[screenwriter]]; it was filmed partly in a
working [[Brothel|whorehouse]]. Smalley ran out of money before the film was
completed, and had to sell the film to the owner of a film processing lab to settle
his unpaid bills.<ref name=tcmart />
Originally titled ''SuperBlack'', it was completed in 1975, but not released until
1977, under the name ''Abar, The First Black Superman''; it would be renamed again
for VHS release as ''In Your Face''. Its original release was very limited,
primarily to what was known as the "[[Chitlin' Circuit]]" of Southern [[drive-in
movie theater|drive-ins]].<ref name=tcmart>Smith, Richard Harland.
[http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/560517/Abar-the-First-Black-Superman/articles.html
"Articles: Abar, the First Black Superman (1977)"] [[TCM.com]]</ref>

The film was shot in the [[Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles|Baldwin Hills]] and [[Watts,
Los Angeles|Watts]] neighbourhoods of [[Los Angeles]] without permits to do so, and
at one point actual [[motorcycle gang]] members who had been hired to play a black
motorcycle gang surrounded the cars of the white police officers who had been
called in to shut down shooting. The officers chose to stay in their cars.<ref
name=tcmart />

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|tt0122116|Abar, the First Black Superman}}
* {{tcmdb title|560517}}
* {{YouTube|DrOEL_rV8N4|Abar, the First Black Superman Trailer}}

[[Category:Blaxploitation films]]
[[Category:1970s superhero films]]
[[Category:American superhero films]]
[[Category:African-American superhero films]]
[[Category:Film superheroes]]
[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
[[Category:1970s American films]]