In the early 70s, Sal Watts, the owner a popular chain of Oakland clothing stores, took a look at the “blaxploitation” films coming out of Hollywood and thought to himself, “I can do better.”

For two years, Watts worked on his film.  Originally titled Black Agent Lucky King, the film took place in Oakland and an unnamed Middle Eastern country.  When the evil Prince Hassan (Richard Scarro) overthrows the king and takes over the country’s oil fields, Manny King (played by “Little Jamie” Watts) is among the Americans who escape from the country.  Accompanying him is Princess Oneeba (Claudia Russo), who I guess is supposed to be Hassan’s sister, though it’s never really made clear in the film.

Who is Solomon King?  He’s a businessman.  He’s a social activist.  He’s a former Green Beret and a semi-retried agent of the CIA.  All the women love him.  All the men envy him.  He’s the coolest guy in Oakland and everyone assumes that he’s the perfect person to keep Oneeba safe.  Solomon and Oneeba fall in love.  They talk walks along the beach.  Oneeba is amazed that you can hear the ocean when you hold a shell up to your ear.  The entire time, a man with a high-powered rifle is following Oneeba.  Finally, when Oneeba steps out onto the balcony of Solomon’s penthouse, the sniper take his shot.  Oneeba falls in slow motion.  Solomon holds her as she dies and then, he tries to cry.  In this scene, we’re reminded that crying on cue is not as easy as it looks and that Sal Watts was definitely not a trained actor.

Solomon is out for revenge.  He wants to take down Prince Hassan and return the king to his throne.  He also wants to get back the oil wells that Hassan stole from him and his family.  (The film makes it sound like everyone owns an oil well.)  The CIA suggests that Solomon should get some of his Green Beret pals together and overthrow Prince Hasan.  Sure, why not?  I mean, look how well that thinking worked when the CIA and the Mafia tried to invade Cuba!

Eventually, Solomon puts together an army and invades the unnamed Middle Eastern country.  Even though the country is supposed to be in the Middle East, it’s hard not to notice that it looks a lot like Oakland.  Solomon gets his revenge but nothing can bring Oneeba back to life….

Solomon King was long-considered to be a lost film.  A few years ago, a damaged print was discovered and the film was partially resorted.  (The original film reportedly ran close to two hours.  The restoration clocks in at 85 minutes.)  Solomon King is definitely a work of outsider art.  What Sal Watts lacked in experience and ability, he tried to make up for with determination.  There are a few genuinely well-done shots of Solomon driving his car.   (As befits the coolest guy in Oakland, he’s even got a phone in his car!) The soundtrack features an appealing mix of jazz and funk.  And there are a few politically-charged lines of dialogue that suggest that Sal Watts had more on his mind than just making another action film.  That said, Solomon King is also, even in its shortened version, a rather slow-paced and difficult-to-follow film.  The acting is terrible and the fight scenes are haphazardly edited in a way that’s meant to keep you from noticing that no one in the film is actually hitting anyone but which actually has the opposite effect.  My favorite moment was when there was a close-up of Solomon kicking out his leg and then an abrupt jump cut of someone falling backwards, trying to look as if they had been kicked. It was so unconvincing that it was actually kind of charming.

Solomon King is proof that anyone can make a film but making a good one is significantly more difficult.