Mr. Mean is a 1977 action crime film written and directed by Fred Williamson.
Plot
Mr. Mean is hired by a former Cosa Nostra henchman to kill a mafia leader named Ranati who is embarrassing the mafia by stealing from the impoverished through fake charitable organizations. He then becomes a target himself.
Cast
Fred Williamson as Mr. Mean
Lou Castel as Huberto
Raimund Harmstorf as Rommell
Crippy Yocard as Rene
Antonio Maimone as Rico
Rita Silva as Carla
Pat Brocato as Tony
David Mills as Lt. Rigoli
Stelio Candelli as Ranati
Tawfiq Said as Driver
Angela Doria as Farm Girl
Richard Oneto as Man
Satch as Self
Charles Borromel as Johnny
Ohio Players as Themselves
Angelo Ragusa as Thug (uncredited) Franco Ukmar as Thug (uncredited)
Production
Fred Williamson produced Mr. Mean while filming The Inglorious Bastards by taking the camera equipment and crew every weekend, without the producers’ knowledge. He wrote the story Monday to Friday and shot on the weekends what he had written that week.
Release
Mr. Mean was released theatrically with an "R" rating. It was later released on VHS by Rhino and on Blu-ray by Code Red.
Soundtrack
The Ohio Players appear in the film as themselves and offer to play a song they have written for Fred Williamson's character Mr. Mean. They then play the title song "Mr. Mean" from the eponymous soundtrack album as the opening credits to the film roll. The soundtrack was released in December 1977.
Reception
The film review website Pulp International gave the film a negative review, writing of Williamson, "He should have done better, since this was his fifth go-round of nearly twenty in the director's chair. Possibly the studio messed up his final cut. Or, considerably more likely, it was a disaster from the snap." The review concludes that Williamson "just dropped the ball."
The film review website spicyonion.com wrote that "Mr. Mean certainly fulfills audience expectations".
Charlie Jane Anders of Gizmodo listed Mr. Mean as one of the reasons "you would think people would have learned not to fuck with Fred Williamson".
Brad Avery of vanyaland.com described Mr. Mean as one of Williamson's "more macho characters".
The Department of Afro American Research, Arts, and Culture added the film's poster to its archive, writing, "dead men tell no tales, but some men are just too mean to die!"