boiling cauldron of water, Mede tries to tell him that Blanche blackmailed him into having sex with her. Hammond shoots Mede twice with a rifle and the second shot throws Mede into the boiling water. Hammond uses a pitchfork to drown Mede. In a fit of fury, the slave Agamemnon picks up the rifle and aims it at Hammond. When Warren calls him a "crazy nigger" and demands that he put the gun down, the slave shoots and kills Warren. As he runs away, Hammond kneels helpless next to Warren's lifeless body. Cast James Mason as Warren Maxwell Susan George as Blanche Maxwell Perry King as Hammond Maxwell Richard Ward as Agamemnon Brenda Sykes as Ellen Ken Norton as Mede Sylvester Stallone as Lynching Witness (uncredited) Production The original novel sold over 4.5 million copies. Film rights were eventually bought by Dino de Laurentiis. Producer Ralphe Serpe said during filming that the movie was: A human, sociological story that's going to bring about a better understanding between the races ... We're faithful to the story of the book but not the spirit. I mean, the book's hackwork, isn't it? It's almost repulsive. A lot of people have read it, but they read it for the wrong reasons. It's really a story of love. We had the script rewritten three times. ... I hated that ending in the book where the guy boils the slave down and pours the soup over his wife's grave. I mean, we have the slave boiled but we cut out the part where he pours the soup on his grave. He just ... pulls away. And we know that tomorrow there's going to be a lot of trouble. It's really a very beautiful ending. Charlton Heston turned down the role of the father and the role of his son was rejected by Timothy Bottoms, Jan Michael Vincent, Jeff Bridges and Beau Bridges. Boxer Ken Norton turned down a $250,000 gate to fight Jerry Quarry to make the film. Reception Contemporary reviews The critical reception of Mandingo was predominantly negative upon release, with the film being seen as being campy by reviewers in 1975. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film only holds a 26% critical approval rating. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times criticized the film, calling it "racist trash, obscene in its manipulation of human beings and feelings, and excruciating to sit through in