Black Mama White Mama

Black Mama White Mama
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Eddie Romero
Produced by	John Ashley and Eddie Romero
Written by	screenplay by H. R. Christian from an original story by Joseph Viola and Jonathan Demme
Screenplay by	H. R. Christian
Story by	Joseph Vila Jonathan Demme
Starring	Pam Grier Margaret Markov
Music by	composed and conducted by Harry Betts
Cinematography	Justo Paulino
Edited by	Asagani V. Pastor
Distributed by	American International
Release date	January 19, 1973
Running time	87 minutes
Country	United States Philippines
Language	English
Box office	$1 million (US/ Canada rentals)

Black Mama White Mama is a 1973 women in prison film with elements of blaxploitation, starring Pam Grier and Margaret Markov, and directed by Eddie Romero. The film is also known as Hot, Hard and Mean (British release title). The film is inspired by The Defiant Ones (1958), where Sidney Poitier (black) and Tony Curtis (white) are shackled together, as Grier (black) and Markov (white) are in this film. The film was set in an unspecified Latin American country (referred to only as "the island") but shot in the Philippines for budgetary purposes.

Brought to a women's prison in a tropical country which resembles the film's Philippines-set location, Lee Daniels (Pam Grier) and Karen Brent (Margaret Markov), a prostitute and a revolutionary respectively, butt heads and cause enough trouble to warrant transfer to maximum security prison. They are chained together during the transfer, much to their dismay, and an attack by Karen’s rebel friends set them free, albeit still chained together. The film chronicles the pair’s struggle to escape the army, led by Captain Cruz (Eddie Garcia) who enlists the help of the cowboy gang led by Ruben (Sid Haig). The pair also has competing goals: Lee to recover the money she extorted from her former pimp Vic Cheng (Vic Díaz) and escape by boat, and Karen to meet her gun connection on time so they don’t turn on her rebel friends. The pair finally bond despite their initial hate for each other until they are finally freed by the rebel leader Ernesto (Zaldy Zshornack). The film culminates in a violent shootout with Cheng and Ruben's henchmen (who are rivals), Ernesto's guerrillas, and the army.

The film takes its inspiration from the concept of shackling a black actor and a white actor together introduced by The Defiant Ones (1958).