Local Production: “The Search for Count Dante” moving towards completion.

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John Timothy Keehan, a rich kid from Beverly, who used his martial arts skills to train anyone who wanted to learn irregardless of race, gender or questionable relationships to law enforcement.
John Timothy Keehan, a rich kid from Beverly, who used his martial arts skills to train anyone who wanted to learn irregardless of race, gender or questionable relationships to law enforcement.

Black World Cinema Curator Floyd Webb is in the process of completing his long-in-production documentary “The Search for Count Dante.” His most recent local interviews have included, 72 year old Green Dragon Master JohnRa Thomas and 1962-1969 student Nganga Tolo-naa(Ray Cooper)>

Nganga Tolo naa (Ray Cooper) interview Excerpt for The Search for Count Dante from Floyd Webb on Vimeo.

In the 1960s and 70s, his scowl was unmistakable and his kung fu pose conveyed a menace that went beyond martial arts mastery. He called himself Count Dante and he claimed to be “The Deadliest Man Alive” in garish comic book ads and gruesome instructional manuals. While his name and title may have been more show biz than lineage, his drive to live up to his fearsome reputation left one man dead and a promising career in ruins.

Count Dante’s real name was John Keehan and he grew up in a posh section of Chicago. In the early 1960s he was one of the most intriguing figures in America’s nascent martial arts scene. Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris were his contemporaries, but Keehan’s appetite for self-promotion was greater than a movie star’s. When he wasn’t putting on karate tournaments, he was styling hair and courting Playboy Bunnies. He was one part “Black Belt Jones” and one part Warren Beatty from “Shampoo.” He challenged Muhammad Ali to promote the first early professional Mixed Martial Arts events, tested his hand speed against a quick draw artist, and kept an African lion as a house pet.

But as the 1960s gave way to the 70s, Keehan could no longer separate himself from the macho marketing tool that he created. Rival dojos were stormed, the life of Keehan’s best friend was lost and Dante became involved in the Purolator Armored Car Robbery in 1974 that netted four million dollars. Soon after the robbery, Dante mysteriously died and was buried in an unmarked grave.

Floyd’s  struggles to make this film have been epic, with a decade that has included Fair Use challenges in Boston Federal Court (settled in his favor), threats of Fall River hitmen and meetings with member of “Secret Societies” and Chicago masters of the occult. Production has taken place in Chicago, Paris, Los Angeles, Brighton, UK & New York City. With more interviews taking place in Seattle WA, Phoenix AZ and Newark, New Jersey. He has interview martial arts personalities and Robert Rankin, a British writer of “Far-Fetched Fiction.”

Along the way Webb has met martial artist from all cultures who either revere or curse John Keehan/Count Dante’s name. While Count Dante lives at the center of the story, the social history of martial arts in America is explored, from the Judo dojo in Teddy Roosevelt’s White House to it’s entrance into the popular culture of jazz age and as a symbol of empowerment for the Sufferage Movement. The popularity of martial arts begins to climax in the 1970s with the rise of Count Dante’s contemporary Bruce Lee, He finds himself left in relative obscurity after the tragic dojo war which leaves his best friend dead.

Search for Count Dante Trailer Remix from Floyd Webb on Vimeo.
Trailer for the documentary work-in-progress, The Search for Count Dante

We need your support to complete The Search for Count Dante. You can make donations to the film at the website: http://thesearchforcountdante.com, or:

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