Melinda is a 1972 American drama film directed by Hugh A. Robertson and written by Lonne Elder III. The film stars Calvin Lockhart, Rosalind Cash, Vonetta McGee, Paul Stevens, Rockne Tarkington and Ross Hagen. The film was released on August 16, 1972, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. This film marked karate champion Jim Kelly's first appearance in a film.

Plot

Frankie J. Parker is a Los Angeles radio disc jockey. In his spare time, Frankie takes karate lessons at a school run by his friend Charles Atkins. A woman in a rental car, newly arrived from Chicago, listens to Frankie's radio program. They meet at a nightclub owned by another of Frankie's friends, former football player Tank Robertson, where she introduces herself as Melinda. He invites her to a party on Tank's yacht, making his girlfriend Terry Davis jealous. Frankie takes Melinda to his apartment, unaware that they are being followed by a thug. They make love and, the next morning, Melinda tells the womanizing, easy-going Frankie that he has the makings of a more serious, substantial man. After Frankie leaves for work, leaving Melinda alone in his apartment he begins to realize he has developed strong feelings for Melinda. When he returns home from work, he finds the apartment ransacked and Melinda murdered.