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Post by wmcclain on Sept 4, 2020 11:59:05 GMT
Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970), directed by Ossie Davis. A charismatic preacher running a "Back to Africa" campaign enjoys wide community and political support. The only ones not buying it are some neighborhood Militants and -- more importantly -- police detectives Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones: "Two damn black maniacs on a powder keg". These would be Raymond St. Jacques and Godfrey Cambridge, who should have gotten a series out of this. When the funds are stolen in a violent heist, it's off the races to find out who's doing what to whom. And why is everyone after a stray bale of cotton that has mysteriously found its way into Harlem? I hadn't seen this for decades and it has a more filmed-in-the-streets look than I remember. I'd also forgotten gorgeous Judy Pace (nudity!) who worked a lot but was never a big star. It's called early blaxploitation and does have a bunch of those characteristics: funny, sexy and violent, black vs white, people vs The Man, ordinary decent folk vs the exploiters. It has has unusually pointed criticisms. Militants, crooked clergy, sincere clergy, church ladies, street hustlers, pathetic junkies: all spend time in the barrel. On the down side, the plot loses coherence at times, and the crowds are hard to understand: they love you, then they hate you, but it's not clear why. It's also disappointing that our heroes have to be bailed out by the mafia guy in the end. I'd forgotten: (1) Detective Grave Digger Jones carries a flare gun he uses to visit pyrotechnic mayhem on the bad guys, and (2) the Traveling Man: a character walking through several scenes who seems to be looking for a bed. Small roles for Redd Foxx and Cleavon Little. Available on Blu-ray from Kino.
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Post by london777 on Sept 4, 2020 15:52:08 GMT
I'd also forgotten gorgeous Judy Pace (nudity!) Straight onto my wants list. I need this film for sociological research.
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Post by teleadm on Sept 4, 2020 18:01:26 GMT
How funny, I just wrote that movie down on my "when I run out of ideas list" as a possibility a few days ago, I'll return when I've watched it.
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Post by Stammerhead on Sept 11, 2020 13:21:03 GMT
I watched it several times during my heavy weed-smoking period, so wasn't at my most critical. It wasn't as good as the book but still very enjoyable. I did see another Coffin Ed and Grave Digger film around the same time, but can't recall what it was offhand. I wonder why! Come Back, Charleston Blue (1972) Not as good as Cotton Comes to Harlem but still worth a watch.
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Post by london777 on Dec 19, 2020 0:21:04 GMT
I'd also forgotten gorgeous Judy Pace (nudity!) Straight onto my wants list. I need this film for sociological research. Acquired and watched it today. Plenty of energy but rather slapdash. You identified the high-spot (above).
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Post by bravomailer on Dec 19, 2020 4:24:54 GMT
The author of the book, Chester Himes, was an interesting figure.
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