Very well executed

Thanks for the memories!

Pretty Good

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Films such as "Shaft" and "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" may be generally credited for kick starting the blaxploitation boom of the 1970s, but this lively, engaging action comedy actually beat them to the punch. Adapted from the novel by Chester Himes, it was co-written and directed by the iconic black actor Ossie Davis, who guides all of it in high style. Well staged and well shot at various Harlem locations, it begins with a bang and holds your attention until a memorable finale at the Apollo.Godfrey Cambridge and Raymond St. Jacques star as hip, stylish police detectives "Grave Digger" Jones and "Coffin Ed" Johnson. They're suspicious of reverend / activist Deke O'Malley (Calvin Lockhart), and indeed the man is a big phony. At stake is $87,000 of the money of the hard working people of Harlem, who thought it was going towards a cruise to Africa. In their own "head breaking" but honourable way, Grave Digger and Coffin Ed work the clues and track down the cash, while dealing with a demanding white superior (John Anderson) and sundry other characters."Cotton Comes to Harlem" promises fine entertainment to come, in much the same way that Grave Digger and Coffin Ed follow through on their promises. The music score by Galt MacDermot is brilliant, as are the songs on the soundtrack. Director Davis keeps the pace, the laughs, and the action consistent. The cast is full of familiar faces: lovely ladies Judy Pace and Emily Yancy, the legendary Redd Foxx (just a few years before 'Sanford & Son'), Lou Jacobi, Eugene Roche, J.D. Cannon, Cleavon Little, Teddy Wilson, Helen Martin, and Leonardo Cimino. All of them are great, but it's the smooth chemistry between Cambridge and St. Jacques that dominates the proceedings. They make for a great pairing. They're smart, tough, and don't miss a beat.The ending offers a delicious twist that you won't see coming if you're not already familiar with the material.Followed by the sequel, "Come Back Charleston Blue".Eight out of 10.

Continuing to review movies featuring people of color in chronological order for Black History Month, we're still in 1970 when director Ossie Davis helps adapt Chester Himes' novel of the above title name with Arnold Perl co-writing. So it's with this film that we're introduced to the main characters of Gravedigger Jones (Godfrey Cambridge) and Coffin Ed Johnson (Raymond St. Jacques), Harlem detectives bent on protecting their own people. The villain here is the Rev. Deke O'Malley (Calvin Lockhart) who's swindling many of the city's poor residents of their money which is hidden in a bale of cotton. Among his accomplices is an Iris (Judy Pace). I'll stop there and just say that there are many witty lines and some funny scenes especially when they concern a dumb white fellow officer named Jarema (Dick Sabol). His scenes with the sexy Ms. Pace are highlights here. Also, Redd Foxx-in a role that anticipates his later TV character Fred Sandford-is Booker Washington Sims a.k.a. Uncle Bud who amusingly tries to sell the bale before attempting taking it back. Also amusing is Helen Martin-later of the TV series "227"-as a church sister. Davis also provides many exciting action set pieces. Does the whole thing make sense? Well, if you think too much about it, no. But it's a whole lot of fun nonetheless. So on that note, Cotton Comes to Harlem comes highly recommended.

Not only did "Cotton Comes to Harlem" mark the directorial debut of actor & writer Ossie Davis, but also this early blaxploitation epic introduced audiences to a pair of tough-talking, incorruptible New York Police Detectives nicknamed 'Gravedigger' Jones (Godfrey Cambridge of "Watermelon Man") and 'Coffin Ed' Johnson (Raymond St. Jacques of "Cool Breeze") as they contend with a charismatic religious figure whom they suspect may be swindling of his own poor people. The chief difference between "Cotton Comes to Harlem" and a standard white crime movie is the protagonists are African-American. The slang is predominantly African-American, but other minorities participate in the action, primarily the Italian mafia. The protagonists are the usual iconoclastic individuals who have alienated themselves from higher authority with their abrasive behavior. A police captain complains that Gravedigger and Coffin Ed have smart mouths, are quick with their fists, and too fast with their guns. Clearly, as far as the captain is concerned, Gravedigger and Coffin Ed qualify as maniacs who have no business in an investigation that is a powder keg of racial tensions. Their white police lieutenant defends them. He explains that they have a special way of handling Harlem crime and if they suspect somebody of criminal behavior, the lieutenant defers to their judgment. Meantime, Gravedigger and Coffin Ed see their job has protecting "the Black folks from the White folks." Initially, when we first see the Reverend Deke O'Malley (Calvin Lockhart of "Dark of the Sun"), he is in a Rolls Royce, cruising through gritty Harlem streets to a rally for his "Back To Africa" campaign. Gold money car with the silhouette cut-out of a luxury liner displayed prominently on its roof follows. This is the ship Rev. Deke calls 'Black Beauty.' Deke is selling tickets on it at a $100 minimum to take African-Americans back to Africa. Although the white establishment supports Deke, Gravedigger and Coffin Ed suspect Deke is swindling poor blacks out of their hard earned bucks. During the rally, Deke explains that God anointed him while he was in jail to build an ark and take his people back to Africa. While this self-proclaimed Noah assures blacks he can provide them with a better way of life away from racist white America, masked thugs in orange suits armed with submachine gun shoot up the meeting and rifle the safe in Deke's gold-painted armored car. They kill one of Deke's uniformed guards, John (Tony Brubaker of "Slaughter's Big Rip-Off"), and his wife watches him die. The robbers careen off in a meat truck with Deke following them and our heroes in hot pursuit.During the chase, a bale of raw, unprocessed cotton flies out of the rear of the truck onto the sidewalk. The robbers strafe Gravedigger and Coffin Ed. They collide with a produce wagon transporting watermelons. Eventually, the robber's truck and the armored car crash and burn up. Meanwhile, Gravedigger and Coffin Ed search for Deke. They visit his girlfriend, Iris (Judy Pace of "Three in the Attic"), and question her with luck about Deke's whereabouts. While they are interrogating Iris, Sergeant Jarema (Dick Sabol of "Come Back Charleston Blue") enters and informs them Lieutenant Anderson (Eugene Roche of "The Happening"), wants them at the scene of the accident. They order Jarema stay behind to keep an eye on Iris. Iris taunts Jarema into having sex with her. She makes him wear a brown paper bag. While he is putting on the bag, she escapes. Jarema locks himself out of her apartment, completely naked in the hallway for the other residents to see. Captain Bryce (John Anderson of "Young Billy Young") reprimands our heroes for suspecting Rev. Deke is a scammer. Later, Bryce complains to Anderson about their behavior. Deke decides to stay out of sight and conduct his own investigation. He convinces the wife of one of his dead guards to let him stay with her. Eventually, Gravedigger and Coffin Ed get Iris to inform on Deke and he goes to jail, but his attorney gets him out. Everybody is looking now for the bale of cotton that contains the stolen $87-thousand. Uncle Budd (Red Foxx) finds the bale and sells it for $25 to Abe Goodman, but Budd buys it back for $30. Eventually, our heroes catch up with Deke and expose him for the swindler that he is. Director Ossie Davis and television scribe Arnold Pearl penned the screenplay from Chester Himes' novel. Some of the dialogue is very sharp as are the blaxploitation slogans: "Keep it black till I get back." "Is that black enough for you?"Davis dilutes the thrills and chills of the meat truck & armored truck pursuit scene with four smaller scenes within it. These four sub-scenes feature mild comedy, while the primary scene depicts a chase through the streets of New York City. The gunmen in the meat truck riddle the unmarked police car, blast out its window, blow out its headlights, and obliterate the outside rearview mirrors. Oops, the driver's outside rearview reappears after bullets have torn it off the door when our heroes crash into a watermelon wagon.Several messages pervade this above-average crime thriller about the search for stolen loot. First, the meek shall inherit the Earth. Second, crime doesn't pay and criminals have to pay to ply their criminal vocation. Harlem blacks should control Harlem, not the Italian mafia. Our heroes force the Italian mafia to turn over their Harlem operation to a Black racketeer. Black women can outsmart white men. One black woman is depicted as a 'stone fox,' and she makes a buffoon of a cretinous white police sergeant. The interesting question that arises but is never resolved—and by extension gives "Cotton Comes to Harlem" a surreal quality—concerns the raw, unprocessed bale of cotton. Where did it come from and what is it doing in Harlem? Nobody ever answers this question.

Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson are two black cops working out of a Harlem precinct. They've got their eyes on a minister promising his poor parishioners the opportunity to travel to Africa for $100. Jones and Johnson see Rev. Deke O'Malley for the scammer he really is. But things get complicated when, during a recruitment rally, the $87,000 the good Reverend has collected is stolen by armed bandits. The only clue about the money's whereabouts is that it's been hidden in a bale of cotton. Hot on the trail of the cotton bale are the mob, the police, Reverend O'Malley, a junk dealer, a militant black group, and just about everyone else in Harlem.The first true blaxploitation movie (there seems to be some disagreement, but I'm not sure how you could go with Sweet Sweetback's Badasssss Song as it was released a year later), Cotton Comes to Harlem is wonderfully entertaining from start to finish. It's a non-stop comedic slice of life in Harlem in the early 1970s. The movie is filled with eclectic characters, unique set-pieces, interesting music choices, and real life locations you just can't replicate on a sound-stage. The plot has so much going on that it never gets old. Ossie Davis didn't direct many films, but he does an amazing job with this, his first, effort. It's a more professional looking product than many of the blaxploitation films that would come later. The acting is a highlight and is as good as I've ever seen in a movie of this type. Godfrey Cambridge gives a memorable performance as policeman Gravedigger Jones. Cambridge manages to be the standout in a strong cast. His partner, Raymond St. Jacques as Coffin Ed Johnson, is rock solid. The pair are joined by Calvin Lockhart, the stunning Judy Pace, Redd Foxx, and a slew of familiar faces. The comedy in Cotton Comes to Harlem has held up surprisingly well. Some of it might be considered un-PC in today's overly sensitive world, but I still found myself laughing along with many scenes. Overall, it's a well made movie that I fell no hesitation in rating an 8/10.