cotton comes to harlem free download full movie Cotton Comes to Harlem. Harlem's African-American population is being ripped off by the Rev. Deke O'Malley, who dishonestly claims that small donations will secure parcels of land in Africa. When New York City police officers Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson look into O'Malley's scam, they learn that the cash is being smuggled inside a bale of cotton. However, the police, O'Malley, and lots of others find themselves scrambling when the money goes missing. Cotton Comes to Harlem streaming: where to watch online? Currently you are able to watch "Cotton Comes to Harlem" streaming on Criterion Channel or for free with ads on Pluto TV. It is also possible to rent "Cotton Comes to Harlem" on Apple iTunes, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube online and to download it on Apple iTunes, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube. Please enable your VPN when downloading torrents. If you torrent without a VPN, your ISP can see that you're torrenting and may throttle your connection and get fined by legal action! Get Express VPN. Loading, please wait. Synopsis. Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson are two black cops with a reputation for breaking the odd head. Both are annoyed at the success of the Reverend Deke O'Mailey who is selling trips back to Africa to the poor on the installment plan. When his truck is hijacked and a bale of cotton stuffed with money is lost in the chase, Harlem is turned upside down by Gravedigger and Coffin Ed, the Reverend, and the hijackers. Much of the humor is urban black, which was unusual in 1970. —John Vogel. Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson are two black cops with a reputation for breaking the odd head. Both are annoyed at the success of the Reverend Deke O'Mailey who is selling trips back to Africa to the poor on the installment plan. When his truck is hijacked and a bale of cotton stuffed with money is lost in the chase, Harlem is turned upside down by Gravedigger and Coffin Ed, the Reverend, and the hijackers. Much of the humor is urban black, which was unusual in 1970. —John Vogel. Uploaded By: FREEMAN August 09, 2016 at 03:08 AM. Director. Tech specs. Movie Reviews. Fresh, fast, and funny. A true trailblazer. 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. Interesting on the one side, but a little dull on the other. Buddy movie / crime caper with a new take on American culture when the sixties were coming to an end while racial tensions needed to be addressed. and so does 'Cotton comes to Harlem'. The film has a promising premise, but it doesn't play its cards right; pretty much straight away it isn't hard to guess that the 'good' reverend would have something to do with the heist. But the pay-off, when finally the curtain falls on him, is rather okay. Most of the other developments in the story didn't have to take as much time as they did (the two riots and the chase are perfect examples of scenes being dragged out too long). A lot of the humour was cheesy without a good punch nor delivery. Still, the film is an admirable try to focus on several difficult issues, and is the first in the blaxploitation genre, I've read, although this has hardly any of the gore, nudity or explosions in it that one would expect. But it does get across that a little bit of common sense and a sense of humour can go a long way against violence, ignorance, greed and apathy - well, one would hope. Godfrey Cambridge's terrific performance in 'Watermelon man' bumped this title up my list, and he does quite okay here, but the film itself is rather too long and at times on the dull side to allow anyone to truly shine. Well, Judy Pace deserves a mention - her black is beautiful and not to be messed with! A good 6 out of 10. If you want to see a true testament to black power in the seventies, go see 'Sweet Sweetback's baad asssss song', though! Back to Africa. This movie begins with a con-man by the name of "Reverend Deke O'Malley" (Calvin Lockhart) sponsoring a "Back to Africa" initiative and selling tickets to people in Harlem who are naive enough to trust him. However, his plans go awry when he attempts to fleece his partner who stages a heist and makes off with the $87,000 in revenue generated at Reverend O'Malley's benefit rally. This results in two hardened police detectives, "Grave Digger Jones" (Godfrey Cambridge) and "Coffin Ed Johnson" (Raymond St. Jacques) getting involved despite the obstacles put in their path by Reverend O'Malley, his girlfriend "Iris" (Judy Pace) and their own Chief of Police, "Captain Bryce" (John Anderson). Now, rather than disclose the rest of the movie and possibly ruining it for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that this was a pretty good "Blaxploitation" film. Although the story got a little complicated at first, all of the pieces of the puzzle seemed to fit by the end of the movie. And while I liked the performances of the aforementioned Godfrey Cambridge and Raymond St. Jacques, it was clearly Judy Pace who was the main attraction. In any case, while it may not be the best "Blaxploitation" film ever made it still wasn't too bad and I recommend it to those who enjoy movies of this sort. Cotton comes to harlem free download full movie. The July lineup at The Criterion Channel has been revealed, most notably featuring the new Wong Kar Wai restorations from the recent box set release, including As Tears Go By, Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express, Fallen Angels, Happy Together, In the Mood for Love, 2046, and his shorts Hua yang de nian hua and The Hand. Also among the lineup is a series on neo-noir with Body Double, Manhunter, Thief, The Last Seduction, Cutter’s Way, Brick, Night Moves, The Long Goodbye, Chinatown, and more. The channel will also feature a spotlight on art-house animation with work by Marcell Jankovics, Satoshi Kon, Ari Folman, Don Hertzfeldt, Karel Zeman, and more. With Jodie Mack’s delightful The Grand Bizarre, the landmark doc Hoop Dreams, Orson Welles’ take on Othello, the recent Oscar entries Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time and You Will Die at Twenty, and much more, Permalink Report this. The Criterion Channel’s February 2021 Lineup Includes Marlene Dietrich & Josef von Sternberg, Guy Maddin, Ghost Dog, and More. 26 January 2021 by Leonard Pearce The Film Stage. After unveiling the discs that will be arriving in April, including Bong Joon Ho’s Memories of Murder, Olivier Assayas’ Irma Vep, and more, Criterion has now announced what will be coming to their streaming channel next month. Highlights include retrospectives dedicated to Guy Maddin, Ruby Dee, Lana Turner, and Gordon Parks, plus selections from Marlene Dietrich & Josef von Sternberg’s stellar box set. They will also present the exclusive streaming premieres of Bill Duke’s The Killing Floor, William Greaves’s Nationtime, Kevin Jerome Everson’s Park Lanes, and more. Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, which recently arrived on the collection, will be landing on the channel as well, along with a special “Lovers on the Run” series including film noir (They Live by Night) to New Hollywood (Badlands) to the French New Wave (Pierrot le fou) to Blaxploitation (Thomasine & Bushrod) and beyond. Also. Permalink Report this. Anthony Chisholm Dies, Oz Star and Tony-Nominated Actor Was 77. 17 October 2020 by Jeremy Dick MovieWeb. Anthony Chisholm, the Tony-nominated actor who appeared in several movies and TV series, has passed away. The news comes from The Katz Company with a post on Facebook, although a cause of death hasn't yet been revealed. He was 77 years old. "The Katz Company is saddened to announce the passing of our longtime friend and client, Tony-Nominee, Anthony Chisholm," the post reads, including a photo of the veteran performer. "Affectionately called 'Chiz,' he was an actor and storyteller like none-other, embodying loyalty, devotion, and compassion to his artistry. We lost a great one today." Chisholm was born on April 9, 1943 in Cleveland, Ohio. After serving for the United States Army in the Vietnam War, Chisholm pursued acting by performance on stage at Cleveland's Karamu House. By 1968, he had made his movie debut in Jules Dassin's Uptight, and more movie and TV roles were quick to follow. This includes roles in. Permalink Report this. Anthony Chisholm Dies: Tony-Nominated Actor And Film, TV Star Was 77. 17 October 2020 by Bruce Haring Deadline. Anthony Chisholm, whose long acting career spanned Broadway, film and television, died today at age 77. No cause was given by The Katz Company, his talent management. Chisholm earned a 2007 Tony nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his role in August Wilson’s play Radio Golf. He was born on April 9, 1943 in Cleveland, Ohio, and was drafted by the US Army in the 1960s, serving as a platoon leader for the 4th Armored Calvary, 1st Infantry Division in the Vietnam War. Upon returning to the US, Chisholm performed in The Boys from Syracuse and The Threepenny Opera at Karamu House in Cleveland, Ohio. He made his film debut in the 1968 Uptight, directed by Jules Dassin. That launched a career that saw him in such films as Putney Swope in 1969 and Cotton Comes to Harlem in 1970. In 1987, Chisholm’s Vietnam War experiences were the inspiration for the HBO television series Vietnam War Story. Permalink Report this. ‘Shaft’ on Independence Day: The Film That Changed History on July 4th Weekend 1971. 05 July 2020 by Tom Brueggemann Indiewire. This weekend marks the 49th anniversary of the release of “Shaft.” Released in 1971, it grossed about $90 million in adjusted prices — a huge success, more than 25 times its cost. More importantly, it forced studios to acknowledge the Black audience segment that was long taken for granted. Hollywood studio filmmaking is 105 years old. But it took more than half of those years for major studios to release a film from a Black director. There were Black directors, but they were too few and far between. And The first Black director was silent filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, whose parents were former slaves. In the sound era, the first Black director was Spencer Williams, an actor best known as Andy of Amos n’ Andy. And while films in the 1960s began to tell Black stories such as “Lilies of the Field” and “A Raisin In the Sun,” they inevitably reflected white perspectives and denied Black. Permalink Report this. George Litto Dies: Talent Agent To Robert Altman And Ossie Davis Collaborator Was 88. 08 May 2019 by Anita Bennett Deadline. George Litto, a longtime Hollywood talent agent who represented blacklisted writers and collaborated with Melvin Van Peeples and Ossie Davis, has died. He was 88. Litto passed away at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on April 29 from complications of aortic stenosis, his daughter and business partner, Andria Litto, told Deadline. George Litto started in the mailroom at William Morris New York in 1954, and worked his way up to an agent, booking summer stock theatre. Among his early successes was helping Mae West secure a role in Come On Up (Ring Twice). There would be many other famous clients when he moved to boutique agencies in Los Angeles before opening The George Litto Agency in the mid-1960s. Litto represented Mel Davenport, aka Waldo Salt, who at the time was working in New York under his pseudonym because he was blacklisted. George put him to work under his own name on the film, Midnight Cowboy (1969). Permalink Report this. Willie Dynamite. 08 January 2019 by Glenn Erickson Trailers from Hell. Here’s something I never expected to see: I ran to the blaxploitation attraction Willie Dynamite because I like actress Diana Sands, and it’s her last picture in a too-short career. But the main character on view, a gaudy fur-wearing pimp, is played by none other than Roscoe Orman, well known to a couple of generations of kids as none other than ‘Gordon’ in the long-running TV show Sesame Street. It’s like watching MisterRogers play Hannibal Lecter! 1974 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 102 min. / Street Date January 8, 2019 / Available from Arrow Video / 39.95. Produced by Richard D. Zanuck, David Brown. Permalink Report this. Brown Sugar Svod Service Becomes An Amazon Channels Option. 05 September 2017 Deadline TV. Permalink Report this. Brown Sugar Svod Service Becomes An Amazon Channels Option. 05 September 2017 Deadline Movie News. Permalink Report this. Daily Dead’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide & Giveaways: Day 11 – Waxwork Records, FiveFingerTees, Star Wars Books, Hero Complex Gallery & More! 09 December 2016 by Heather Wixson DailyDead. Welcome back for Day 11 of Daily Dead’s fourth annual Holiday Gift Guide, readers! Once again, our goal is to help you navigate through the horrors of the 2016 shopping season with our tips on unique gift ideas, and we’ll hopefully help you save a few bucks over the next few weeks, too. For our second-to-last day of this year’s Gift Guide, we’re going to be featuring several great cult films that arrived on Blu-ray in 2016, as well as Star Wars books, a ton of horror-themed enamel pins, the amazing artwork of Hero Complex Gallery, FiverFingerTees, and much more! This year’s Holiday Gift Guide is sponsored by several amazing companies, including Mondo, Anchor Bay Entertainment, DC Entertainment, and Magnolia Home Entertainment, who have all donated an assortment of goodies to help get you into the spirit of the season. Daily Dead also recently teamed up with. Permalink Report this. Blaxploitation Streaming Service Brown Sugar Launches Online. 17 November 2016 by Joe Otterson The Wrap. Permalink Report this. September 20th Blu-ray & DVD Releases Include Beware! The Blob, Labyrinth 30th Anniversary Edition. 20 September 2016 by Heather Wixson DailyDead. The third week of September has a lot of fantastic horror and sci-fi home entertainment offerings coming our way, including an incredible pair of Criterion Blu-ray releases—Cat People (1942) and Blood Simple—as well as the 30th Anniversary Edition of Labyrinth and the Special Edition of Brian Trenchard-Smith’s Dead End Drive-In. Other notable titles being released on September 20th include the horror doc The Blackout Experiments (which premiered earlier this year at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival), Sacrifice, The Rift (1990), Beware! The Blob, and a Blu-ray set featuring all kinds of Twin Peaks goodness. Beware! The Blob (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray & DVD) Newly Re-mastered in HD! The Blob returns. more outrageous than ever in this 1972 sequel to the popular sci-fi classic! Plenty of familiar faces, including Robert Walker Jr. (Ensign Pulver), Larry Hagman (Dallas), Sid Haig (Busting), Burgess Meredith (Rocky), Dick Van Patten (Eight is Enough), Godfrey Cambridge. Permalink Report this. Friday Foster | Blu-ray Review. 09 June 2015 by Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com. Permalink Report this. The Scream Cast – Episode 47: Blaxploitation, Part 1. 05 February 2015 by Phil Wheat Nerdly. Welcome to the latest episode of The ScreamCast! In honor of Black History Month, hosts Sean Duregger and Brad Henderson begin a month long look into the Blaxploitation phenomenon of the 1970s. This week they lay the groundwork by discussing the explosion of Blaxploitation Cinema once Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song was unleashed by legend Melvin Van Peebles. Other films discussed are Cotton Comes To Harlem, Superfly and Shaft. Don’t forget to check out TheScreamCast.com for the show notes and for more news and reviews of Scream Factory releases and make sure to follow them on Twitter too! Podcast: Play in new window | Download. Permalink Report this. Review: "The Art Of Robert McGinnis" By Robert McGinnis And Art Scott (Titan Books) 10 January 2015 by [email protected] (Cinema Retro) CinemaRetro. For fans of movies of the 1960s and ’70s, his name ranks up there with the stars who made the major studio films of that era. Even though he didn’t actually “make” movies, his work most definitely did. Best known as the artist behind the “classic” James Bond posters, McGinnis worked for almost every publisher and major magazine for decades, putting his distinctive stamp on a huge, well, body of work, which is fully (and gloriously) represented in The Art of Robert E. McGinnis, a lush 176-page hardback now on sale from Titan Books. Since McGinnis is one of the most influential and iconic movie poster artists of the 20th Century, Cinema Retro was pleased to see him honored in this way. The book starts with McGinnis’s journeyman beginnings in the 1950s Cincinnati and New York advertising scenes, where he toiled away on. Permalink Report this. Blu-ray, DVD Release: The Pawnbroker. 04 April 2014 by Laurence Disc Dish. Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: April 22, 2014. Price: DVD $24.95, Blu-ray $29.95. Rod Steiger (On the Waterfront) earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his performance in the classic 1964 drama The Pawnbroker, directed by the great Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men, Network). Steiger plays Sol Nazerman, a survivor of a WWII Nazi death camp where his wife, parents and children were murdered. His soul robbed of hope, he takes refuge in misery and a bitter condemnation of humanity while managing a Harlem pawnshop subjected to an endless parade of prostitutes, pimps and thieves. Shot in gorgeous black-and-white by respected cinematographer Boris Kaufman (On the Waterfront) and featuring a memorably evocative trumpet score by Quincy Jones, The Pawnbroker is making its Blu-ray. Permalink Report this. Coolest of Crime Cinema: Essential Blaxploitation. 04 December 2012 by Gregory Day SoundOnSight. After all the debates, controversies, and stereotype accusations have cleared, looking back on Blaxploitation cinema today it’s easy to see healthy portions of the crime and action genres. Using these genres and the struggles of the black community, these films were created for those that wanted to see African American characters on the big screen not taking shit from the man, “getting over”, and–above all else—being the heroes in movies. In the documentary Baad Asssss Cinema, Samuel L. Jackson gives his take on the heroes of Blaxploitation: “We were tired of seeing the righteous black man. And all of a sudden we had guys who were…us. Or guys who did the things we wanted those guys to do.” The unsung supporting players in these films that backed Fred Williamson and Pam Grier and many other stars were people acting and making a living off of it. Permalink Report this. Novel Thoughts: A conversation with author James Sallis. 29 August 2012 by Trevor Flickeringmyth. Trevor Hogg chats with James Sallis about the craft of writing and music as well as his latest novel Driven. “No, from country folk who elevated themselves to lower middle-class,” answers James Sallis when questioned if he comes from an artistic family. “Something went horribly wrong, though; my brother [John], a well-known philosopher, is about neck-and-neck with me, as for books published.” The native of Helena, Arkansas observes, “Most things in our lives happen by chance; we seldom end up where we aimed. I’m a writer because I discovered early on that it was the one thing I’m really good at. The music developed alongside that. I’m not a particularly good musician, just an enthusiastic one. I write much as I play, improvising, reaching for surprise, for new sounds within the old; but the music is, at least in part, a refuge from my life among words.” Sallis. Permalink Report this. James Reviews Shout Factory’s Gordon’s War / Off Limits Double Feature [DVD Review] 04 July 2011 by James McCormick CriterionCast. Shout! Factory once again is giving us a double feature DVD, one a blaxploitation film set in New York City and the other a gritty noir-flavored film set in Saigon during the Vietnam War. Both have the connection to the war itself. And I’ll be the first to say that they are both worth your time, forgotten gems that have never seen the light of a DVD release until now. Ossie Davis directs Gordon’s War, actor and director who made what I consider the finest blaxploitation film around (Cotton Comes To Harlem) and he does wonders with a tried and through plot consisting of a man on a mission of revenge against those who wronged the people of his neighborhood in the mode of good ol’ 70′s vigilante justice. Gordon Hudson (Paul Winfield) comes home from the Vietnam War where he finds out that his wife has died from a heroin overdose. Permalink Report this. Party Favors: The Future’s So Bright. 10 June 2011 by UncaScroogeMcD Quick Stop. Sun City - What are you going to when it comes time to retire? Do you really have enough money saved up to last you for the rest of your life? Can you hold out till Willard Scott puts you on the Smuckers jar and wishes you a happy 100th? Will you really be enjoying the good life with round the clock sponge baths from young orderlies? Have you done the math to figure out how much it’ll cost for a day at a retirement community in 20 years? Can your 401K hold out? Odds are the answer is a resounding, “Maybe?” The golden years require platinum reserves. With talk that Medicare is about to be destroyed, your budget for health insurance is about to go completely out of control. When is the last time Blue Cross hyped individual policies for people hitting 90? Even the most frugal of senior citizens. Cotton Comes to Harlem. Harlem's African-American population is being ripped off by the Rev. Deke O'Malley, who dishonestly claims that small donations will secure parcels of land in Africa. When New York City police officers Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson look into O'Malley's scam, they learn that the cash is being smuggled inside a bale of cotton. However, the police, O'Malley, and lots of others find themselves scrambling when the money goes missing. Director. Producer. Writers. Editor. Cinematography. Art Direction. Composer. Costumes. Studio. Country. Language. Genres. 97 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film. Popular reviews. Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson are the two toughest baddest cops on the streets of Harlem. They might play by their own set of rules, but they get results. When an ultra charismatic preacher man's $87,000 is stolen in broad daylight; Grave Digger and Coffin know something ain't right. Is the preacher Black Jesus, or is he more of a Judas? Directed by the talented Mr. Ossie Davis; Cotton Comes to Harlem is a very early entry in the blaxploitation genre. Not only is it a blueprint for future blax, but it's a damn fine entertaining flick. How cool are the names Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson? Godfrey Cambridge plays Grave Digger. His sense of humor… "You could have been another Marcus Garvey or even another Malcolm X, but instead you ain't nothin' but a pimp with a chickenshit backbone." Though mostly regarded for his prolific acting career as well as his tireless devotion to civil rights activism, Ossie Davis also ventured behind the camera a handful of times, beginning with the jaunty 1970 Blaxploitation vehicle Cotton Comes to Harlem . Adapted by Davis and Arnold Perl from the 1965 Chester Himes novel of same name, the plot follows the highly unorthodox police work of NYPD detectives Gravedigger Jones (comedian and fellow activist Godfrey Cambridge) and Coffin Ed Johnson (Raymond St. Jacques) as they close in on a smarmy Black evangelist (Calvin Lockhart) who has bilked local… Proto-blaxploitation and proto-buddy cops, along with sharp social satire, authentic New York flavor and locations, and an absolutely first-rate car chase that stands among the best I’ve seen of the period. Not sure why I never got around to watching this one before; I was missing out. It’s streaming on Criterion Channel as of this writing. Really great little caper here. Could do with a series with the two cops Gravedigger and Coffin, they injected the right amount of humor and seriousness throughout. A lot of themes that still resonate today. "White shit about to hit black fan." Outstanding, foundational blaxploitation. A community sees itself represented onscreen, its characters replacing a white criminal power structure and the film itself usurping a predominantly white-populated genre. Blaxploitation by way of neo-noir by way of Hanna-Barbera. "Honkeys on the woodpile. that's something we hadn't figured on" -Cop, AND "What would a bail of cotton be doing in harlem?" -Uncle Bud, - Complex Top 50 Blaxploitation Films: boxd.it/1w5pa. Badass cops Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson are tying to find a bail of cotton with dirty cash hidden inside somewhere in Harlem but there are a whole lot of sinister elements looking for the same thing. who'll get there first? This movie features chases, gun play, memorable lines, a lot of funny jokes and a great cast. The story is pretty fun too. It's a dramatic suspense thriller with some great commentary on racial injustice. Gravedigger and Coffin Ed are Harlem cops, who may have broken some heads but never broke no promises, in the film that was ground zero for Blaxploitation cinema. Cotton Comes to Harlem, Ossie Davis' second directorial effort, is layered with character, detail and fine performances, and stands out as one of the more vibrant and less exploitive films of the Blaxploitation genre. Godfrey Cambridge and Raymond St. Jacques star as the lead cops, who know that something stinks when Reverend Deke (Calvin Lockhart) is taking $100 donations from the residents of Harlem and other cities from around the country to secure their spot on a cruise back to Africa. The officers will have to navigate colorful character actors (Redd Fox,… I guess every time I heard the title of this movie, I assumed Cotton was a person and he was going to arrive in Harlem to kick some ass, like when Shaft went to Africa. But it turns out that an unexpected bale of cotton is the Macguffin for a comedy/action crime piece about a preacher fleecing the poor people of 1970 Harlem and two black cops trying to straddle the line between serving their community and their role alongside the Man. I've caught a lot of the main blaxploitation canon, but somehow missed this until now and I'm kicking myself. What a great, funny, cool movie. Slips in commentary on black-on-black crime, police brutality, drugs, capitalism, and minstrelsy in… One of the most singular and vital entries from this era of the "Blaxploitation" sub-genre, with stunning location work, an incredible (and dangerous- looking) car chase, and a magnetic turn from Godfrey Cambridge as "Gravedigger Jones." Honestly, it's kind of insane to me that Shaft became such a success *after* something as strong as this had already come out. It's available now on the Criterion Channel as part of their Neo-Noir collection, and I can't recommend it highly enough. Took me too damn long to watch it myself. The Criterion Channel started a new collection this month of Neo-Noir. I’m excited to go through as much as I can. Wasn’t expecting to find classic Blaxploitation on the list, but it makes sense after watching. There’s definitely a well deserved pessimistic outlook in some of these films, combined with some awesome, and sometimes hilarious stunts. This is definitely one of those movies where I can feel the historical relevance, but the picture itself doesn't quite reach the same level. It's a damn fine cop movie, with fun characters, a good soundtrack, and a surprising amount of laughs. If anyone has a suggestion I'm curious what other of Ossie Davis directed films is worth checking out next? Recent reviews. The first in Criterion's Neo-noir collection so I figured I'd check it out. This was a super fun movie that had the 70s written all over it. Calvin Lockhart as Deke O'Malley was definitely my favorite part. While everyone did a good job, his performance was incredibly captivating. It makes me want to see him in more movies. Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed were both great as well. The central mystery here was fun but I think what really carried it was just the vibe and the wide cast of characters. It felt kind of like Brooklyn in Do the Right Thing in that the city of Harlem felt like a character itself. The side characters, like Uncle Buck, gave… Never made the connection between blaxploitation and noir but Cotton Comes To Harlem kicking off the Neonoir collection on Criterion Channel makes it obvious. I liked the Grave Digger/Coffin duo as detectives. The repeated use of the low camera angled up to show people being thrown was interesting…! Criterion Neo-Noir Collection (1/26) Criterion recently released a collection their streaming service that couldn't have been more for me, and it's chock full of movies that are up my alley, so of course I'm watching and reviewing them all. "Cotton Comes to Harlem" was a very fun start to this collection. Gritty, but with a cheeky sense of humor and tight, intriguing mystery, and clocking in at under 100 minutes, it's a breezy watch. Not to mention, it influenced the blaxploitation boom of the 70's and features a heavily black cast of talented actors. Having the villain be a black man exploiting his own people is a very inspired, interesting concept, and it's very well-done. I can't see why people are so middle-of-the-road about this at all. (I'm still trying to figure out why Cal shows up at the theater in blackface, though.) I feel like I can't really review this movie fairly, because it was most certainly not made for me. By all accounts, it killed upon release, and it was a pretty big deal for the time, as it was a Black movie where the comedy was Black. There were some good jokes in there, but for the most part, they fell flat for me. But I'm also not Black in 1970, so I can't fairly criticize it! The crime story being told in the center is a really good one, though. It is Of Its Time in the best possible way. A reverend is collecting money from people that he will use to send them back to Africa. The two… Incredible old NYC location shots. Doesn't really keep up the momentum of the badass opening shootout and chase, but the reveal at the very end makes up for a lot. Fun movie with a plot that feels all over the place at times, but with some excellent characters and scenes, including the Harlem car chase, “paper bag over your head” scene with cop, and the big climax at the Apollo. I find it pretty criminal that I have a whole ass film degree and somehow never heard of this until randomly seeing Criterion post it. This feels so iconic. The opening car chase alone. Though every female character is either smacked around or just tits out - I hate that thats just a sort of shrugging staple of movies like this. In the beginning there’s tons of funny and the two leads have great buddy cop chemistry. It lost me by the end though, couldn’t keep up the fun momentum. This has so much packed in, crazy to see how few moves have been able to touch the number of topics this one does. First watch off the Criterion neo-noir collection. A lot of fun; "We Kick Cotton's Ass" is a hoot, as are the two lead detectives. Coffin Ed and Grave Digger most underrated cop duo in movie history. Banger. CRITERION NEO-NOIR #6 OF 27. I'd only known Ossie Davis as an actor before this, but mad respect to the man for making COTTON COMES TO HARLEM. Brimming with soul and gospel music -- including Melba Moore singing the fitting lines, "it ain't now but it's going to be black enough for me" -- the film nods to the overwhelming whiteness of cinema as it puts its own focus on black stories and culture. Davis's dialogue is snappy, and his tour through Harlem at night has to be among the best NY sequences in film. The story is at times clunky and overexplained, but when it came out in 1970, the movie must have been such a fresh take on the noirish cop tale. Cambridge and St. Jacques are as charasmatic as any "buddy cop" types that came before them or after. Popular Lists. All the Movies. I’m sick of sorting through concerts, series, and other non-movies. Anything with more than 1,000 views on Letterboxd that’s longer… Newly Added July 2021 | Criterion Channel. July brings a bevy of femmes fatales, gumshoes, crooks, and con artists to the Channel with a 27-film spotlight on… The Criterion Channel: New Films for July 2021. 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Cotton Comes to Harlem is a crime and slice of life drama that begins and is centered around a robbery that takes place during a rally in Harlem. A series of characters embark on a day in their lives in Harlem, including Reverend Deke O'Malley, who is selling shares in a ship designed to carry African Americans to Africa. A robbery takes place of an armored truck in the area of the rally, which leads to detectives investigating the people of the area and determining that raw cotton is a major clue in who has taken part in the crime.