Review of Black Caesar (1973) by Stuart K — 20 Jan 2012

Written, produced and directed by Larry Cohen, who came from writing television shows like The Fugitive and Columbo, and later screenplays for films like Phone Booth (2002) and Cellular (2004) comes this down and dirty rags to riches crime drama.

It's quite powerful, and despite being shot on the cheap, it has a clout. Tommy Gibbs (Fred Williamson), has grown up on the mean streets of Harlem in New York, back in the 1950's he was brutally attacked by a racist white cop called McKinney (Art Lund), and since then, he's turned to a life of crime.

We pick up Tommy's life in 1965, as he joins the New York mafia, and works his way up the ranks eventually becoming head of his very own black crime syndicate in Harlem. He even has his own father Mr.

Gibbs (Julius W. Harris) helping out, and Tommy ends up falling for Helen (Gloria Hendry), who he ends up marrying. Now in control of his own criminal empire, he uses it to take control of organised crime throughout New York City, and it isn't long before he's being targeted for assassination, and the cops are on his tail as well.

It's well filmed with a likable lead performance by Williamson, who mixes toughness with coolness, and it comes across as one of the best blaxploitation films of it's day, violent but done with a cool, blackly comic flair as well, plus this has an ace score by James Brown too.