Review of Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) by Monsieur R — 04 Oct 2010
Pre-dating SHAFT by a year, COTTON COMES TO HARLEM may be considered the real start of the blaxploitation genre; in any case, it actually outclasses SHAFT in nearly every way. The late, great Godfrey Cambridge stars, as detective Gravedigger Jones, alongside Raymond St.
Jacques as his partner Coffin Ed Johnson. Cambridge and St. Jacques have a great rapport together; Gravedigger is cool, level-headed, and witty, while Coffin Ed is harsh and righteous, caring less about the fact that money was stolen than the fact that it was stolen from the poverty-stricken residents of Harlem.
Cambridge is ideal in Gravedigger's witty moments, but the real delight, for Cambridge fans, is in seeing how smoothly he fits into the mechanics of a police procedural; his range is demonstrated well here, driving home the tragedy of his brief career.
St. Jacques walks a fine line between hardass and parody, but never loses his balance; together, they make one of the best cop-partner teams I've ever seen. Calvin Lockhart does quite well as Deke O'Malley, the slick, charismatic leader of a "Back to Africa" movement; the gorgeous Judy Pace has a magnetically vicious energy as his suspicious lover.
An added treat is Redd Foxx's small role as a good-natured bum, who stumbles upon the titular bale of cotton; he has a great scene with a junkdealer (Lou Jacobi) where they haggle over the cotton's price, and the final gag, involving him, is delightful.
Cleavon Little, of BLAZING SADDLES fame, has an interesting cameo as a drug-addicted conman. Ossie Davis' direction is sharp and witty, overcoming the occasional convolutions of the script (co-written by him with Arnold Perl).
The action scenes are thrilling, and the portrait of 70s Harlem is vivid, aided greatly by Gerald Hirschfeld's photography; Galt MacDermot's score is quite good as well. The plot, as noted, is a bit muddled at times, but one's attention is more than held throughout.
An overlooked classic, COTTON COMES TO HARLEM isn't just perfect for blaxploitation fans, but also for fans of police dramas.
This review of Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) was written by Monsieur R on 04 Oct 2010.
Cotton Comes to Harlem has generally received positive reviews.
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