Reviews (2)

A great movie that reflected the time it was made
Paul Winfield through this movie reflected the Black Consciousness Movement in America in the early 1970's. A clip of a wall sprayed with "Free Huey: Power to the people" is just a taste of it. Gordon's war against the pushers reflected the Black Panthers and other groups crusade against the Heroin epidemic that was raging in Harlem and other poor Black neighborhoods at the time.

A GREAT MOVIE!
This is one the best movies of the blaxploitation era, which strangely, didn't acquired the cult status that SUPERFLY, SHAFT & COFFY enjoy today. This movie has a great cast: a very young Paul Winfield(Gordon), Carl Lee ( Bee; who also played "Eddie" in SUPERFLY ), Gilbert Lewis ( Spanish Harry ) and a cameo role by a then very young unknown Grace Jones ( Mary ). The plot is catching: Gordon, a green beret vet from the Vietnam war returns home to find that out that his wife died victim of drugs. From that moment on, Gordon starts a war against all the pushers & drug dealers to get the dope out of Harlem. He recruits a few friends to help him stage this bloody battle against, mainly, Spanish Harry, the Big Shot of Harlem! The movie is fast paced with plenty of action and clever(70s) dialogue. Also the soundtrack is wonderful too. Songs like "Child Of Tomorrow", a beautiful sad ballad sung with deep soulness by Barbara Mason & "Come On And Dream Some Paradise",great funky music by New Birth, contributes as much to the plot as the visuals of the movie. This is an action movie with a message and a heart! I almost cried the first time I saw the ending of this movie back in 1973. I wish someone can make the soundtrack of this movie available again! Trust me on this one: GET THIS MOVIE! ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Wow.
Another movie in which Calvin Lockhart is momentarily shirt-less. A hundred, thousand, million stars!

Cotton Comes to Harlem
a little slow in delived but an excellent movie.

I thought it was a funny movie!
I am a huge fan of blaxploitation movies of the 1970s. I thought it was really funny, especially in the beginning of the movie. This is the kind of movie that you can't take very seriously because a lot of it is cliche. Calvin Lockhart's character (Rev. Deke O'Malley) is conniving, but irresistable. You will enjoy this DVD!

Two Words: Judy Pace!
Seeing Judy Pace in this movie is worth the price of admission alone! The movie itself has an interesting storyline and it does bounce around a little but is definately entertaining. This movie isn't as cliche as many of the other films in this genre. There are some good chase scenes and it was interesting to see Redd Foxx pre 'Sanford and Son'. I would consider this one of the most important movies of the blaxploitation genre.

One of the Best Films of the Day, That Set the 70s STYLE
"Cotton Comes to Harlem" is a solid, funny, and most of all, cool movie which was, besides "Shaft" and "Coffy," to set the trend of the black movies of the 70s. Look how Godfrey Cambridge and Raymond St. Jacques walk and talk, and you'll know the meaning of "style."

Based on Chester Himes's novel, the film follows the two super-cool cops who suspect that Rev. O'Malley's "Back to Africa" campaign (minimun entry 100 dallors needed) is a fraud to steal money from people living in Harlem. But things get complicated when, during the rally, the organization is attacked by masked gangsters who took the money of $87,000, and that was done under the nose of the very cops. Determined to nail the criminal, and possibly the preacher himself, the detective Gravediffer & Coffin start their investigation, and do it in their own fashion.

The film keeps the fast pace with a tightly knit web of characters including Reverend's beautiful wife Iris. But most charming part of the film remains the same today: its being funny and smart. In fact, you will see among violent actions suddenly unexpected humor. The best thing of the film is, in my book, the car chase scene that include "the cemetary chase" and "a flying guy." The film also ends with a showdown in the Apollo Theater (though I don't know whether the inside scene of it was really shot there) And the real Harlem locale of the 70s, which helps to create the authentic atomospher, would be someday a precious record of the New York City.

In short, this is a film Quentin Tarantino with his known flair for characters and story might have shot 30 years ago. Some part of the film look, I admit, dated today when you see women's parts are little better than secondary, just catering obligatory sex scenes. Still, those scenes have been given slight touch of humor, that might almost compensate for the lack of the screen goddess like Pam Grier. Buy this one, along with "Coffy" and "Shaft" and perhaps "Across the 110th Street." That makes a quick course of learning what the blaxploitation films are all about.

Those two main charaters are to reappear in "Come Back Charlston Blues," which is, unfortunately, not as good as this one. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Based on Chester Himes'snovel, this film marked actor-writer Ossie Davis's directing debut. Godfrey Cambridge and Raymond St. Jacques play Himes's volatile police detectives, Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson, who are on the trail of white men who pulled an armed stickup at a Back to Africa rally in Harlem. The money belongs to the poor people who paid for a chance to return to the motherland--but was it really a stickup? Or is the flashy preacher at the center of the Back to Africa movement (Calvin Lockhart) involved in a scam to rip off his own people? The plot drags; the best part of the film are the performances (as well as spotting cameos by such actors as the then-unknown Cleavon Little) and the on-location shooting in parts of New York where a camera had rarely ventured previously. Redd Foxx shows up in a small part as a ragpicker that led to his role in TV's Sanford and Son. --Marshall Fine ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Wow.
Another movie in which Calvin Lockhart is momentarily shirt-less. A hundred, thousand, million stars!

Cotton Comes to Harlem
a little slow in delived but an excellent movie.

I thought it was a funny movie!
I am a huge fan of blaxploitation movies of the 1970s. I thought it was really funny, especially in the beginning of the movie. This is the kind of movie that you can't take very seriously because a lot of it is cliche. Calvin Lockhart's character (Rev. Deke O'Malley) is conniving, but irresistable. You will enjoy this DVD!

Two Words: Judy Pace!
Seeing Judy Pace in this movie is worth the price of admission alone! The movie itself has an interesting storyline and it does bounce around a little but is definately entertaining. This movie isn't as cliche as many of the other films in this genre. There are some good chase scenes and it was interesting to see Redd Foxx pre 'Sanford and Son'. I would consider this one of the most important movies of the blaxploitation genre.

One of the Best Films of the Day, That Set the 70s STYLE
"Cotton Comes to Harlem" is a solid, funny, and most of all, cool movie which was, besides "Shaft" and "Coffy," to set the trend of the black movies of the 70s. Look how Godfrey Cambridge and Raymond St. Jacques walk and talk, and you'll know the meaning of "style."

Based on Chester Himes's novel, the film follows the two super-cool cops who suspect that Rev. O'Malley's "Back to Africa" campaign (minimun entry 100 dallors needed) is a fraud to steal money from people living in Harlem. But things get complicated when, during the rally, the organization is attacked by masked gangsters who took the money of $87,000, and that was done under the nose of the very cops. Determined to nail the criminal, and possibly the preacher himself, the detective Gravediffer & Coffin start their investigation, and do it in their own fashion.

The film keeps the fast pace with a tightly knit web of characters including Reverend's beautiful wife Iris. But most charming part of the film remains the same today: its being funny and smart. In fact, you will see among violent actions suddenly unexpected humor. The best thing of the film is, in my book, the car chase scene that include "the cemetary chase" and "a flying guy." The film also ends with a showdown in the Apollo Theater (though I don't know whether the inside scene of it was really shot there) And the real Harlem locale of the 70s, which helps to create the authentic atomospher, would be someday a precious record of the New York City.

In short, this is a film Quentin Tarantino with his known flair for characters and story might have shot 30 years ago. Some part of the film look, I admit, dated today when you see women's parts are little better than secondary, just catering obligatory sex scenes. Still, those scenes have been given slight touch of humor, that might almost compensate for the lack of the screen goddess like Pam Grier. Buy this one, along with "Coffy" and "Shaft" and perhaps "Across the 110th Street." That makes a quick course of learning what the blaxploitation films are all about.

Those two main charaters are to reappear in "Come Back Charlston Blues," which is, unfortunately, not as good as this one. ... Read more