Black Caesar

1973 "Hail Caesar Godfather of Harlem!"
6.4| 1h34m| R| en
Details

Tommy Gibbs is a tough kid, raised in the ghetto, who aspires to be a kingpin criminal. As a young boy, his leg is broken by a bad cop on the take, during a pay-off gone bad. Nursing his vengeance, he rises to power in Harlem, New York. Angry at the racist society around him, both criminal and straight, he sees the acquisition of power as the solution to his rage.

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Reviews

Ehirerapp Waste of time
Diagonaldi Very well executed
Majorthebys Charming and brutal
Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
tomgillespie2002 Not one to miss on an opportunity, Larry Cohen's second feature film utilised the explosion of blaxploitation cinema after the successes of Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971) and Shaft (1971), and crafted his own "black" action film, modelled on the 1931 film Little Caesar. Fred Williamson plays the titular role, a boy from the streets, witnessing and being victim of brutality from the white community, and particularly a local police officer, McKinney (Art Lund). As an adult, Caesar's goal is to become kingpin of Harlem, and he won't let anything stand in his way.The narrative is a story told over, which focuses on a person who looses everything in the pursuit of power, including childhood friends, wives, and particularly looses sight of the person that they are. It's always great to watch a Cohen movie from this period. When filming in the streets (in this case New York - of which is his usual setting), his guerilla-style is self evident: clearly in the making of these films, Cohen does not get any kind of permission to film, he simply turns up and does it. In one scene, Williamson has been shot, the camera follows him down the busy street from a roof top, and passers by seem to want to help him. It's these elements of exploitation cinema that I embrace.Whilst this is certainly not one of Cohen's greatest (check out his horror output for some terrifically socio-political subtexts), the film oozes charm. Not only do we have the easy-cool of Fred Williamson, the film also has the ubiquitous Gloria Hendry , although not in her usual kung-fu-influenced fighting mode. Even though this film is less well known than Shaft or Superfly (1972), who's soundtracks were composed by soul giants Isaac Hayes and Curtis Mayfield respectively, Black Caesar's soundtrack is provided by the godfather of soul himself, James Brown: Break it down! Heeyyyyaa!!www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com
rokcomx I've only seen a few vintage "blaxploitation" films, so tonight I'm watching Black Caesar (1973), of interest to me because it was written, directed and produced by ol' Larry Cohen, just a couple years before his inexplicable masterpiece God Told Me To, with the outer space Jesus and the vagina on his chest...that Larry, madman with a camera...Right from the start, the music is top notch! Mainly James Brown, but there's also a cool female-fronted song a girl performs while Fred Williamson shoots up a room fulla white folks. Williamson is probably the only good actor in the whole film, but who can read Larry Cohen's dialogue, in any movie, and come off sounding real. All his movies have such cartoony dialogue, but that's part of the charm of his stuff (other than Q and a coupla others just too awful to recall). Most of the characters in Black Caesar are hollow and soul-less anyway, so the junior high acting doesn't distract. Williamson is good enough to make up for the others -I really didn't know what to expect going into it, so it was pretty astonishing to see Williamson smear shoe polish on a guy and make him sing "Mammy"!! A Larry Cohen moment I'll certainly never forget ---Despite all the grindhouse schlock - all of which I love! - there's a solid little story. The scenes with Williamson breaking his mom's heart and then facing off with his neglectful dad shows Cohen was going for more than machine guns and chase scenes. And, again, the music - wow! Even the most incidental bits of background music are smokin', and perfectly suited to the frequent NYC exteriors.So now I've seen three or four blaxploitation flicks, and part of one other, Scream Blackula Scream, which was so bad that it caused me actual pain, so I shut it off...(for some reason, I can't handle anything with VooDoo, it freaks me out with all the animal mutilation and stuff, hence me never seeing Angel Heart, Serpent and the Rainbow, etc).So far, Black Ceasar is the best I've seen of this genre ---
The_Void I can't say I'm a fan of "Blaxploitation" films, and indeed this one is one of my very few forays into the genres. It didn't change my opinion much either; what we have here is basically a crime thriller along the same lines as Scarface, except most of the main players are black. The film appealed to me mainly because of the fact that it's written and directed by Larry Cohen who also wrote and directed some of my favourite low budget trash films; films such as It's Alive, The Stuff, Q and The Ambulance. This is an early Cohen film and it appears he didn't get much chance to refine his craft as despite a decent directional debut with 'Bone' a year earlier; this film mostly fits the 'trash' bill in the bad way. The lead character is Tommy Gibbs, who starts off a young kid and gets his leg broken by a copper during a robbery. He's not best pleased and upon his return several years later, he decides to rise to power himself in order to put up a fight against the powers that stand already; both the criminal and the law enforcement.Aside from the fact that the film didn't appeal to me much, it's also badly written and doesn't make up for in originality what it lacks in substance. As mentioned, I'm not well versed in this genre; but I imagine it's more about style than anything else and Larry Cohen does at least give the film a cool vibe that is well done. James Brown features heavily on the soundtrack and it works with the film, although the scenes involving "The Boss" only served in reminding me of how Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels used the song much better. The lead role is taken by Fred Williamson and it does have to be said that he's one of the best things about the film. The central role in this film does require someone 'cool' to play it, and Williamson certainly is that person. The plot is a problem because it's never exactly difficult to tell where it's going and this results in the film not having a great deal of suspense. Cohen's script doesn't really make us care for the lead character either, which means it doesn't really matter where the film goes. This might appeal to fans of this genre but it hasn't made me want to see more it...I don't recommend this one.
Poseidon-3 When Edward G. Robinson filed "Little Caesar" in 1933, he could never have imagined that fifty-two years later it would be reconfigured as Blaxploitation and become a cult classic in its own right. Williamson stars as a former shoeshine boy who strives to get ahead by shoehorning his way into the formerly all-white organized crime ring. He bullies one of the figureheads into giving him a chance and then uses that chance to springboard into a leadership position of his own, always stomping out anyone in his way and always with an eye on paying back the dirty cop (Lund) who mistreated him as a youth and gave him a limp with which to remember him by. He reaches unheard of heights financially, but, like so many before him, loses the most important things like the respect of his friends and the love of his woman (Hendry.) Williamson has quite a presence as the title character, his tall, athletic build cutting an imposing figure while his sly and slick personality covers the business end of things nicely. Hendry runs hot and cold. Her quieter moments are solid, but anytime she's called upon for heated emotion it all goes way over the top and is histrionic in the extreme. Lund is an exceedingly effective villain. His ruddy face is just begging to be pummeled as he expels nasty remarks and racial epithets. Martin and Roye play Williamson's childhood buddies who aid him as an adult and Harris and Gentry appear as his estranged parents. Wellman, a long way from "Lafayette Escadrille", plays Williamson's shady attorney while former Miss USA Hansen plays his curvy wife. It's a rough and tumble, at times heavily violent, film with lots of politically incorrect language and a dollop or two of brief nudity, which is all to be expected in this genre. What makes it fascinating, despite its obviously low budget, is the filming technique of director Cohen who shot the film in mostly authentic locations with no permits or intensive planning. Thus, when chases occur in the streets or a character wanders bloodily past onlookers, the reactions of the crowd are real! The film is set in various times from the 50's to the 60's, but there isn't a shred of period detail to be found anywhere. There's also some mighty choppy editing at times with scenes lasting mere moments or seemingly coming out of nowhere. It winds up mattering little, however, with all the audacious goings-on. Fans of the genre ought to really enjoy this one, which takes little time to breathe in between shootings, maimings, fisticuffs, chases and any other form of action. There's a great score as well with songs provided by no less than James Brown. Despite the downbeat ending, a sequel was in theaters within a year's time called "Hell Up in Harlem".