Across 110th Street (1972)

[Neville]

Now that I've seen it a few times, I can say that this one has become one of my favourite 70s thrillers.

It's about three young black men who dare to cross 110th street and steal 300,000 dollars from the Italian mafia. Inmediately, the mafia designs a man (Anthony Franciosa, combining sadism and ambition) to recover the money and, more importantly, to make sure those Harlem people understand what happens who those who defy them.

A paralel investigation is carried out by two policemen. Martelli (Anthony Quinn) is an Italo-american cop on his 50s, convinced that despite his brutal methods, his biased views and even his relationship with a Harlem mobster (!) he's doing his best to battle crime. His partner is Pope (Yapheth Coto), a young black policeman who tries to do things by the book and avoid Martelli's mistakes.

This film is often labelled as "blaxplotation", but despite some similarities (the mostly black cast, a camerawork that emphatises violence and dirtiness) it's clearly a different animal, closer to the 70s variant of police drama, which made a special emphasis on moral ambiguity and social commentary.

It's quite ironic, you know, because director Barry Shear's social commentary goes quite further than it would if it was a blaxplotation film. I'm not very interested in blaxplotation, but I've never seen any of those films reach these levels of gritty realism (the Harlem district is seen with clearly derelict areas, black characters complain of the difficulty of earning a living or decent places to live, black criminals are not glamourised but portrayed as part of the problem), and the violence is extreme when compared to some of those movies, although Shear manages to suggest most of it instead of showing the gore.

BTW: I'm not sure if I've seen the uncut version this time. I'd swear the versions I saw on TV have extended scenes (like the one Antonio Fargas is tortured by Anthony Franciosa, which this time seemed quite trimmed), but this version, at the same time, seems to restore other scenes, like a sex scene between Vargas and a bunch of prostitutes.

[sideorderofninjas]

It sounds a lot like Detroit 9000. 

[Neville]

* Checks the IMDB

Amazing. These two movies sound like twins! Is "Detroit 9000" any good?

[Yaddo 42]

I have a tape of Detroit 9000 I picked up in a pawn shop, still haven't watched it.

I thought Across 110th Street was decent but maybe I expected more in the blaxploitation line based on its rep. Parts of it are fantastic, the change in Quinn's demeanor when dealing with the black mobster he's in the pay of. Yaphet Kotto is always an interesting actor even in understated roles. He was in great company on the awesome police seriesHomicide: Life on the Streets. Fantastic soundtrack by Bobby Womack as well.

[sideorderofninjas]

Detroit 9000 is good.  If I ever get around to reviewing it hopefully my review will be longer than that...

It is one of the gritty cop movies from the 70s nothing like the typical blaxsplotitation movie.  Though most of them I've seen I've enjoyed like Shaft or Truck Turner. 

[Trevor]

This is another of those why-the-hell-did-they-ban-that films that was never released in South Africa. I saw it about ten years ago on a local channel.

I hate censorship, I really do. 

[The Burgomaster]

This is a very good movie and has a nice, gritty, 1970s inner-city look and feel to it.