Larry Cohen is a good director. Larry Cohen is not a great director, but he has had close brushes with greatness. His very first film, BONE aka HOUSEWIFE was a very wholehearted first stab, but his follow up, BLACK CAESAR is, in my humble opinion, his closest brush with greatness, and it’s also the film that gave Fred “The Hammer” Williamson one of his best roles—if not thee best role of his career. Sure Cohen would go one to make some pretty entertaining flicks, such as IT’S ALIVE, Q, THE STUFF, and many more, but his films just never seem to rise to the occasion. BLACK CAESAR, while not a perfect movie, is one of the greatest films of 70’s Blaxploitation era—and it just happens to expose Cohen as the great director I always suspected he could be.
 |
 |
|---|
I don’t know exactly why, but the first time I saw Cohen’s BLACK CAESAR, I wasn’t that impressed. What brought me back to give it another try was James Brown’s infectous score—and Fred Williamson’s superb performance. The second time I saw it, I was feeling it more—by the third time (the most recent time), I was proclaiming it one of the best Blaxploitation movies of all time (remember when I said that in the last paragraph? Just making sure you’re paying attention). In re-evaluating the film, I was able to put my finger on what it was that rubbed me the wrong way the first time, but I’ll get back to that, lets get to the story about a cat that paid the cost to be the boss…
Fred Williamson plays Tommy Gibbs, the first black shoeshine boy to wrangle his way into the Italian mafia. From a young age Tommy idolized the local mafia hitmen, and once he was grown, he was ready to make a name for himself, and become a made man—a tough feat for a black man in 1965. Tommy is soon taken in by Don Cardoza (Val Avery) and is running his own block in Harlem. Tommy rises to the top and is living like a king—in a white man’s apartment in uptown New York no less. Of course what comes up, must come down. When Tommy and his crew start to move in on other territories, that doesn’t sit too well with a crooked Commissioner, and Tommy’s Empire starts to crumble.
 |
 |
|---|
While not an original gangster story, what makes it fresh is that is about a black man’s rise in the mafia. If a white actor had played Tommy—it would have been nothing new. BLACK CAESAR’s new take on an old tale is similar to Brian De Palma’s SCARFACE, which featured a Cuban character in the same kind of role. When we think of great mafia themed movies, typically the films of Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese will no doubt be some of the first to come to mind, which only hinders Cohen's little indy stab at a mafia story. The story of Tommy Gibbs is an epic one—but it’s rushed, watered down, and compacted to fit into an 87 minute running type. The movie seems to fly by as Tommy’s life is edited away to oblivion. The story is just too big, and deserved a Ford Coppola/Scorsese size film. This never would have happened back then, and the film did not have a budget to be able to pull off an epic, but I give Cohen all the credit in the world for making of it what he could. While it’s no GODFATHER or GOODFELLAS, it’s a damn entertaining flick.
The film features pretty solid performances all around. Gloria Hendry plays Tommy’s unwilling lover—a relationship built on fear, which plays a big part in Tommy’s downfall. She’s a great actress and Blaxploitation royalty. D’Urville Martin plays Tommy’s old neighborhood buddy that becomes a Reverend. He acts as Tommy’s voice of reason—but I would have liked to see the character explored more. I could say the same about Tommy’s right hand man, Joe (Philip Roye). We get a glimpse of Tommy and Joe’s childhood friendship, but their bond is never fleshed out—which takes the impact out of their conflict later in the film. Art Lund is just plain evil as Commissioner McKinney. Blaxploitation films always need an evil honky racist trying to bring a brother down, and Lund’s character brings the pain down on Tommy with a vengeance. Julius Harris is great as Tommy’s estranged Father in yet again, a role that seemed like it should have been explored more.
 |
 |
|---|
Great performances by all the cast indeed, but this puppy is all about Fred Williamson. While 1972’s HAMMER may have given him his nickname, BLACK CAESAR was the role that made him a legend. Williamson would make a whole slew of great flicks afterwards—well, they’re very entertaining if anything, but BLACK CAESAR is his shining moment. There are no over-the-top moments, no wink-and-a-nod moments; Williamson is Tommy Gibbs, and giving it his all. If BLACK CAESAR had been directed by an A-list director, with a budget befitting an epic, Williamson would have still been the man for the job—his performance is not just b-movie good—it’s good-good. If there is anything lacking in Williamson’s performance, I would blame it all on the script, that never gives any of the characters many chances to shine as bright as they could.
While the film is rushed, and it does stop the film from being even better—make no mistake, for a small scale Blaxploitation movie—it’s solid. The glue that holds it all together—and believe me, it needs glue, is the score by none other than the Godfather of Soul, James Brown. The movie’s opening credits explodes with the sounds of Brown’s “Down and Out in New York City” with Brown crying out “...here’s a dime, boy—give me a shine, boy!” Even the score wants the film to be an epic, and it helps it come damn close. “The Boss” accompanies the montage of Tommy’s rise to gangster fame, and it is probably one of the greatest montage moments in cinematic history. It’s also very influential, and would go on to inspire many a music video director later on. The film may not be an epic, but the score sure as shit is.
Cohen did follow up BLACK CAESAR with a sequel of sorts, HELL UP IN HARLEM which doesn’t come close to being as great as the first, but it’s an entertaining flick as well.
All shortcomings aside, BLACK CAESAR still stands tall as one of greatest Blaxploitation films of all time.
BLACK CAESAR trailer