The Cool World (1964)

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
	Rony Clanton	...	Duke (as Hampton Clanton)
	Carl Lee	...	Priest
	Yolanda Rodríguez	...	Luanne
	Clarence Williams III	...	Blood (as Clarence Williams)
	Gary Bolling	...	Littleman
	Bostic Felton	...	Rod
	Gloria Foster	...	Mrs. Custis
	John Marriott	...	Hurst
	Georgia Burke	...	Grandma
	Marilyn Cox	...	Miss Dewpoint
	Jerome Raphael	...	Mr. Shapiro
	Mel Stewart	...	Con-man
	Joe Dennis	...	Douglas Thurston (as Joseph Dennis)
	Ronald Perry	...	Savage
	Bruce Edwards	...	Warrior

Storyline

Filmmaker Shirley Clarke ("The Connection") directs this powerful, stark semi-documentary look at the horrors of Harlem ghetto slum life filled with drugs, violence, human misery, and a sense of despair due to the racial prejudices of American society. There is no patronizing of the black race in this cinematic cry for justice. A fifteen-year-old boy called Duke is ambitious to buy a "piece" (a gun) from an adult racketeer named Priest, to become president of the gang to which he belongs, and to return them to active "bopping" (gang fighting) which has declined in Harlem. It is a clearly patent allegory of an attempt by Duke to attain manhood and identity in the only way accessible to him - the antisocial one. Written by alfiehitchie  

Details

Company Credits

Technical Specs

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