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Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970)
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Overview
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Director:
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Release Date:
27 May 1970 (USA)
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Tagline:
Introducing COFFIN ED and GRAVEDIGGER, two detectives only a mother could love.
Plot:
Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson are two black cops with a reputation for breaking the odd head...
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Awards:
1 nomination
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User Comments:
The TRUE origin of "blaxploitation"
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Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Godfrey Cambridge | ... | Gravedigger Jones |
| Raymond St. Jacques | ... | Coffin Ed Johnson |
| Calvin Lockhart | ... | Rev. Deke O'Malley |
| Judy Pace | ... | Iris |
 | Redd Foxx | ... | Uncle Bud / Booker Washington Sims |
| Emily Yancy | ... | Mabel |
| John Anderson | ... | Bryce |
| Lou Jacobi | ... | Goodman |
 | Eugene Roche | ... | Anderson |
| J.D. Cannon | ... | Calhoun |
| Mabel Robinson | ... | Billie |
| Dick Sabol | ... | Jarema |
| Cleavon Little | ... | Lo Boy |
| Teddy Wilson | ... | Barry (as Theodore Wilson) |
| Maxwell Glanville | ... | Caspar |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
97 min
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Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
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Fun Stuff
Goofs:
Continuity: During the car chase, the mirror on the driver's side of the police car gets shot off. Once the police car collides with the watermelon cart a few seconds later, the mirror reappears.
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Quotes:
Gravedigger Jones:
Any black man might rat on Whitey. I might myself.
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in The Best of Eddie Murphy: Saturday Night Live (1989) (V)
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Soundtrack:
Salvation
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This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (20 total)
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COTTON COMES TO HARLEM is the adaptation of Chester Himes' 1965 novel of the same title and stars Godfrey Cambridge and Raymond St. Jacques as his two Harlem police detectives "Gravedigger" Jones and "Coffin" Ed Johnson respectively. Their motto: "[We] may have broke some heads, but we ain't never broke no promise." Jones and Johnson are on the trail of "Reverend" Deke O'Malley (Calvin Lockhart. O'Malley is funding a "Back to Africa" cruise by taking donations from the good people of the 'hood. However, before he can make his getaway, a robbery breaks out and the money, hidden in a bale of cotton, gets lost in Harlem. This sends the cops, O'Malley and the robbers on a wild search through the New York area for the stolen loot. Redd Foxx appears as a junk dealer (two years before SANFORD AND SON) who holds the key to the fate of the money.
Oddly enough, the movie is less rough then Himes' novel (which had quite a bit of rough language and sex in it), yet received an R rating back then. It would hardly register as a PG-13 today. COTTON COMES TO HARLEM should be seen to see the true origins of the genre known as "blaxploitation" (black exploitation movies).
COTTON is quite an enjoyable action romp. It is especially light compared to the later "blaxploitation" films that followed it.