Hell Up in Harlem (1973)

A gangster in Harlem must rescue his ex-wife, who has been kidnapped by the Mafia.

Director:

Larry Cohen

Writer:

Larry Cohen

Stars:

Fred Williamson, Julius Harris, Gloria Hendry

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Fred Williamson	...	Tommy Gibbs
Julius Harris	...	Papa Gibbs (as Julius W. Harris)
Gloria Hendry	...	Helen Bradley
Margaret Avery	...	Sister Jennifer
D'Urville Martin	...	Reverend Rufus
Tony King	...	Zach
Gerald Gordon	...	Mr. DiAngelo
Bobby Ramsen	...	Joe Frankfurter
James Dixon	...	Irish
Esther Sutherland	...	The Cook
Charles MacGuire	...	Hap
Ty Randolph	...	Tough Bikini Woman (as Mindi Miller)

Storyline

Tommy comes from a forced rest period due to injuries suffered in Harlem's gang warfare. With the help of his girl, he will reorganize his gang, and overcome his rival gang leaders, through extreme acts of violence and death.

---

Plot Keywords:

violence | mafia | rescue | gangster | sequel to remake | 

---

Taglines:

Black Godfather is back...and there's gonna be Hell up in Harlem.

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

December 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

Black Caesar Part II

Filming Locations:

Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Due to the success of Black Caesar, AIP wanted a sequel. Unfortunately, Fred Williamson was filming That Man Bolt during the week from Monday to Friday, and director Larry Cohen was busy making It's Alive, but they made this sequel concurrently by filming the majority of it on weekends.

---

Connections

Featured in American Grindhouse (2010)

User Reviews

Fun, but doesn't measure up to the original

Fun sequel takes off where Black Caesar took off...lots of violence...soul soundtrack not as good as James Brown's work on Black Caesar, but passable. Overall this movie has an even more fantastic plot than the first but is still basically enjoyable...particularly the island ambush scene and the chase in which Williamson runs after his opponent, who boards an airplane to L.A. from New York...Fred doesn't sweat it and gets a flight that just happens to leave a few minutes after the first gets off. We see scenes of the two men in planes...upon landing, at the same time, Williamson finds his quarry in a crowded airport and picks up where he left off in New York. As I said, ridiculous, but fun.