Cooley High (1975)

In the mid-1960's, a group of high school friends who live on the Near North Side of Chicago enjoy life to the fullest...parties, hanging out, meeting new friends. Then life changes for two... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Schultz

Writer:

Eric Monte

Stars:

Glynn Turman, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Garrett Morris

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Glynn Turman	...	Leroy "Preach" Jackson
Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs	...	Richard "Cochise" Morris
Garrett Morris	...	Mr. Mason
Cynthia Davis	...	Brenda
Corin Rogers	...	Pooter
Maurice Leon Havis	...	Willie
Joseph Carter Wilson	...	Tyrone
Sherman Smith	...	Stone
Norman Gibson	...	Robert
Maurice Marshall	...	Damon
Steven Williams	...	Jimmy Lee
Jackie Taylor	...	Johnny Mae
Christine Jones	...	Sandra
Lynn Caridine	...	Dorothy
Mary Larkins	...	Preach's Mother

Storyline

In the mid-1960's, a group of high school friends who live on the Near North Side of Chicago enjoy life to the fullest...parties, hanging out, meeting new friends. Then life changes for two of the guys when they meet a pair of career criminals and get falsely arrested in connection with stealing a Cadillac. We follow their lives through the end of high school and the dramatic end to their school year.

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Plot Keywords:

high school | teen angst | teenage girl | zoo | coming of age | 

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Taglines:

Where the Student Body Was a Chick Named Veronica... The Senior Prom was a "belly rub" and the Class of '64 ran a Permanent crap game in the Men's Room!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 November 1979 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Chlodne wyzyny

Filming Locations:

Burr-Oak Cemetery - 4400 W. 127th Street, Alsip, Illinois, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie is often called "the black American Graffiti" and it's easy to see why. American Graffiti was a nostalgic look back 11 years at white teenagers who had just graduated high school and were on the cusp of chasing their dreams. It ended with mugshots and "where are they now" captions. "Cooley High" was a nostalgic look back 12 years at black teenagers about to graduate high school and on the cusp of chasing their dreams to escape fun, but hard, lives. It ended with "where are they now?" comments superimposed on full screen shots of the characters.

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Goofs

The film takes place in 1964, but there are Afro hairdos and people giving the Black Power sign and saying "right on." We didn't see those things until about 1968.

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Quotes

Preacher: You guys think it's so funny because I want to be something besides a factory worker or a football player. Well, that's because you're a bunch of stupid niggers that don't know shit!

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Crazy Credits

The ending of the movie tells the futures of the fictional characters.

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Connections

Referenced in Martin: All the Players Came (1995)

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Soundtracks

"Baby Love"
Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland
Performed by The Supremes
Courtesy of Motown Records

User Reviews

My first ever movie

This was the very first movie I ever saw in my life back in 1974 or 1975. I was 4 years old at the time and saw it at a drive-in theatre. I did not grasp that this would be a classic at the time (I went to sleep about twenty minutes into the movie). After seeing it on the television-along with two of my other favourite movies Car Wash (my favourite movie) and The Wiz which seemed to come on every year about the same time all together-about 40, 50, 75 times I knew that here was a movie that I would have as one of my favourites. Those three movies were the only live action shows that I could watch as a child.

I would not consider this to be a blaxploitation movie but rather an urban interest movie.Cochise and Preach reminded me of some of my uncles especially the Wild Irish Rose that they drank. My mother also told me about some of the quarter parties that she attended and that some of the things that occurred in the movie were similar in nature to what occurred in real life. If you are one of the two or three black people over thirty who hasn't seen this movie yet then I recommend that you buy the DVD right now. I'm glad that I was around to witness some of the goings on of the era.