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	...	Preach
Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs	...	Cochise
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

When Cochise gets into the stolen car in front of Martha's he has on sneakers but after they crash the car and he and Preach are running he has on dress shoes.

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Quotes

Pooter: If I ain't goin', nobody's goin.

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Crazy Credits

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

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Connections

Spin-off What's Happening!! (1976)

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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

Disrespected Classic

Read This:

BOYZ 'N THE HOOD IS A SCENE-BY-SCENE, COMPLETE RIP-OFF OF THIS MOVIE.

Two friends in the hood, one's focused on intellectual pursuits and the other is an athlete. The friend who's an athlete gets involved with the wrong people and gets killed. (The athlete just happens to be Washington from 'Welcome Back, Kotter'.)

It makes me mad that people don't know this. It blows my mind everytime I go into a video store and Boyz 'n the Hood is in the 'Drama' section while Cooley High is in 'Comedy'. It's an embarrassing disgrace. This movie is both funnier and more dramatic than John Singleton's rip-off. At least Singleton could have had the dignity to speak out that his film was homage to Cooley High, but no, he never said a word. Boys 2 Men, however, named their hit record after this film.