Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

The Cool World

  • 19631963
  • 1h 45m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
600
YOUR RATING
The Cool World (1963)
CrimeDrama
A 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.A 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.A 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.
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
600
YOUR RATING
    • Shirley Clarke
  • Writers
    • Shirley Clarke(screenplay)
    • Carl Lee(screenplay)
    • Warren Miller(novel)
  • Stars
    • Rony Clanton
    • Carl Lee
    • Yolanda Rodríguez
    • Shirley Clarke
  • Writers
    • Shirley Clarke(screenplay)
    • Carl Lee(screenplay)
    • Warren Miller(novel)
  • Stars
    • Rony Clanton
    • Carl Lee
    • Yolanda Rodríguez
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 10User reviews
    • 20Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Photos

    The Cool World (1963)
    Rony Clanton, Carl Lee, and Yolanda Rodríguez in The Cool World (1963)
    Carl Lee and Yolanda Rodríguez in The Cool World (1963)
    The Cool World (1963)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Rony Clanton
    Rony Clanton
    • Duke
    • (as Hampton Clanton)
    Carl Lee
    • Priest
    Yolanda Rodríguez
    • Luanne
    Clarence Williams III
    Clarence Williams III
    • Blood
    • (as Clarence Williams)
    Gary Bolling
    • Littleman
    Bostic Felton
    • Rod
    Gloria Foster
    Gloria Foster
    • Mrs. Custis
    John Marriott
    John Marriott
    • Hurst
    • (as John Marriot)
    Georgia Burke
    • Grandma
    Marilyn Cox
    • Miss Dewpoint
    Jerome Raphael
    • Mr. Shapiro
    Mel Stewart
    Mel Stewart
    • Con-man
    Joe Dennis
    • Douglas Thurston
    • (as Joseph Dennis)
    Ronald Perry
    • The Kids: Savage
    Charles Richardson
    • The Kids: Beebop
    Bruce Edwards
    • The Kids: Warrior
    Lloyd Edwards
    • The Kids: Foxy
    Teddy McCain
    • The Kids: Saint
    • (as Ted McCain)
      • Shirley Clarke
    • Writers
      • Shirley Clarke(screenplay)
      • Carl Lee(screenplay)
      • Warren Miller(novel) (play)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    The Nutty Professor
    6.6
    The Nutty Professor
    Barren Lives
    7.5
    Barren Lives
    A Dog's Life
    6.2
    A Dog's Life
    The Servant
    7.8
    The Servant
    Passenger
    7.4
    Passenger
    7th Heaven
    7.6
    7th Heaven
    The Exiles
    6.7
    The Exiles
    One-Eyed Jacks
    7.1
    One-Eyed Jacks
    The Connection
    7.0
    The Connection
    The Awful Truth
    7.7
    The Awful Truth
    Winter Light
    8.0
    Winter Light
    Archangel
    6.4
    Archangel

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.
    • Connections
      Featured in Cinéastes de notre temps: "Rome brûle" (Portrait de Shirley Clarke) (1970)

    User reviews10

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    It's the hard knock life.
    There once was a a movement, mostly active in New York and a period in which movies were shot very raw, in an almost documentary like style. These type of movies try to give you an insight on the daily lives of often poor and struggling ethic groups, living in a certain part of town, as if it's really a documentary you are watching. Perhaps the best and also best known example of this style of film-making was John Cassavetes' 1959 movie "Shadows".

    The movie is shot in the fashion of a documentary but that really doesn't mean that it also feels like one though. It's still very obviously an acted out movie, with scripted situations in it. The approach to it all still makes it feel like a very raw and also straight-forward movie, about crime, drugs and racial issues, all set in the Harlem ghetto, in New York City.

    It's not necessarily a movie that follows a clear main plot line, which is consistent with this style of film-making but it's not really something that I like. Sure, it works out real fine for 20-30 minutes or so but after a while things just start to get less interesting to follow because there isn't really anything happening within the story and it isn't ever really going anywhere. I did understand the points the movie tried to make, with its raw approach, depicting the hard and desperate life within the ghetto but it just never came across as anything provoking or powerful.

    It still could had been fine if only the movie had some more intriguing and likable characters in it. I don't really feel like we ever got to know any of them, which also doesn't really make you care about any of them or what happens within the movie its story. So no, this movie just isn't for me, though I'm still able to appreciate it and admire the way it got made and shot.

    So still a movie I appreciated watching, just never one I ever loved.

    7/10

    http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/
    helpful•3
    2
    • Boba_Fett1138
    • Jul 3, 2011

    FAQ1

    • Why isn't this fantastic film available on dvd for purchase or rental and when will it be?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 2, 1964 (United Kingdom)
      • United States
      • Zipporah Films
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
    • Production companies
      • The Cool World
      • Wiseman Film Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 45 minutes
      • Black and White
      • Mono

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    The Cool World (1963)
    Top Gap
    By what name was The Cool World (1963) officially released in Canada in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.