Dave Anderson and Manny Durrell are two high-class sneak thieves who have never been caught. Joshua Burke is a retired detective who has enough evidence on the both of them to put them ...
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Title: A Piece of the Action (1977)
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Edit
Cast
| Credited cast: | |||
| Sidney Poitier | ... | Manny Durrell | |
| Bill Cosby | ... | Dave Anderson | |
| James Earl Jones | ... | Joshua Burke | |
| Denise Nicholas | ... | Lila French | |
 |
Hope Clarke | ... | Sarah Thomas |
| Tracy Reed | ... | Nikki McLean | |
| Titos Vandis | ... | Bruno | |
|
|
Frances Foster | ... | Bea Quitman |
| Jason Evers | ... | Ty Shorter | |
| Marc Lawrence | ... | Louie | |
| Ja'net DuBois | ... | Nellie Bond | |
| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
|
|
Larry Beecham | ... | Percy 'Bubba' Watkins |
|
|
Thomas Benjamin | ... | Anthony |
|
|
Tamu Blackwell | ... | Cheryl |
|
|
Jack Brami | ... | Jesus |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
See All (22) »
Storyline
Dave Anderson and Manny Durrell are two high-class sneak thieves who have never been caught. Joshua Burke is a retired detective who has enough evidence on the both of them to put them behind bars. Instead, he offers to maintain his silence if the crooks will go straight and do work at a youth center for delinquents. At first, the crooks are reluctant and unwilling (and so are the kids). As time goes by they gain the trust and admiration of the kids and they start to enjoy the job. All goes well until someone out of the past tells them they have to do one last heist...or else. Written by Afterburner <aburner@erols.com>
Plot Keywords:
detective | urban setting | blaxploitation | money cut in pieces | thief |Taglines:
A delightfully delicious dilemma!Parents Guide:
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
27 February 1978 (Denmark) See more »Also Known As:
Honorables sinverguenzas See more »Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
Color (Metrocolor)Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
Edit
(uncredited)
Written by Curtis Mayfield
Performed by Mavis Staples
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
This marks the third time Sidney Poitier directed Bill Cosby, after Uptown Saturday Night (1974) and Let's Do It Again (1975). See more »Goofs
(at around 39 mins) The position of Manny's hand changes between shots. See more »Soundtracks
Good Lovin' Daddy(uncredited)
Written by Curtis Mayfield
Performed by Mavis Staples
See more »
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I had a hard time figuring this movie out. Eventually all the pieces were put together and explained. I thought James Earl Jones did a great job as the retired detective who had big plans for Manny and Dave. Bill Cosby was funny as usual as Dave, and Sidney Poitier did a capable job as Manny, though this sort of movie isn't typical of his talent. If anything, Jones was playing the role that Poitier should have, because Poitier is such a brilliant actor. But so is Jones.
At times this resembled 'To Sir, With Love' (which I have never seen in its entirety but hope to), since Manny ended up playing a similar role. Manny and Dave were so funny trying to figure out a way out of their predicament or at least make the best of it if they couldn't. The kids were good in a 'Welcome Back, Kotter' sort of way.
The real problem with this movie was that it got too confusing. A simple story about the detective conning the guys into helping the less fortunate city kids might have been better. But then the other set of crooks made the story complicated, though still funny.
I always enjoy Bill Cosby, anyway, and James Earl Jones plays such good characters. Sidney Poitier adds quality to whatever he does.