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For the best of the Horror/Cult/Exploitation film experience
Black Caesar (1973)
One thing that amazes me is the further I take my decent into the films of Larry Cohen the more I think about how truly underrated he is as a filmmaker. His movies nine times out of ten aren't anything vastly original, although he tends to take ideas and make them fresh and new. Blaxsploitation films were around before Mr. Cohen ever started pumping them out, but there is no doubt that his journey into the genre are some of the best examples that it has to offer. Black Caesar is no exception to that and let me tell you that this is an exceptional flick.
Black Caesar is basically the Blaxsploitation version of "The Godfather" and although there's no Marlin Brando visible here, we get something much better….Fred "The Hammer" Williamson. Fred plays the character of Tommy Gibbs, a streetwise criminal with the perfect plan to be the King of Harlem. It starts off with Gibbs as a youngster in Harlem working shining shoes for people on the street. But after a run-in with a racist cop Tommy not only gets his leg broke, but he ends up serving time. Years later when Tommy gets back in town he not only wants to make some serious cash, but he wants to take over the New York City crime racket.
I can't even begin to tell you how damn good this flick is. It's not your typical Blaxsploitation film as Cohen uses the usual devices in the genre mixed in with old school gangster films. Not only that, but I'm a total sucker for movies shot completely in the great city of New York. You get a lot of footage in Harlem, Manhattan, and just about every other nook and cranny of the city. It's shot well, with some great scenes occurring right in the streets of the city itself. Not only is Fred Williamson one of the greatest actors ever in the Blaxsploitation films, but he's a pretty damn good actor period. He played the role of Tommy Gibbs like it was made for him and turned the character of Gibbs into a pop culture icon as "Black Caesar". You also have the usual appearance of D'Urville Martin (who also directed Dolemite and stars beside Williamson in several of his other films) and a really good performance by Gloria Hendry as Helen. On top of all of that you have one of the greatest, most memorable soundtracks of all time. It's all done by James Brown and it's one of the best examples of soundtracks that really add to a film that I've ever seen.
There's no doubt that if you are going to catch some Blaxsploitation flicks that this is the cream of the crop. It has everything you could possibly want considering there's plenty of shootouts, Mafioso getting taken out, mixed in with some sleaze. It's a winner from the opening sequence and it's a film that deserves much more attention than it receives, much like its director and Williamson themselves.
Rating - ***1/2
-Ed Demko
