Director: Ossie Davis
Writer(s): Chester Himes (novel), Arnold Perl, Ossie Davis
Starring: Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques, Calvin Lockhart, Judy Pace, Redd Foxx, Emily Yancy, John Anderson, Lou Jacobi, Eugene Roche, J.D. Cannon, Mabel Robinson, Dick Sabol, Cleavon Little, Teddy Wilson, Maxwell Glanville, Arnold Williams, Van Kirksey, Helen Martin, Irwin C. Watson, Gertrude Jeannette, Leonardo Cimino, Simm Landres, Turk Turpin, Tommy Lane, Gilbert Lewis, Wally Taylor, William Pratt, Lisle Wilson, John D. Anthony, Anthony Chisholm, Tony Brubaker, Jonelle Allen, Walter Scott, Jimmy Hayeson, Lawrence Cook, Vincent Hamill, Rudy Townsend, Vernee Watson, Ernest Marks, Al Fann, Alyce Webb, Louis Whitman, Kenneth Manigault, Vinnette Carroll, Harold Gaetano, Stanley Greene, Albert Hall, Gene Lindsey, Melba Moore, Frederick O’Neal, Lee Steele
Synopsis: Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson are two black cops with a reputation for breaking the odd head. Both are annoyed at the success of the Reverend Deke O’Mailey who is selling trips back to Africa to the poor on the installment plan. When his truck is hijacked and a bale of cotton stuffed with money is lost in the chase, Harlem is turned upside down by Gravedigger and Coffin Ed, the Reverend, and the hijackers. Much of the humor is urban black, which was unusual in 1970.
Release Date: May 27, 1970 (USA) | Length: 97 min | Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime | Certificate: R
Note: I need to watch the movie again because I wasn’t able to identify William Pratt, John D. Anthony, Rudy Townsend, Ernest Marks, Louis Whitman or Kenneth Manigault).