Black Caesar (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Black Caesar | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster. |
|
| Directed by | Larry Cohen |
| Produced by | Larry Cohen Benjamin Fisz Kenneth Rive |
| Written by | Larry Cohen |
| Starring | Fred Williamson Gloria Hendry |
| Music by | James Brown |
| Distributed by | American International Pictures |
| Release date(s) | February 7, 1973 |
| Running time | 87 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Followed by | Hell Up in Harlem |
| IMDb profile | |
Black Caesar is a 1973 blaxploitation film, starring Fred Williamson and Gloria Hendry. The film was written and directed by Larry Cohen. It is a remake of the 1931 film Little Caesar. It features a notable musical score by James Brown (with heavy input from his bandleader Fred Wesley), his first experience of writing music for film. A sequel titled, Hell Up in Harlem was released in late 1973.
[edit] Cast
- Fred Williamson — Tommy Gibbs
- Gloria Hendry — Helen
- Art Lund — McKinney
- D'Urville Martin — Reverend Rufus
- Julius Harris — Mr. Gibbs
- Minnie Gentry — Mama Gibbs
- Philip Roye — Joe Washington
- William Wellman Jr. — Alfred Coleman
- James Dixon — Bryant
- Val Avery — Cardoza
- Patrick McAllister — Grossfield
- Don Pedro Colley — Crawdaddy
- Myrna Hansen — Virginia Coleman
- Omer Jeffrey — Tommy as a boy
- Mike Anthony Jones — Joe as a boy
[edit] Trivia
- Some of James Brown's songs used in the film were sampled by prominent rap musicians - Das EFX and Ice-T ("The Boss" which is the background music where Tommy Gibbs is shot while crossing a street corner was sampled for Ice-T's "You Played Yourself", and also for Trick Daddy's "Take It To Da House"). More recently, by The Alchemist for Prodigy's currently last album Return of the Mac.
- The film is name-checked in Public Enemy's song "Burn Hollywood Burn", when guest rapper Big Daddy Kane reacts to the abandonment of black culture by Hollywood filmmakers by saying "I got Black Caesar back at the crib." Kane makes another reference to the movie in his song "How U Get A Record Deal".
- According to the DVD commentary, Larry Cohen originally wrote this film with Sammy Davis Jr. in mind for the title role, but after the success of Shaft, the film was retooled for Fred Williamson".
