Deke "Reverend" O'Malley, a con man, is selling shares at a Harlem rally, for the purchase of a Back-to-Africa movement ship to be called The Black Beauty. During the rally, several masked gunmen jump out of a meat truck and steal $87,000 in donated cash from the back of an armored car. Two Harlem detectives, "Gravedigger" Jones and "Coffin Ed" Johnson, chase the car, and a bale of cotton falls out of the vehicle, unremarked at the time. Though the authorities approve of O'Malley, regarding his "Back-to-Africa" movement as a way to solve American racial problems, both Jones and even more so Johnson are hostile towards him, viewing him as a charlatan who is exploiting the impoverished black community of Harlem. Captain Bryce—who has a portrait of Richard Nixon prominently displayed in his office—tells Jones and Johnson not to treat O'Malley as a suspect, orders that the duo ignore. Jones and Johnson go to the apartment of Iris Brown, O'Malley's mistress, believing he will come to see her at some point, but are called away. Iris is able to escape from the policeman sent to guard her. Iris is shocked to discover O'Malley seducing Mabel Hill, the widow of one of his subordinates killed in the robbery, leading to a fight between the two women and Iris being disillusioned with O'Malley.
MPAA Rating: | R |
Genre: | Action, Comedy, Crime |
Country: | United States |
Produced By: | Samuel Goldwyn Jr. |
Directed By: | Ossie Davis |
Written By: | Ossie Davis, Chester Himes, Arnold Perl |
Cast: | Godfrey Cambridge, Mabel Robinson, Walter Scott, Gilbert Lewis, Lee Steele, Albert Hall, Vincent Hamill, Simm Landres, Lou Jacobi, Redd Foxx, Gertrude Jeannette, Alyce Webb, Lisle Wilson, Stanley Greene, Harold Gaetano, Tony Brubaker, Emily Yancy, Arnold Williams, Tommy Lane, Van Kirksey, Anthony Chisholm, Judy Pace, Frederick O'Neal, Eugene Roche, Jonelle Allen, Leonardo Cimino, Lawrence Cook, Cleavon Little, Melba Moore, Vinnette Carroll, Dick Sabol, Maxwell Glanville, Al Fann, Jimmy Hayeson, Raymond St. Jacques, Irwin C. Watson, Calvin Lockhart, Teddy Wilson, Helen Martin, Vernee Watson, Turk Turpin, J.D. Cannon, Wally Taylor, John Anderson |
In Theaters: | May 27, 1970 |
Runtime: | 1 hour 37 minutes |
Production: | Formosa Productions |
Budget: | $1,200,000 |
Available On: | Amazon, Itunes, Vudu |
Read More On: | Wikipedia |