Across 110th Street

Across 110th Street

Theatrical poster
Directed by Barry Shear
Produced by Anthony Quinn
Fouad Said
Barry Shear
Written by Novel:
Wally Ferris
Screenplay:
Luther Davis
Starring Anthony Quinn
Yaphet Kotto
Anthony Franciosa
Music by Bobby Womack
J. J. Johnson
Distributed by United Artists
Release dates
  • December 19, 1972 (1972-12-19)
Running time
 102 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $10,000,000[1]

Across 110th Street is a 1972 American crime drama film starring Anthony Quinn, Yaphet Kotto, and Anthony Franciosa, and directed by Barry Shear. Commonly associated with the blaxploitation genre at the time, it has received considerable critical praise from writer Greil Marcus and others for surpassing the limitations of that genre.[2]

Plot

This film is set in Harlem, of which 110th Street is an informal boundary line. By-the-book African-American Lieutenant William Pope (Kotto) has to work with crude, racist but streetwise Italian-American Captain Frank Mattelli (Quinn) in the NYPD's 27th precinct. They are looking for three black men who slaughtered seven men—three black gangsters and two Italian gangsters, as well as two patrol officers—in the robbery of $300,000 from a Mafia-owned Harlem policy bank. Mafia lieutenant Nick D'Salvio (Franciosa) and his two henchmen are also after the hoods. In one of many violent scenes, D'Salvio finds getaway driver Henry J. Jackson (Antonio Fargas) and brutalizes him in a Harlem whorehouse.

Cast

Production

The movie was filmed on location in Harlem, New York. The film is also notable as being the first feature film to use a self-blimped camera (the Arriflex 35BL) for sync sound; the much-reduced size of the camera allowed the production to not only use more hand-held shots and smaller locations than normal, but also record usable sound at the same time - an endeavor not previously possible under those circumstances.

Release

The film earned an estimated $3.4 million in North American rentals in 1973.[3]

Soundtrack

Across 110th Street Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Bobby Womack and J.J. Johnson
Released December 16, 1972
Recorded 1972
Genre R&B
Length 30:13
Label United Artists
Producer Bobby Womack
Bobby Womack and J.J. Johnson chronology
Understanding
(1972)		 Across 110th Street Soundtrack (1972) Facts of Life
(1973)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link

The critically praised title song, written by Bobby Womack and J.J. Johnson, was a No. 19 hit on the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart in 1973, and was later featured in Quentin Tarantino's 1997 blaxploitation homage Jackie Brown. It is also heard in Ridley Scott's 2007 film American Gangster,[4] and as a background song for the video game True Crime: New York City. The title song was also used as the theme song to the television show 'Michigan Replay.'[5] All songs were written and performed by Bobby Womack; the score was composed and conducted by J.J. Johnson

  1. "Across 110th Street" (performed by Bobby Womack and Peace) (US #56, R&B #19)
  2. "Harlem Clavinette" (performed by J.J.Johnson and his Orchestra)
  3. "If You Don't Want My Love" (performed by Bobby Womack and Peace)
  4. "Hang On In There (instrumental)" (performed by J.J.Johnson and his Orchestra)
  5. "Quicksand" (performed by Bobby Womack and Peace)
  6. "Harlem Love Theme" (performed by J.J.Johnson and his Orchestra)
  7. "Across 110th Street (instrumental)" (performed by J.J.Johnson and his Orchestra)
  8. "Do It Right" (performed by Bobby Womack and Peace)
  9. "Hang On In There" (performed by Bobby Womack and Peace)
  10. "If You Don't Want My Love (instrumental)" (performed J.J.Johnson and his Orchestra)
  11. "Across 110th Street – Part II" (performed by Bobby Womack and Peace)

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Across 110th Street, Box Office Information". The Numbers. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  2. ↑ Pop Matters web site.
  3. ↑ "Big Rental Films of 1973", Variety, 9 January 1974 p 19
  4. ↑ American Gangster at the Internet Movie Database.
  5. ↑ http://mgoblog.com/content/unverified-voracity-finally-drafts-wolverine

External links

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