Cool Breeze (film)

Cool Breeze

Original Theatrical Poster
Directed by Barry Pollack
Produced by Gene Corman
Screenplay by Barry Pollack
Based on The Asphalt Jungle 
by W. R. Burnett
Starring Thalmus Rasulala
Jim Watkins
Judy Pace
Lincoln Kilpatrick
Raymond St. Jacques
Music by Solomon Burke
Cinematography Andy David
Edited by Morton Tubor
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates
 July 2, 1972[1]
Running time
 101 minutes[2]
Country United States
Language English

Cool Breeze is a 1972 American blaxploitation film directed by Barry Pollack and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[1] The film Cool Breeze is loosely based on W. R. Burnett's 1949 novel, and is a remake of the 1950 film The Asphalt Jungle with a predominately all-black cast.[2] Upon the movie’s release, the film was released with the tagline: "He hit the Man for $3 million. Right where it hurts. In the diamonds. And baby, that's cold."

Plot

Sidney Lord Jones is a convicted felon who is granted an early release by the parole board in San Quentin. While imprisoned, he learns about the underworld diamond trade from reading and studying trade magazines. It motivates him to plan a heist to steal $3 million worth of diamonds from the largest diamond brokerage on the Pacific Coast.[3]

After his release, Jones returns to Los Angeles and proposes the idea to ‘the Money Man’ Bill Mercer and "Stretch" Finian, in hopes that Mercer would provide the $50,000 seed money needed to set up the heist. Jones recommends using profits from the heist to start a community bank to support black-owned businesses,[3] in addition the bank could be used to launder illegal business activities. Unbeknownst to Jones, Mercer is having financial difficulty and has little money. However, he agrees to provide the funds, but secretly plans to keep all the loot for himself. To accomplish the heist, Mercer and Jones assemble a group of men consisting of Travis Battle (‘the Muscle Man’) a well-known career criminal, Roy Harris (‘the Box Man’) an expert safe-cracker transformed into a Christian minister, and John Battle (‘the Driver’) an honest business man and half-brother of Travis. Unfortunately, after the successful robbery, the group finds themselves caught up in a string of unhappy accidents and double crosses.

Background

The Vietnam war, as it slowly came to an end, brought about the demand for new social causes such as the new found interest in environmentalism. The first Earth Day in the nations history was celebrated in 1970. The point of the movement was to raise awareness about the need to protect nature as well as concerns about air pollution and global warming.[4]

The seventies also brought about the advent of the United States construction of the Trans‐Alaska Pipeline in 1973. Much of the activism that the United States experienced in the seventies was also the result of the rapid change in the county’s ethnic demographic.[5]

The nation also experienced a huge drop in growth in population, one of the lowest we had experienced up until that point. This happened following the baby boom after WWII and was a distinct culmination of the era.[6]

In 1972, U.S. Congress approved the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). This law stated that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex.” This amendment was approved and adopted by 28 of the 50 states. Notably, in 1973 the Supreme Court considered the case of Roe v. Wade. This decision affected the reproductive rights of women in 46 states. Citizens that were opposed to abortion began to organize as the “Right‐To‐Life” movement which advocated for the rights of the unborn child.[7]

The racial atmosphere of the south reached another peak of immense tension as black Americans experienced the ends of the oppressions of the Jim Crow era. Legal discrimination was primarily eradicated, however, social inequality and injustice was also rampant throughout the nation. The new focus for minorities was to combat the vast and frequent microaggressions that they constantly faced. There was continued desegregation efforts in American public schools which migrated from the south to the north. Much of these efforts were focused in integration housing being that there were multiple regions across the United States that were strictly inner-city and primarily black and brown.[8]

The seventies also brought about the Black Power Movement and leaders like the notable  Stokely Carmichael and Charles Hamilton who wrote Black Power, the one book that came to define the movement.[9]

This era brought about an entirely new generation of black political figures that made their mark during the 1970s. For example, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm ran for president in 1972. Similarly, Congresswoman Barbara Jordan made a public appearance by serving as a spokesperson during the Watergate hearings.[10]

The NAACP elected a new president by the name of Benjamin Hooks who replaced Roy Wilkins. Atlanta experienced its first black major by the name of Andrew Young during this time as well.[11]

The Black Panther Movement

The Black Power Movement was a political movement with the main goal of fulfilling that key principles of Black Power. The movement included a variety of different types of activism in order to achieve this common goal. Some of these tactics used violence while others did not. Not only did the Black Power Movement seek empowerment of black Americans in regards to representation, but it also reinforced a variety of socialist agendas that sought to improve the experience of black Americans in social settings as well. The Black Power movement came after the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and early seventies partially in reaction to the passivity of the faction. Many Black Power leaders were displeased with the success of the movement and sought other means for the common goal.[12] The leaders who disagreed with the peaceful tactics of civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., called for more radical change. One member of the Black Power Movement who led this charge was Malcolm X. The foundation of the Black Power Movement was the Black Panther Party.  In reaction to the Civil Rights Movement in the early 1960s and spilling into the 1970s, the Black Power Movement grew larger and larger, slowly becoming more violent over time. This violence led to a lot of involvement with the authorities and multiple arrests of party members. The FBI later labeled the party Panther Party as a terrorist organization and many members sought asylum outside of the United States. Later, as the party took root overseas, it grew into what is referred to as the Black Power Revolution.[13]

 Blaxploitation Crime Films

Blaxploitation Crime Films use the theme of criminal behavior to create a hero or heroine of the movie that use crime to one up “the man.” The films are not typical crime movies in that they have largely black casts and focus on using crime to undo evil done by white America. The film portrays cops as manipulative and dirty, usually as the antagonists of the film. The films provided a space for the mounting need for black actors and functioned to present them with the prospect to transition from television roles to movies (49. [14]

Gender/Sex in the Film

Gender and Sexuality in the film have been highly critiqued by film critiques who noted the characters mistreatment of women. The Director of the film very intentionally portrays the young women as sexy but lacking complexity. This is a common theme that can be noted in many black films in which “The sexual dimension of American racism is reflected in the motion picture portrayal of the black woman” as is stated by Edward Mapp in “Black Women in Films” (142).[15]

Critics like Roger Greenspun note that, "Cool Breeze" has rather a lot to say about sexy young girls, and about sex generally (much of it fairly brutal), and about whatever matters of practical philosophy happen to pass through the minds of its characters” (New York Times 1972).[16]

 

Reviews and Reception

The film received very poor reviews overall. Critics reported that the characters were dry and lack dimension and the climax ended with a plot that seemed to lose its momentum. Much of the issues that were introduced in the beginning of the film were left unresolved by the end. Critics note that the film had a talented cast however the plot and character development was lacking. Though this is true, there were a few good scenes that were noted by film reviewers.

New York Times

The NYTimes noted that the film had a very poor depiction of blackness as well. The reviewers wrote, “Actually, the quality of blackness is somewhat strained, embracing as it does much of the cast, and most of the attitudes, and virtually all the ad campaign— but none of the major technical credits, including Gene Corman as producer and Barry Pollack, who directed and wrote the screenplay.”[17]

They cite that the film struggles to take its viewers on a journey with a very clear starting and ending point. The film is lacking in incorporating a clear stance or black power or pacifism which is ironic when compared to the director and screenwriters choice of genre. The film waned and lulls as the cast goes from being incredibly dramatic to almost apathetic. They note that “The cast is only good in its sadness, and especially with Raymond St Jacques as Mercer, the high-powered fence (the Louis Calhern role in "The Asphalt Jungle") who loses everything except an understanding that the best use of the substance of life is to support a style.”[18]

http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F03E2D8173DE53ABC4850DFB5668389669EDE

The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

 

Asphalt Jungle, released in 1950, was another MGM produced film that carried strong themes of criminality, drugs, gangs and "the fast life." It is set in an urban scene. The film was adapted by John Huston and Ben Maddow from W. R. Burnett's novel Asphalt Jungle.[19]

 

The main character and protagonist is the ingenious criminal Erwin "Doc" Riedenschneider who is released from prison and sets his sights on a huge jewelry heist that will be the hallmark of his career. This is a million dollar mission that could take him out of the game forever. He embarks on making a fifty-thousand-dollar investment with the assistance of a character by the name of Cobby who assists Doc in recruiting a local gang to carry out the theft for him. Doc is later introduced to a lawyer by the name of Alonzo D. Emmerich who offers to put down money in order to finance the mission and to then purchase all of the stolen items at the culmination of the heist. He hires someone to crack the safe by the name of Louis Ciavelli. He also has a driver and a gunman by the name of Dix Handley who he invites to the heist. His plan is almost fool proof...that is until misfortune and backstabbing send the heist array and the jewel thieves are forced to abandon ship as they evade capture by the authorities.[20]

Cast

See also

References

  1. ↑ Release dates and related information.
  2. ↑ Technical aspects and film runtimes.
  3. 1 2 http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/3219/Cool-Breeze/
  4. ↑ "The Seventies". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
  5. ↑ "The Seventies". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
  6. ↑ "The Seventies". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
  7. ↑ "The Seventies". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
  8. ↑ "WGBH American Experience . Freedom Riders . Issues . Jim Crow Laws | PBS". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
  9. ↑ "Black Panther Party". Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2016-05-02.
  10. ↑ "Bad title". Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
  11. ↑ "Bad title". Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
  12. ↑ "Black Power". Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2016-04-22.
  13. ↑ "Black Power". Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2016-04-22.
  14. ↑ Bowdre, Karen (2011-01-01). "Novotny Lawrence, Blaxploitation Films of the 1970s: Blackness and Genre". Black Camera 3 (1): 163–165. doi:10.2979/blackcamera.3.1.163.
  15. ↑ "Emory Libraries Resources Terms of Use - Emory University Libraries". www.jstor.org.proxy.library.emory.edu. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
  16. ↑ "Movie Review - - The Screen: 'Cool Breeze':Heist Planned to Fund Black People's Bank - NYTimes.com". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
  17. ↑ "Movie Review - - The Screen: 'Cool Breeze':Heist Planned to Fund Black People's Bank - NYTimes.com". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
  18. ↑ "Movie Review - - The Screen: 'Cool Breeze':Heist Planned to Fund Black People's Bank - NYTimes.com". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
  19. ↑ "The Asphalt Jungle". Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2016-03-19.
  20. ↑ Huston, John (1950-05-23), The Asphalt Jungle, retrieved 2016-05-06

4. http://search.proquest.com.proxy.library.emory.edu/news/docview/532564967/C9A2F31F7F534164PQ/25?accountid=10747

5.http://search.proquest.com.proxy.library.emory.edu/news/docview/491368590/C9A2F31F7F534164PQ/7?accountid=10747

6.http://search.proquest.com.proxy.library.emory.edu/news/docview/565039606/fulltextPDF/C9A2F31F7F534164PQ/1?accountid=10747

7.http://search.proquest.com.proxy.library.emory.edu/news/docview/532692856/661DE371FB964E85PQ/4?accountid=10747

8. http://search.proquest.com.proxy.library.emory.edu/news/docview/494397556/661DE371FB964E85PQ/11?accountid=10747

9. http://search.proquest.com.proxy.library.emory.edu/news/docview/119299630/661DE371FB964E85PQ/15?accountid=10747

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, May 06, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.