Across 110th Street is a 1972 crime-drama film, starring Anthony Quinn, Yaphet Kotto, and Tony 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 being a film that surpassed the limitations of that idiom. [1]
| Across 110th Street | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Barry Shear |
| Written by | Wally Ferris (novel) Luther Davis (screenplay) |
| Produced by | Anthony Quinn Fouad Said Barry Shear |
| Starring | Anthony Quinn Yaphet Kotto Tony Franciosa |
| Music by | Bobby Womack |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
Release dates | December 19, 1972 |
Running time | 102 minutes |
| Language | English |
Synopsis
Template:Spoiler This film is set in Harlem, of which 110th Street is an informal boundary line. Kotto (in an early performance) plays a by-the-book black police lieutenant who has to work with a crude and racist Italian-American captain, played by Quinn. They are after some black hoodlums who slaughtered five men—three Italians and two Blacks—in a holdup that netted $300,000. The getaway driver is played by Starsky and Hutch's Antonio Fargas. Franciosa plays a Mafia lieutenant who finds out about the hit and, with his henchmen, goes after the hoods. In one of many violent scenes, he finds Fargas' character and brutalizes him in a Harlem whorehouse.
The mixture of natural, uncontrived, down-to-the-bone dialogue and 1970s dress and behavior accounts for the film's enduring appeal. The inclusion of violence is viewed as not gratuitous, but rather an integral part of what happens, and what has to happen, given the circumstances. The movie was filmed on location in Harlem, interesting as the neighborhood has recently changed so much.
The film's critically-praised title song, by Bobby Womack, was a #19 hit on the Billboard Top Black Singles chart in 1973, and was later featured in Quentin Tarantino's 1998 blaxploitation homage Jackie Brown.
Soundtrack
- "Across 110th Street" (performed by Bobby Womack and Peace)
- "Harlem Clavinette" (performed by J.J.Johnson and his Orchestra)
- "If You Don't Want My Love" (performed by Bobby Womack and Peace)
- "Hang On In There" (performed by J.J.Johnson and his Orchestra)
- "Quicksand" (performed by Bobby Womack and Peace)
- "Harlem Love Theme" (performed by J.J.Johnson and his Orchestra)
- "Across 110th Street (instrumental)" (performed by J.J.Johnson and his Orchestra)
- "Do It Right" (performed by Bobby Womack and Peace)
- "Hang On In There" (performed by Bobby Womack and Peace)
- "If You Don't Want My Love" (performed J.J.Johnson and his Orchestra)
- "Across 110th Street - Part II" (performed by Bobby Womack and Peace)