3/4/26 O&A NYC WILDIN OUT WEDNESDAY: Cotton Comes To Harlem- Iris, Officer Jerema and the Paper Bag

cotton-comes-to-harlem-movie-poster-1970-1020194569

Cotton Comes to Harlem was the beginning of short period in American film that featured black actors in leading roles and the themes dealt with issues from the African-American microcosm. With a screenplay by Arnold Perl and Ossie Davis, and  directed by Davis this action drama represents the black perspective. Much of the film’s humor is urban black comedy, which was groundbreaking in 1970.

Continue reading

6/16/25 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Friday Foster (1975) – Pam Grier, Thalmus Rasulala

On assignment from her editor, photographer Friday Foster (Pam Grier) travels to an airport to capture a few shots of the richest black man in the United States (Thalmus Rasulala). But it turns out Foster isn’t the only one taking shots as she witnesses — and photographs an assassination attempt on her subject. Continue reading

1/17/21 O&A NYC GOSPEL SUNDAY: Purlie (1981) | Robert Guillaume, Sherman Hemsley, Melba Moore

Purlie is a musical with a book by Ossie Davis, Phillip Rose and Peter Udell, lyrics by Udell and music by Gary Geld and choreography by Louis Johnson. It is based on Davis’s 1961 plaPurlie Victorious, which was later made into the 1963 film Gone Are the Days! and which included many of the original Broadway cast, including Davis, Ruby Dee, Alan Alda, Beah Richards, Godfrey Cambridge and Sorrell Booke. 

Purlie is set in an era when Jim Crow laws still were in effect in the American South. Its focus is on the dynamic traveling preacher Purlie Victorious Judson, who returns to his small Georgia town hoping to save Big Bethel, the community’s church, and emancipate the cotton pickers who work on oppressive Ol’ Cap’n Cotchipee’s platation. With the assistance of Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins, Purlie hopes to pry loose from Cotchipee an inheritance due his long-lost cousin and use the money to achieve his goals. Also playing a part in Purlie’s plans is Cotchipee’s son Charlie, who ultimately proves to be far more fair-minded than his Simon Legree –like father and who saves the church from destruction with an act of defiance that has dire consequences for the tyrannical Cap’n.

Purlie is a musical with a book by Ossie Davis, Phillip Rose and Peter Udell

 

12/28/20 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Gone Are The Days! aka Purlie Victorious (1963) | Ruby Dee Ossie Davis

Gone Are the Days! (aka Purlie Victorious / The Man From C.O.T.T.O.N.) is a 1963 American comedy-drama film starring Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee and Godfrey Cambridge. It is based on the 1961 Broadway play Purlie Victorious, which was written by Davis. Continue reading

3/2/20 O&A HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Cotton Come To Harlem – Iris, Officer Jarema and The Paper Bag

Hollywood Mondayscotton-comes-to-harlem-movie-poster-1970-1020194569

Cotton Comes to Harlem was the beginning of short period in American film that featured black actors in leading roles and the themes dealt with issues from the African-American microcosm. With a screenplay by Arnold Perl and Ossie Davis, and  directed by Davis this action drama represents the black prospective. Much of the film’s humor is urban black comedy, which was groundbreaking in 1970.

Continue reading

6/11/18 O&A Hollywood Monday: Cotton Come To Harlem – Iris, Officer Jarema and The Paper Bag

Hollywood Mondayscotton-comes-to-harlem-movie-poster-1970-1020194569

Cotton Comes to Harlem was the beginning of short period in American film that featured black actors in leading roles and the themes dealt with issues from the African-American microcosm. With a screenplay by Arnold Perl and Ossie Davis, and  directed by Davis this action drama represents the black prospective. Much of the film’s humor is urban black comedy, which was groundbreaking in 1970.

Continue reading

6/11/18 O&A Hollywood Monday: Cotton Come To Harlem – Iris, Officer Jarema and The Paper Bag

Hollywood Mondayscotton-comes-to-harlem-movie-poster-1970-1020194569

Cotton Comes to Harlem was the beginning of short period in American film that featured black actors in leading roles and the themes dealt with issues from the African-American microcosm. With a screenplay by Arnold Perl and Ossie Davis, and  directed by Davis this action drama represents the black prospective. Much of the film’s humor is urban black comedy, which was groundbreaking in 1970.

Continue reading

(REPOST) 1/17/21 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY EXTRA: Cotton Comes To Harlem- Iris, Officer Jerema and the Paper Bag

Hollywood Mondayscotton-comes-to-harlem-movie-poster-1970-1020194569

Cotton Comes to Harlem was the beginning of short period in American film that featured black actors in leading roles and the themes dealt with issues from the African-American microcosm. With a screenplay by Arnold Perl and Ossie Davis, and  directed by Davis this action drama represents the black perspective. Much of the film’s humor is urban black comedy, which was groundbreaking in 1970.

Continue reading

9/28/15 O&A Hollywood Monday (Repost): Cotton Come To Harlem – Iris, Officer Jarema and The Paper Bag

Hollywood Mondayscotton-comes-to-harlem-movie-poster-1970-1020194569

Cotton Comes to Harlem was the beginning of short period in American film that featured black actors in leading roles and the themes dealt with issues from the African-American microcosm. With a screenplay by Arnold Perl and Ossie Davis, and  directed by Davis this action drama represents the black prospective. Much of the film’s humor is urban black comedy, which was groundbreaking in 1970.

Continue reading

(Repost) 11/16/20 O&A HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Cotton Comes To Harlem- Iris, Officer Jerema and the Paper Bag

Hollywood Mondayscotton-comes-to-harlem-movie-poster-1970-1020194569

Cotton Comes to Harlem was the beginning of short period in American film that featured black actors in leading roles and the themes dealt with issues from the African-American microcosm. With a screenplay by Arnold Perl and Ossie Davis, and directed by Davis this action drama represents the black prospective. Much of the film’s humor is urban black comedy, which was groundbreaking in 1970.

Continue reading