Black Caesar (1973) *** [Tommy Gibbs Double Feature Pt. 1]
Black Caesar (1973), Larry's Cohen's second feature and first (of three) with Fred Williamson is a solid slice of blaxploitation with a sweet score by James Brown—one of only two (both released in 1973) by the Godfather of Soul.
A loose remake of Little Caesar (1931) starring Edward G. Robinson, Cohen's film stars Williamson as Tommy Gibbs, who as a teen growing up in Harlem was brutally beaten by a cop named McKinney (Art Lund), an incident which led him to a life of crime. As an adult, he joins the New York mafia and becomes the head of a Black crime syndicate, waging gang war with the Italian mobsters. Gibbs establishes a criminal empire, keeping a ledger of all his dealings to use as leverage over his business associates, including McKinney.
Tommy has a strained relationship with his father (Julius Harris) and although he loves his mama and tries to do his best for her as his status rises and money flows in, his treatment of his wife Helen (Gloria Hendry) is abhorrent, whom he is violent toward and even stoops to raping. Using Gloria's unhappiness with Tommy against her, Gibbs' enemies (of which he makes plenty) conspire with her, leading to an attempt on his life. Surviving the assassination attempt, Tommy meets with McKinney to enact revenge.
This penultimate scene is the film's most powerful, where Tommy lets loose his whole life's pent up rage in an eye for an eye fashion, humiliating McKinney in a similar manner as had been done to him. Williamson's performance is great throughout the film but is particularly powerful in the finale.
The film itself is a mishmash—the themes explored and the talent involved make it one of the better blaxploitation films, but the execution isn't always top notch. That's to be expected with Cohen though, one of the undisputed kings of b-movies, who always shot his films fast, cheap and no holds barred.
You can find my Larry Cohen Feature Films Ranked list here.
A loose remake of Little Caesar (1931) starring Edward G. Robinson, Cohen's film stars Williamson as Tommy Gibbs, who as a teen growing up in Harlem was brutally beaten by a cop named McKinney (Art Lund), an incident which led him to a life of crime. As an adult, he joins the New York mafia and becomes the head of a Black crime syndicate, waging gang war with the Italian mobsters. Gibbs establishes a criminal empire, keeping a ledger of all his dealings to use as leverage over his business associates, including McKinney.
Tommy has a strained relationship with his father (Julius Harris) and although he loves his mama and tries to do his best for her as his status rises and money flows in, his treatment of his wife Helen (Gloria Hendry) is abhorrent, whom he is violent toward and even stoops to raping. Using Gloria's unhappiness with Tommy against her, Gibbs' enemies (of which he makes plenty) conspire with her, leading to an attempt on his life. Surviving the assassination attempt, Tommy meets with McKinney to enact revenge.
This penultimate scene is the film's most powerful, where Tommy lets loose his whole life's pent up rage in an eye for an eye fashion, humiliating McKinney in a similar manner as had been done to him. Williamson's performance is great throughout the film but is particularly powerful in the finale.
The film itself is a mishmash—the themes explored and the talent involved make it one of the better blaxploitation films, but the execution isn't always top notch. That's to be expected with Cohen though, one of the undisputed kings of b-movies, who always shot his films fast, cheap and no holds barred.
You can find my Larry Cohen Feature Films Ranked list here.
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