Black Caesar (film)
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| Black Caesar | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster. |
|
| Directed by | Larry Cohen |
| Produced by | Larry Cohen Benjamin Fisz Kenneth Rive |
| Written by | Larry Cohen |
| Starring | Fred Williamson Gloria Hendry |
| Music by | James Brown |
| Distributed by | American International Pictures |
| Release date(s) | February 7, 1973 |
| Running time | 87 minutes |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Black Caesar is a 1973 blaxploitation film, starring Fred Williamson and Gloria Hendry. The film was written and directed by Larry Cohen. It is a remake of the 1931 film Little Caesar. It features a notable musical score by James Brown (with heavy input from his bandleader Fred Wesley), his first experience of writing music for film.
[edit] Cast
- Fred Williamson — Tommy Gibbs
- Gloria Hendry — Helen
- Art Lund — McKinney
- D'Urville Martin — Reverend Rufus
- Julius Harris — Mr. Gibbs
- Minnie Gentry — Mama Gibbs
- Philip Roye — Joe Washington
- William Wellman Jr. — Alfred Coleman
- James Dixon — Bryant
- Val Avery — Cardoza
- Patrick McAllister — Grossfield
- Don Pedro Colley — Crawdaddy
- Myrna Hansen — Virginia Coleman
- Omer Jeffrey — Tommy as a boy
- Mike Anthony Jones — Joe as a boy
[edit] Trivia
- Some of James Brown's songs used in the film were sampled by prominent rap musicians - Das EFX and Ice-T (the background music where Tommy Gibbs is shot while crossing a street corner was sampled in Ice-T's "You Played Yourself"). More recently, by The Alchemist for Prodigy's currently last album Return of the Mac.
- The film is name-checked in Public Enemy's song "Burn Hollywood Burn", when guest-rapper Ice Cube reacts to the abandonment of black culture by Hollywood filmmakers by saying "I got Black Caesar back at the crib."
