Information
| Year: | 1970 |
| Rating: | 6.4(560) |
| Listed in: | Action, Comedy |
| Directed by: | Ossie Davis |
| Actors: | Godfrey Cambridge Raymond St. Jacques Calvin Lockhart Redd Foxx Judy Pace Emily Yancy |
| "Introducing COFFIN ED and GRAVEDIGGER, two detectives only a mother could love." | |
Cast
| Directed by | |
|---|---|
| Ossie Davis | |
| Actors | |
| Godfrey Cambridge | as Gravedigger Jones |
| Raymond St. Jacques | as Coffin Ed Johnson |
| Calvin Lockhart | as Rev. Deke O'Malley |
| Redd Foxx | as Uncle Bud/Booker Washington Sims |
| John Anderson | as Bryce |
| Lou Jacobi | as Goodman |
| Eugene Roche | as Anderson |
| J.D. Cannon | as Calhoun |
| Dick Sabol | as Jarema |
| Cleavon Little | as Lo Boy |
| Teddy Wilson | as Barry |
| Maxwell Glanville | as Caspar |
| Arnold Williams | as Hi Jenks |
| Van Kirksey | as Early Riser |
| Irwin C. Watson | as Minister |
| Leonardo Cimino | as Tom |
| Simm Landres | as Luddy |
| Turk Turpin | as Dum Dum |
| Tommy Lane | as '44' |
| Gilbert Lewis | as 1st Black Beret |
| Wally Taylor | as 2nd Black Beret |
| William Pratt | as 3rd Black Beret |
| Lisle Wilson | as 4th Black Beret |
| John D. Anthony | as 5th Black Beret |
| Anthony Chisholm | as Black Plainclothesman |
| Tony Brubaker | as John Hill |
| Walter Scott Jr. | as Cowboy |
| Jimmy Hayeson | as Wino |
| Lawrence Cook | as 1st Young Black Man |
| Vincent Hamill | as Lead picket |
| Rudy Townsend | as 2nd Picket |
| Ernest Marks | as Man |
| Al Fann | as Billie Boy |
| Louis Whitman | as Chicken Man |
| Kenneth Manigault | as Traveling Man |
| Harold Gaetano | as Plainclothesman |
| Stanley Greene | as Chep |
| Albert Hall | as Backround Detective |
| Gene Lindsey | as Luddy |
| Frederick O'Neal | |
| Lee Steele | as Sidewalk Fur Coat Salesman |
| Actresses | |
| Judy Pace | as Iris |
| Emily Yancy | as Mabel |
| Mabel Robinson | as Billie |
| Helen Martin | as Church Sister |
| Gertrude Jeannette | as Sister Minnie |
| Jonelle Allen | as Secretary |
| Vernee Watson-Johnson | as Woman |
| Alyce Webb | as Angry Woman |
| Vinnette Carroll | as Reba |
| Melba Moore | as Singer at the Apollo Theater |
Movie info
| Languages: | English |
| Budget: | USD 1,200,000 |
| Plot: | The Charismatic black nationalist leader Rev Deke O'Malley is trying to sell the people of Harlem a dream. Invest $100 in his company and live in Africa. But cops Gravedigger and Coffin know all about Deke and his fraudulent schemes that take advantage of the poor and the ignorant and can't wait for a chance to expose him. When a barbecue O'Malley is apparently 'robbed' they get their chance to take him and his cohorts down. |
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Original Soundtracks
|
"Cotton Comes To Harlem" Music by Galt MacDermot Lyrics by Joseph E. Lewis Sung by George Aliceson Tipton (as George Tipton) "Ain't Now, But it's Gona Be" Music by Galt MacDermot Lyrics by Ossie Davis Sung by Melba Moore "Salvation" Music by Galt MacDermot Lyrics by Paul Laurence Dubar Sung by Melba Moore "Down in my Soul" Music by Galt MacDermot Lyrics by William Dumaresq Sung by Leata Galloway "Going Home" Music by Galt MacDermot Lyrics by Joseph E. Lewis Sung by LaLa Brooks (as Sakinah Muhammad) and Leata Galloway |
Goofs
| Continuity: During the car chase, the mirror on the driver's side of the police car gets shot off. Once the police car collides with the watermelon cart a few seconds later, the mirror reappears. |
Quotes
|
Gravedigger Jones: One more word, soul brother. You had it made. Black folks would have followed you anywhere. You could've been another Marcus Garvey or even another Malcolm X. But instead you ain't nothin' but a pimp with a chicken-shit backbone. Barry: Was that black enough for you? Uncle Bud: It ain't, but it's gonna be. Coffin Ed: White guys? Gravedigger Jones: White guys? They had on masks. How did you know they were white? Lo Boy: [crying] Oh Lordy, help me! Coffin Ed: I'm asking you. How do you know they was white? Lo Boy: They run white, dammit. Mabel: Now what would a bail of cotton be doing in Harlem? Gravedigger Jones: Any black man might rat on Whitey. I might myself. Iris: They say the badder the woman, the better the smell. Come sniff. Rev. Deke O'Malley: Iris, cool it! Iris: Don't tell me to cool it! You left me for the cops! Nigga, I oughta kill you! [Coffin slaps the fancy cigarette lighter from Deke's hand as he tries to light a cigarette] Rev. Deke O'Malley: That's police brutality. Gravedigger Jones: No, brother, that's cancer prevention. Iris: [disguised as old woman to escape from jail] Where's my pastor? Where's my pastor? What did you do with my pastor? Jarema: Wait a minute, hold it, just a minute, now! How the hell did you get in here? Gravedigger Jones: She's with the delegation, don't you remember? Iris: If ya'll don't give me back my pastor I'm gonna punch you in the stomach with this umbrella! Jarema: Now, watch it, lady. Gravedigger Jones: O'Malley ain't here. He's been released. Iris: Gimme back my pastor! Gravedigger Jones: O'Malley ain't here, I tell you, and if you don't get the hell outta here with all that noise I'm gonna jail you. [Iris leaves] And stay out! Jarema: What's the matter with that old bag? Gravedigger Jones: My people. My people. Coffin Ed: What the hell do the attorney general, the state department, or even the President of the United States know about one god-damn thing that's going on up here in Harlem? [Starts handling his revolver] Bryce: Say, do you have to play with that thing? Gravedigger Jones: I'm insecure, Captain. Gravedigger Jones: Is that the way to talk to anybody? Don't you know that black is beautiful? Billie: Uncle Tom is what they are. My dance has got to say something about my people. Black people! We've got to set our peoples minds to thinking! Iris: You took that ship, that big ol' lack ship, "Black Beauty," n' you smashed it down on that poor girl's head! Gravedigger Jones: Another fine mess you got us into! Coffin Ed: I got us into? Shut up and shoot! Gravedigger Jones: Hey, Ed! Coffin Ed: What is it? Gravedigger Jones: Look at this. Cotton, from inside the meat truck. Coffin Ed: One thing for sure, it ain't drugstore cotton. Anderson: What is it? Coffin Ed: It's raw, unprocessed cotton. Like from a bale. Gravedigger Jones: Ohhh, it's a long time since I've seen cotton like that. Coffin Ed: Digger, you ain't never seen no raw cotton before. You were born and raised right here in New York, just like me. [Drunken man stumbles up during riot at police station] Man: Well, ain't this the "Goin' Back to Africa Rally"? Coffin Ed: No, baby, it is the "Goin' Home Rally". [people outside police station demanding O'Malley return their money] Coffin Ed: Digger and I will do our damnedest to get your money back. We promise. Rioter: Promises! Hell with promises! Gravedigger Jones: Anybody out there ever hear of Coffin Ed or the Gravedigger make a promise we didn't keep? [Crowd gets quiet] Coffin Ed: Now, we may have broken some heads, but we never broke no promises. Anderson: You've got to understand Ed and Digger, sir. Bryce: I understand those two, all right. Too quick with their fists. Too flip with their talk. Too fast with their guns. And too damn black maniacs on a powder keg. |
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