Across 110th Street (1972)

Best movie of this year hands down!

That was an excellent one.

As Good As It Gets

A Disappointing Continuation

A hard-nosed look at race relations in the gutters of Harlem, if "Across 110th Street" has any surprises, it's that empathy exists in unlikely places. Look, everyone knows that you don't steal from the mob, and yet you actually feel kinda bad for the murderous schlubs that cross this line - if only because of the mafia's gruesome rampage.And all the while, Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto butt heads as they try to put out the fire. The NYPD detective pairing isn't exactly "In the Heat of the Night", but it's not far off, and Quinn's boorish old-world racist isn't evil in his own right. Still, it was easy to root for Kotto on this one. Cold, unrelenting and vicious, this is a worthwhile crime movie all around.7/10

When some small-time Harlem crooks go up against the Mafia, racist slurs are shot out in addition to the excessive gunfire. The cops get involved, lots of people are killed, and nothing is resolved.This could actually be considered a "Northern" version of "In the Heat of the Night" where an Italian cop (Anthony Quinn) is paired with a black one (Yaphet Kotto) to solve this case where the mafia got an execution style assassination where $300,000 is stolen. The streets of Harlem are not going to be safe for anybody, and there seems to be more people involved in this heist than the ones first shown committing the caper on-screen.While there is some excellent location footage used for some fast-moving chase and fight sequences, the film is badly photographed so a lot of it appears either blurry or dark. A sequence at a club that appears to be involved in a full-on orgy is interrupted by the mobsters where none of the black people standing in the background do anything to keep Antonio Fargas from getting smashed to bits. It isn't the violence or even excessive foul language which makes this a mediocre blaxploitation film; It is the convoluted editing and transition between different characters either on the side of the law or the mafia, with some of the characters (particularly Quinn's) being rather undefined. Quinn's character goes through moments where he seems sympathetic to certain blacks, yet all of a sudden is violently racist. Kotto is definitely playing a character modeled after Sidney Poitier's Mr. Tibbs which makes him likable yet un-original.The scene where Fargas's wife is told of his death is probably one of the few excellent dramatic movies in the film. I give this an extra star above bomb because as a Harlem resident, I can see some areas of reality. Had this had a more personal story and less gruesome gratuitous violence, it would have been alright.

Disguised as cops, three black crooks steal a big amount of cash after killing five syndicate runners and two policemen… The New York police and the Mafia react with immediate concern… Tough police veteran Captain Frank Mattelli (Quinn) resents the intrusion of Lieutenant Pope (Kotto), a black detective, in the case, while Mafia boss Don Gennaro (Frank Mascetta) sends his paranoid son-in-law, Nick D'Salvio (Anthony Franciosa), to reassert control over the Harlem branch and see that the money is recovered… The black syndicate, headed by Doc Johnson (Richard Ward) and his assistant Shevvy (Gilbert Lewis), rejects D'Salvio, while promising only token help, and accuses Mattelli, who has been on the take from Johnson for years… Anthony Quinn plays well the ageing detective who has long ago perceived that all his efforts are not going to do more than raise the very small part of the cover of crime, but he is not above taking a bribe from a racketeer… His method of dealing with a reluctant witness is to hit hard first and ask questions later…The rigorously legal approach to police work, as exemplified by Yaphet Kotto, is not for Quinn… This is his territory, his little kingdom, and he keeps the peace as best he knows

Skirting at least some of the clichés of blaxploitation, ACROSS 110TH STREET is an entertaining mess. Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto play NYC cops and unlikely partners trying to find out who stole some mafia loot and killed a couple of cops in the process. Anthony Franciosa is an inept low-level mafiosi also hunting for the culprits. Quinn and Kotto are actually pretty dull, but Paul Benedict gives an electrifying performance as the lead thief. He's well matched with Norma Donaldson as his sympathetic wife. Antonio Fargas also appears in a brief, and of course, flamboyant role. It's a ridiculous and violent time-capsule capturing the nearly bankrupt NYC of the early 1970s...and it's tough to beat that Bobby Womack music. Directed by Barry Shear, who came from television and promptly went back to television.