Popular Culture Review Vol. 5, No. 1, February 1994 | Page 45

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"R" rated film version of Cotton Comes to Harlem, which opened at
the DeMille Theatre on Broadway in New York, was widely
reviewed in such publications as the New York Times, Time,
Nevosweek, and Life. The film version was remarkably successful and
represented the possibility of future economic rewards for Hollywood
producers of black films. Cotton Comes to Harlem was a major force in
establishing the fact that big money could be made from films
featuring blacks as heroes, that blacks were capable of directing
major motion pictures, and that a market was thirsting for films
specifically fashioned for black audiences. The film was highly
ranked by Variety, eleventh on the list of "top-grossing films"
(Edelman 530).
The screenplay of Cotton Comes to Harlem, written by Arnold
Perl and Himes, manipulated the original plot of the novel. The film
employed characters from the underworld of the Mafia as the
"device" through which Grave Digge r and Coffin Ed are able to come
up with the lost $87,000. In the novel, it was Colonel Calhoun who
had been persuaded to supply the missing funds. In addition, a
number of humorous gags are included such as the use of watermelons
as part of the street scene action within the Harlem community,
suggesting an additional use of stereotypes. Generally, the film
version seemed to accentuate the humorous possibilities, focusing on
scenes in the novel which had been framed in a satirical fashion. The
scene in which the white police officer is seduced by Iris was one
segment given substantial exposition in the film.
Cotton Comes to Harlem represented one of the first black films
shot on location in Harlem rather than in Hollywood. Dominated by
the participation of African-Americans in significant roles, the film
was also primarily geared toward a black viewing audience. Ossie
Davis, who was described in 1970 as a "new black director," took the
brunt of most of the negative criticism. Writing for the New York
Times, Vincent Canby was critical of Davis's directing. Canby
suggested the difficulties of depicting the social situation of urban
African-Americans in a detective thriller:
. . . like the dancer's balloons, fans and feathers, the
movie's stick-ups, shoot-outs, chases, murders and
wisecracks say little about the Black Experience . . . .
It is strictly for people who don't care much about