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retains the gold. Goldy learns the crew is using the gold to run a fake gold mine scam, and gives
Jackson a fake bank roll in order to lure Gus, the crew's contact man. Gus and Jackson travel to the crew's headquarters, with Goldy and Big Kathy following. Goldy overpowers Gus, then he and Big Kathy enter the apartment posing as the police. Jackson runs up to the apartment, followed closely by uniformed police and the two detectives. In the ensuing melee, Gus is shot and a police officer has acid thrown in his face. The crew escapes with Imabelle in tow, and retreat to Slim's office. Jackson, Goldy and Big Kathy acquire the hearse from Mr. Clay's funeral parlor, in order to transport the gold. The crew departs again, leaving Imabelle with the gold. They drive by as Imabelle goes down stairs, and abduct her. They stop when they see the gold, which has been transferred to the hearse, and Slim kills Big Kathy when he intervenes. Goldy leaves with Imabelle, intending to avenge his death.
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confront him. They tussle, but as Slim prepares to slit
Jackson's throat it is Imabelle who shoots Slim dead. While Grave Digger and Coffin Ed apprehend Jackson for his initial theft of Mr. Clay's money, Imabelle leaves with the money from the deal, heading back to Mississippi. Mr. Clay makes bail for Jackson because he appreciates the business Jackson has drummed up for him; the money found on Slim's thugs will go towards their funerals, to be performed by Mr. Clay. Jackson hurries to the train station, where Imabelle has left $ 50,000 for Goldy and a similar sum for Jackson, along with a note telling him that he is too good for her. Jackson and Goldy briefly reconcile, then Jackson boards the train while leaving his money behind. Jackson and Imabelle reunite, and depart for Mississippi together.
617:, called it "painless, occasionally funny" but with a "heedlessly incomprehensible plot"; according to Canby, "Because the screenplay is so thin, the characters are revealed entirely by the actors who play them. Miss Givens does particularly well as a doxy with a heart of gold as well as a trunk full of it. She looks great and shows a real flair for absurd comedy. Mr. Hines, Mr. Whitaker and Mr. Glover also are in good form, as are Badja Djola, who plays Imabelle's intimidatingly large former lover, the guy she's stolen the gold from, and Mr. Toles-Bey, who, in addition to working on the screenplay, appears as one of the bad guys."
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511:, eventually credited as an executive producer, got the project started when he optioned the rights to Himes' novel. Hornberg, a first-time producer approached John Toles-Bey, a Chicago-based actor with no screenwriting credits, to draft the film's first script; the development effort gained steam after Hornberg met Kerry Boyle of Palace Productions, and through the efforts of Boyle and
495:, a trim and dapper numbers runner and occasional bogus priest who does sell "tickets to heaven," but does not solicit donations, cross-dress, or take drugs. Grave Digger and Coffin Ed are feared for their ability to dish out sudden death in the novel, while the movie shows them to be buffoons. In the movie, the brothel keeper, Big Kathy, is an
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About halfway through we were looking at a scene, and I turned to Bill and said 'You know, that wasn't quite as funny as it was in the script. And I don't know why. And he said to me, 'We're not making no god-damn comedy.' I'd raised the entire money for this film on the basis that it was a comedy.
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It is 1956, in
Natchez, Mississippi. Slim and his crew, Hank and Jodie, are negotiating with Lester, a fence; they are trying to sell the gold they stole in a mining robbery. The deal goes south, and under duress Lester discloses that the only other person capable of fencing the gold is Easy Money in
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was the first of the two lead actors to commit to the film, described as an action-comedy with "very dark" comedy. Whitaker among others, was consulted as Boyle and
Woolley sought an African American to direct the film, doing so because they believed "maintaining the cultural integrity of the novel
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The novel and the movie differ significantly in several ways. In the book, Harlem is shown as gritty and seedy, while in the movie it is relatively vibrant. Imabelle and Slim are married in the book, but this in not mentioned in the movie. Gold ore, which is actually fool's gold, is central to the
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Jackson bribes Slim with $ 200, but must steal the money from Mr. Clay since his money is now gone. Jackson learns that Slim has "arrested" Imabelle and taken her away, so he approaches Goldy to help find her, due to his knowledge of Harlem's criminal underworld. Goldy agrees, but insists that he
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woman. while in the book Big Kathy is a cross dressing man. Also, Goldie is much closer to Big Kathy in the movie; Goldy calls him "real family" as says "he's the only person I cared about." In the novel, Goldy is murdered when Slim slits his throat, while in the movie he survives and is able to
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Slim and crew meet with Easy Money the enact the sale of the gold, but Slim calls off the deal out of annoyance with him. There is a shoot out where Hank and Josie are killed. When Goldy bursts in, he is shot and Easy Money is mortally wounded. Slim escapes with
Imabelle, and Jackson arrives to
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demanded a black director"; they also wanted "someone who was older and secure enough to collaborate and make a picture that we could distribute widely, but who still had a passion for the material." They chose Duke in part for his experience directing
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reconnect with his brother in the end. Both the film and novel have
Jackson and Imabelle happily reunited in the end, but in the film they move to Mississippi, while in the book they stay in Harlem.
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lower depths stood in quite nicely for ... 1950s Harlem." About midway during production, it turned out that Duke and
Woolley had undiscussed differences about the tone the film was going to take:
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by baking it in an oven. They claim they can turn
Jackson's $ 1,500 into $ 15,000, but he is reluctant at first. During the scam, the oven explodes and Slim bursts into the room, impersonating a
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him, and moves into his apartment. Slim and crew travel to Harlem, and enlist
Imabelle to help them take Jackson's money, using "The Blow," a scam whereby money is seemingly changed to a higher
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gave it 3 out of 4 and wrote: "What's best in the movie is the chemistry between
Whitaker and Givens, who is surprisingly effective in her first feature role." Owen Gleiberman of
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329:. His estranged step brother, Goldy, is a small-time hoodlum and also impersonates a priest in order sell fake "tickets to heaven." Jackson has skimped to save $ 1,500.
601:, 68% of 37 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "If it can't quite live up to its source material,
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was positive about the atmosphere, comedy, and raw acting talent, but critical of the plot which he called "a complete shambles". Gleiberman gave it "Cā" grade.
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It was Chester Himes, it was supposed to be funny. And a shiver went down my spine...I hoped that Bill was joking. But I realized he thought we were making
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Imabelle arrives with her trunk, but has no money. She attends the Undertaker's Ball, looking for a source of support, and meets Jackson. She
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The film grossed $ 10.4 million in the United States.
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still proves a stylishly effective period thriller."
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303:Stockholm International Film Festival
917:"The Last Chester Himes Movie? pt 2"
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660:Pat H. Broeske (February 18, 1990).
491:. In the movie, Goldy is Jackson's
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927:from the original on July 17, 2011
861:from the original on June 21, 2019
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301:." It was also shown at the 2nd
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1236:Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
1016:'s Contemporary Black Biography
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947:"A Rage in Harlem av Bill Duke"
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1370:Films based on American novels
1360:American comedy thriller films
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286:intended it to be a
235:$ 10.4 million (USA)
1385:Films set in Harlem
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468:"Gravedigger" Jones
246:is a 1991 American
1380:Films shot in Ohio
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957:on August 25, 2010
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579:
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565:, whose "un-
552:
543:Robin Givens
536:
525:
507:
493:step-brother
477:
446:T. K. Carter
434:Helen Martin
419:Stack Pierce
386:Danny Glover
382:as Big Kathy
374:Robin Givens
350:
346:
338:denomination
331:
324:
312:
292:
276:Robin Givens
268:Danny Glover
259:
250:directed by
242:
241:
240:
199:Running time
176:Release date
146:Jeff Vincent
112:Danny Glover
102:Robin Givens
62:
1122:The Numbers
1025:November 6,
1020:Answers.com
1009:"Bill Duke"
961:November 6,
931:November 5,
801:February 2,
762:November 6,
752:BBC Radio 4
716:October 10,
678:February 2,
619:Roger Ebert
569:of the old
521:green-light
504:Development
497:androgynous
430:as Claude X
392:Badja Djola
380:Zakes Mokae
376:as Imabelle
288:comedy film
282:. Producer
272:Badja Djola
227:$ 8 million
203:115 minutes
107:Zakes Mokae
76:Kerry Rock
73:Produced by
39:Directed by
1340:1991 films
1334:Categories
1306:Dark Girls
1216:Deep Cover
1014:Gale Group
865:October 1,
827:2019-10-01
640:References
555:Cincinnati
549:Production
489:speedballs
407:Ron Taylor
364:as Jackson
248:crime film
232:Box office
187:1991-05-03
152:Production
49:Written by
1183:Bill Duke
890:August 9,
589:Reception
448:as Smitty
252:Bill Duke
131:Edited by
43:Bill Duke
1095:Archived
988:18 April
925:Archived
859:Archived
821:Archived
756:Archived
672:Archived
597:website
571:downtown
460:as Clerk
442:as Louis
403:as Teena
316:gun moll
258:' novel
216:Language
139:Music by
85:Starring
59:Based on
1256:Hoodlum
984:. Verso
921:Typepad
621:of the
593:On the
409:as Hank
394:as Slim
334:seduces
219:English
208:Country
185: (
154:company
1319:(2017)
1309:(2011)
1299:(2009)
1289:(2007)
1279:(2003)
1269:(2000)
1259:(1997)
1249:(1996)
1239:(1993)
1229:(1993)
1219:(1992)
1209:(1991)
1199:(1984)
224:Budget
1286:Cover
1146:IMDb
1103:2022
1062:2023
1027:2010
990:2022
963:2010
933:2010
892:2009
867:2019
803:2020
764:2010
718:2010
711:IMDb
680:2020
559:Ohio
481:alms
356:Cast
309:Plot
278:and
1144:at
65:by
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