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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.
628:, 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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522:, 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
506:, 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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340:. 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.
612:, 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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928:"The Last Chester Himes Movie? pt 2"
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671:Pat H. Broeske (February 18, 1990).
502:. In the movie, Goldy is Jackson's
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938:from the original on July 17, 2011
872:from the original on June 21, 2019
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312:." It was also shown at the 2nd
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958:"A Rage in Harlem av Bill Duke"
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860:"A Rage in Harlem"
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1071:September 2,
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563:
554:Robin Givens
547:
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504:step-brother
488:
457:T. K. Carter
445:Helen Martin
430:Stack Pierce
397:Danny Glover
393:as Big Kathy
385:Robin Givens
361:
357:
349:denomination
342:
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287:Robin Givens
279:Danny Glover
270:
261:directed by
253:
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210:Running time
187:Release date
157:Jeff Vincent
123:Danny Glover
113:Robin Givens
73:
1133:The Numbers
1036:November 6,
1031:Answers.com
1020:"Bill Duke"
972:November 6,
942:November 5,
812:February 2,
773:November 6,
763:BBC Radio 4
727:October 10,
689:February 2,
630:Roger Ebert
580:of the old
532:green-light
515:Development
508:androgynous
441:as Claude X
403:Badja Djola
391:Zakes Mokae
387:as Imabelle
299:comedy film
293:. Producer
283:Badja Djola
238:$ 8 million
214:115 minutes
118:Zakes Mokae
87:Kerry Rock
84:Produced by
50:Directed by
1351:1991 films
1345:Categories
1317:Dark Girls
1227:Deep Cover
1025:Gale Group
876:October 1,
838:2019-10-01
651:References
566:Cincinnati
560:Production
500:speedballs
418:Ron Taylor
375:as Jackson
259:crime film
243:Box office
198:1991-05-03
163:Production
60:Written by
1194:Bill Duke
901:August 9,
600:Reception
459:as Smitty
263:Bill Duke
142:Edited by
54:Bill Duke
1106:Archived
999:18 April
936:Archived
870:Archived
832:Archived
767:Archived
683:Archived
608:website
582:downtown
471:as Clerk
453:as Louis
414:as Teena
327:gun moll
269:' novel
227:Language
150:Music by
96:Starring
70:Based on
1267:Hoodlum
995:. Verso
932:Typepad
632:of the
604:On the
420:as Hank
405:as Slim
345:seduces
230:English
219:Country
196: (
165:company
1330:(2017)
1320:(2011)
1310:(2009)
1300:(2007)
1290:(2003)
1280:(2000)
1270:(1997)
1260:(1996)
1250:(1993)
1240:(1993)
1230:(1992)
1220:(1991)
1210:(1984)
235:Budget
1297:Cover
1157:IMDb
1114:2022
1073:2023
1038:2010
1001:2022
974:2010
944:2010
903:2009
878:2019
814:2020
775:2010
729:2010
722:IMDb
691:2020
570:Ohio
492:alms
367:Cast
320:Plot
289:and
1155:at
76:by
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