Cast:
Glynn Turman (Leroy "Preach" Jackson), Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (Richard "Cochise" Morris), Garrett Morris (Mr. Mason), Cynthia Davis (Brenda), Sherman Smith (Stone), Norman Gibson (Robert), Corin Rogers (Pooter), Joseph Carter Wilson (Tyrone), Maurice Marshall (Damon), Steven Williams (Jimmy Lee), Christine Jones (Sandra), and Jackie Taylor (Johnny Mae) Directed by Michael Schultz (#1637 - Car Wash)
Review:
"The thing is, when you’re a kid in whatever environment you grow up in, you look at it in a different way. It’s your home. It’s where you hang out and you have your friends. To outsiders, it may be ugly, but as a kid, you don’t look at the ugliness. You look beyond it. I wanted to capture that on film."
I'm sure you can recognize the idea presented in writing about what you know, because this was a film released in the 1970s, but I think we all are very interested in ones that seem ripe with honesty. Eric Monte was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, growing up in the Cabrini–Green housing project (all but the original two-story rowhouses remain from there, as everything around it was demolished from 1995-2011) on the Near North side that found himself attending Cooley Vocational High School only to drop out in his junior year to join the United States Army. After serving in the Army, Monte had a dream to work as a screenwriter, to the point where he hitchhiked across Route 66 and found his way to Hollywood. He eventually found work on television, most notably serving as co-creator on the sitcom Good Times. His first script in film was co-writing The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat in 1974. Steve Krantz had brought Monte in to help write for the film, and a conversation between the two of their experiences growing up (him in New York and Monte in Chicago) got Krantz to bring the idea to American International Pictures. Monte wrote the script for what became this film to express the fun he had "while inhaling and exhaling" in the projects. The success of the film inspired ideas to make a television show based on the film, and after some retooling, it became What's Happening!!, which ran for a number of seasons starting in 1976. Monte did not reap much of the rewards, as he felt that others higher up than him in productions were stealing his ideas, which led him to sue. He won a settlement but his prospects of writing for television dried up to the point where this was his last film script. At director for this film was Milwaukee native Michael Schultz, who had previously directed stage productions and two somewhat obscure films in Together for Days (1972) and Honeybaby, Honeybaby (1974), and he helped cast a handful of authentically Chicago people for certain roles (such as Norman Gibson and Sherman Smith, known as petty thieves by cops) while also working on straightening the script out with Monte (interpret for yourself about the decision to tone down the language). Shot in Chicago and featuring a selection of Motown music and distributed by American International Pictures, Cooley High was a tremendous success that made over ten times its budget.
Admittedly, one might have an inkling of thinking about American Graffiti (1973), because, well, that was a film set in 1962 with a script based on a writer's experiences in that time. In fact, both movies feature a "where are they now" for certain characters at the end. But we are talking about an AIP film (read: compliment!) set in 1964 that happens to seem just as useful in its portrayal of life in the inner city in all of the honest angles imaginable without becoming just a series of cheap gags. It earns its moments that play out for 107 minutes because the chase for dreams and trying to escape the hard truths that come in potentially hard living is a universal one always worth watching play out on screen. Turman and Hilton-Jacobs make a suitable pair because their interactions with each other seem authentic as friends. Sure, they do make plenty of comedic moments happen with the interactions that come in trying to skirt situations, but it works as well as it does because the pairing seems authentic without a false note shared even with their distinct dreams for trying to dig out of the projects, whether that involves writing or in sports (consider Boyz n the Hood, released in 1991 by John Singleton, who had been influenced by this film, also dealt with a group of friends where one is a promising sportsman). In the hijinks of escapes and chaos also involve dreams and desires that you just didn't see in film as much back then. That youthful energy goes all the way down to the other members, such as with Davis or with Rogers. Morris doesn't have as much time, but even he has presence worth watching when it comes to trying to spread meaningful influence onto the youth with truthful warmth (his performance played a hand in being cast as the first group of actors on the comedy program Saturday Night Live, perhaps his most enduring appearance). There are a handful of scenes one could highlight, such as sharing poetry together or trying to drive, but I think the one that brings it all together really is that climax, where the film moves from recollection to reality. By the time the film maneuvers to its resounding conclusion, the best thing to say is that the film fulfills itself as one that lives for today with a mostly successful collection of honesty and humor that clearly has every reason to endure in influence and stature as it soon approaches a half-century of age.
Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.
