Across 110th Street (1972)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Overrated

Brilliant and touching

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

07/23/2018 I know how hard it is to believe that a 45 year old movie could still be worth watching, but this one is. Big name white actors are of course the draw but this movie gets taken away from them by the overload of excellent black actors that continued in movies and tv for many years to come. Cars, cloths and music as expected, are dated but the storyline and professional/believable overall acting will be your satisfying reward for watching a movie this old. Sorry to see it end so soon. Really good! I highly recommend this movie. Bon Appetit

I caught this on BBC 1 one night many years ago . I forgot the title but could vividly remember a number of scenes especially a line of dialogue where two characters describe a third one having his genitals mutilated . This type of movie would be broadcast on television 30 years ago and no one would blink an eyelid but at the same time you can understand why it wouldn't be shown on network TV today . It as also a sign of the times back then that the TV broadcast had the F word overdubbed to something less offensive but the racial slurs against both black and whites remained intact . Perhaps the fact this film is consciously insensitive and hard hitting works against it ? This is a pity because it's not some " Blaxploitation " fare but more of a New Hollywood thriller at its best The story itself is no great shakes - a couple of black dudes rip off and kill a few members of the Mafia and the black underworld and also kill a couple of uniformed cops in the process and find if not the entire world against them then at least the law enforcers and law breakers of NYC wanting to cap their ass . It's the sort of film Tarantino has been inspired by but unlike Tarantino's work this movie is devoid of post modernism and crippling self indulgence and is a relatively tightly plotted screenplay where lots of nasty things happen to lots of nasty people . There's a subplot featuring character interaction between Anthony Quinn's nasty racist white cop and Yaphet Kotto's not very nasty by the books black cop that might have been clichéd but does seem fresh and realistic , probably down to the fact the performances and writing portraying a rather amoral relationship between the two men and the wider world . And this does feel like an exceptionally amoral film that we never see nowadays more is the pity

Some movies when they initially premier, do not do well at the box office and then through the passing of time. they gradually attain cult status amongst a specific movie genre fan base decades later. In this case the film Across 110th Street probably did all right at the box office and then faded in to obscurity. The acting was good with stars like Yaphet Kotto, Anthony Quinn, Tony Franciosa and Paul Benjamin starring in the film and it showed great potential.The film had plenty of action scenes with the old school mentality "beat 'em up" white cop played by Anthony Quinn, and the black cop in charge of the murder investigation played by Yaphet Kotto. We also have the white Italian crime boss played by Tony Franciosa and the black robber/murderer played by Paul Benjamin.Certain movies are made for a specific era that reflects the current world around us. A world that may be harsh and cruel, where guns, bribe money and mob strength rule the inner city. Why I think Across 110th Street fell in to obscurity over the passing of time, rather than in to the cult classic regime was the film had no historical value, and we the audience just got tired of seeing white cops beating up black criminals.After viewing this film for the second time in 40 years, it ends up not having much substance and I viewed it only as an extended chase scene throughout the film, with the cops, and the black and white mobsters hunting down the three black robbers who end up murdering several black and white bad guys and two cops in the process of completing their $300,0000.00 armed robbery of an Italian mob cash counting operation.So the chase is on for recovering the stolen mobs money, vicious interrogations on (innocent) suspects are performed by both the cops and criminals, and if the cops or criminals don't get answers to who the three guys are who committed the robbery and murders people will get hurt and eventually die. It is a predictable ending that I don't think I will be watching again for a third time in the next forty years because there are a lot better crime films from the 1930's that would be on my watch list before Across 110th Street would be.

Criminally underrated 70's crime pic.....fully equal to Dirty Harry & The French Connection, but virtually unheard of at least here in the UK- I IMPLORE fans of hardboiled urban thrillers to check this out, you won't be disappointed! 3 black hoods rob $300,000 from the mafia, killing 2 cops and some mobsters in the process. The mob send in Nick D'salvio, a paranoid sadist married to the bosses daughter & desperate to prove himself worthy to his formidable father in law. The two senior policemen on the case are like chalk and cheese- Capt. Martelli is 55 & a corrupt, hardened, cynical veteran of the streets whose time is clearly drawing to a close. Wheras Lt. Pope is a young black detective- ambitious but fundamentally honest & by the book, and therefore appalled by Martelli's violent and sometimes illegal methods. What raises this film above the norm isn't the rather generic plot. The performances are uniformly excellent- but it's really the writing and directing that elevate this film to greatness.....Martelli and Pope (played by Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto respectively) don't become "buddies" like Riggs and Mortaugh in Lethal Weapon, the simmering tension & mistrust between them remains- as it would in real life. The 3 robbers, whilst never glamourised (only one is shown as having any kind of real conscience, and their leader is dangerously & unpredictably violent), are far from cardboard cut out bad guys- they're all three dimensional characters, a realistic mix of good and bad, with understandable motives. The psychopathic D'Salvio on the other hand is a truly nasty piece of work with no redeeming features, but even he is intriguingly multi-layerd- particularly in his dealings with the positively Machiavellian boss of the Harlem crime syndicate Doc Johnson, in his own way the most ruthless and streetwise character in the movie.....On paper D'Salvio is the senior mobster, and so should have the upper hand, but Johnson expertly plays on his insecurities to gain the upper hand in a masterfully played scene. Perhaps the most surprising thing about the film is how well it has aged- made over 40 years ago it still holds up well today. Also the level of violence is very strong, even when compared to the many other tough thrillers of the time, but it's never gratuitous- like The French Connection, this is a film about the seamy side of life in New York's ghetto, and director Barry Shear captures the mood and texture of grim n gritty 70's Harlem in a way few have managed. A must see for those who like their thrillers edgy, realistic and uncompromising!