Saturday night in the blacks' quarter

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Movie
German title Saturday night in the Black
Saturday night neighborhood up in town
Original title Uptown Saturday Night
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1974
length 104 minutes
Rod
Director Sidney Poitier
script Richard Wesley
production Melville Tucker
music Tom Scott
camera Fred J. Koenekamp
cut Pembroke J. Herring
occupation

Saturday night in the district of blacks ( Uptown Saturday Night , Alternative title: Saturday night in the city above ) is an American action - crime - comedy of Sidney Poitier in 1974 from a script by Richard Wesley with Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby and Harry Belafonte in the leading roles. Cosby and Poitier later worked together again for Drehn wir noch'n Ding (1975) and Tricked (1977). Although the characters have different names in each film, the three films are considered a trilogy . The film premiered on June 15, 1974 at the Olympia Theater in New York City and received positive reviews.

action

While Steve Jackson and Wardell Franklin are having fun in Madame Zenobia's club on Saturday evening, this is attacked by robbers. Steve's wallet, which contains a lottery ticket worth $ 50,000, is also stolen. To get him back, they team up with the gangster Geechie Dan Beauford, who wants to defeat his rival Silky Slim. With wit, perseverance and fearlessness, Steve and Wardell develop a plan to get the lottery ticket with the help of the gangsters.

occupation

Main cast

  • Sidney Poitier : Steve Jackson, steel mill worker and family man. He's confident, loves to flirt, and takes on the challenges of his best friend Wardell.
  • Bill Cosby : Wardell Franklin, taxi driver and Steve's best friend. He is carefree and often acts impulsively in exciting situations.
  • Harry Belafonte : Geechie Dan Beauford, a quick-tempered gangster. Although he is stubborn and difficult to convince, he is easy to influence when it comes to money. His rival is Silky Slim.
  • Calvin Lockhart : Silky Slim, a leading gangster and rival of Geechie Dan. Like his rival, he can be quickly convinced when he is promised money.

background

Saturday Night in the Blacks Quarter was produced by Warner Bros. Entertainment for the heyday of the blaxploitation film genre . The company had previously produced comparable films such as A Case for Cleopatra Jones and Free Travel to the Hereafter .

Poitier had reached the peak of his career in the 1960s. He and Harry Belafonte were considered the greatest African American entertainers of their time. Sidney Poitier was the first African American to win an Oscar for his role in Lilies on the Field . He also starred in In The Heat Of The Night , which won five Academy Awards.

In his career, Poitier was frustrated by the way Hollywood portrayed the black man in film and television. This was one of the reasons why he decided to make films in the blaxploitation era. The first film he directed was The Path of the Damned , in which Belafonte starred. He then directed Saturday night in the Black Quarter and its sequels Drehn wir noch'n Ding und Trickst .

subjects

African American

The characters in the film have different motives and behaviors, but all (except for Sharp Eye Washington) have a refined, elegant demeanor. Poitier attached importance to portraying the black actors elegantly on the screen in order to represent an alternative to the image of black people in Hollywood. In his career he had turned down roles for characters with negative stereotypes and instead played characters who were "dignified, proud and noble". The African Americans in the film act calmly and calmly in all situations. This is especially the case with the good-natured and cautious Steve Jackson. Critics noted the characteristics of Poitier's characters: “In all of his films, [Poitier] was educated and intelligent. He spoke fluent English, was dressed conservatively and had the best table manners. "

In particular, with the help of Congressmen Lincoln and Leggy Peggy, the double consciousness of African Americans is shown. During the re-election, Lincoln will dress conservatively and pursue conservative politics in order to retain office with the help of the white majority. However, when he receives African American visitors, he switches to an Afrocentric demeanor by turning the image over and wearing African clothing. When his wife, Leggy Peggy, enters into a conversation between him, Steve, and Wardell, she speaks in the African dialect, which Lincoln was condescending to. In the following monologue, tokenism is used to address the double consciousness and Leggy Peggy expresses her frustration at portraying herself in a majority environment.

sexuality

The film was shot in the blaxploitation era, when women were increasingly free to live out their sexuality. Also in 1974 appeared Coffy - the big cat , in which the main character is defined by their appearance. Although Saturday night in the Black Quarter portrays female characters less explicitly than Coffy , the portrayal is suggestively sexual here too. When Steve and Wardell arrive at Madame Zenobia's party, the sexual revolution also becomes apparent. There the women play with the men and show free skin in their clothes. Another example is the behavior of Steve and his wife Sarah Jackson at the beginning of the film. When the two remembered their first meeting in the kitchen, Steve mentions her bum several times, to which she replies, “Do you guys never think of anything but bums?” This portrays physical attraction as the main part of women's attraction. Even so, Steve and Wardell treat their wives with respect, which shows the equality in their marriages.

Symbols

The lottery ticket symbolizes the economic prosperity of African Americans. Steve's choices to get it back - from hiring a bandit to riding on the roof of Silky Slim's car - reflect the importance of self-determination to economic freedom. The diamonds that appear in the film are also a symbol of this. When Silky Slim demands her diamond necklace from Madame Zenobia, her reaction shows a loss of power and self-confidence rather than fear. This is also the reason why rivals Geechie Dan and Silky Slim work together briefly towards the end of the film. All of these elements convey the message that economic freedom is essential for a better life.

reception

Saturday night in the Black Quarter grossed $ 7.4 million in the United States at a cost of production of $ 2.5 million. This put the film in third place three months after its release in the list of the 50 most grossing films. The film received mixed to positive reviews. Vincent Canby wrote for the New York Times that the film was “essentially contrived, but it is so full of good humor and, when the humor runs out, of such good humor that it reduces film criticism to the status of a highly negligible craft. " Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film three stars out of four, describing it as" an old-fashioned comedy revue where any actor has the chance to surprise the audience with a big scene [...] [Poitier] directs natural Comedy from the simplest of actions, simply because he's Sidney Poitier. Whether it's waiting for a bus or just listening to a boastful friend, Poitier gets our attention by letting us see him as a normal guy. ” Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called it“ the funniest movie since ' The Wild One wild west 'and certainly one of the most entertaining films of the year; the old-fashioned way of feeling good when it's over. ” Penelope Gilliatt wrote that Richard Wesley's script“ managed to show something entertaining with bold and truthful basics about black escape routes in a world that is much more fun than any other that privileged whites could ever create. "

Among other negative reviews, Gary Arnold of The Washington Post criticized the fact that "while the film is a welcome change from the many blaxploitation films of the past few years, neither the medium nor the actors stand out." Paul D. Zimmermann of Newsweek wrote: “Poitier is not an inventive comic book talent - he's unpredictable and amiable behind the camera, but not funny in front of it. When the funny set pieces stop, the film stutters - but not before it delivers a carnival with fine comic characters. " Variety described the film as" uneven "and was of the opinion that" 'Uptown Saturday Night' just lies there too long and impatiently more imaginative comedy business and a faster pace is waiting than the sober Poitier seems to be able to offer. "Walter Burrell of Essence magazine remarked that" you walk away a little dissatisfied [...] You feel like these great talents have one Can use resources that better suit their abilities. ” David McGillivray of The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote,“ Everyone tries hard to create a happy atmosphere, but the material is so weak and Sidney Poitier's direction so uninspired that everyone performs look depressingly mediocre other than that of urban Roscoe Lee Browne. It's difficult to see anything other than a colossal waste of talent in Uptown Saturday Night . "

Pilot film

Shortly after the film was released, NBC ordered a pilot for a sitcom version of Saturday Night in the Blacks ' Quarter , with Cleavon Little and Adam Wade playing the roles of Cosby and Poitier. The pilot was not sold, but was shown in the Comedy Theater on NBC in 1979 along with several other unsold pilots.

continuation

Drehn wir noch'n Ding (1975) and Tricked Out (1977) can be viewed as indirect sequels. They received mixed reviews, which might be related to the fact that the blaxploitation era was drawing to a close.

The screenplay for Drehn wir noch'n Ding (1975) was written by Richard Wesley and directed by Sidney Poitier. In the first sequel on Saturday night in the Blacks Quarter , Poitier and Cosby appear as Clyde Williams and Billy Foster. Many actors from the first film reappear in other roles, including Lee Chamberlin and Calvin Lockhart. In contrast to Saturday night in the Black Quarter , it is more of a slapstick comedy. The film received mostly negative reviews. Stephen Klain of the Independent Film Journal wrote: "As in the previous film, Poitier had given himself relatively little to do as an actor and preferred to keep the camera on Cosby, who skipped all the scenes." Richard Eder of The New York Times noted: " The main strength of the film is Bill Cosby, who looks like a starved sheep in a wolf dress and is both seedy and sad. ”Despite the reviews, the film grossed $ 11.8 million in North America, surpassing its predecessor.

In Tricked again (1977) led Sidney Poitier directed and written by Charlie Black Will. In the third part of the action film trilogy, Poitier and Bill Cosby appear as Manny Durrell and Dave Anderson. As with the predecessor, slapstick was also used here. The film received mostly positive reviews. David Ansen of Newsweek magazine described the film as "cheesy and hip, cynical and sentimental, formulaic and fearful, Saturday night in the blacks' neighborhood may have medical intent, but it goes down like ice cream soda." It played $ 6.7 million a.

Soundtrack

The music for Saturday night in the Blacks' Quarter was composed by Tom Scott and Morgan Ames. It was produced and arranged by Van McCoy . The soundtrack with a length of 6 minutes and 23 seconds was released in late 1974. The opening title has cheerful and happy themes. The song, which appears several times in the film, and the final title convey self-determination and, with the text “I gotta hold on”, reflect the Black Power movement.

Remake

In 2002, it was announced that Will Smith and his production company Overbrook Entertainment had secured the rights to a remake trilogy starring Smith for distribution through Warner Bros. Entertainment . Smith expressed the hope that Eddie Murphy , Martin Lawrence and other well-known African American actors would be able to participate in the film. In 2012 it was reported that Adam McKay would be directing and will be written by Timothy Dowling , who also wrote the screenplay for My Made Up Wife . The main roles would be played by Smith and Denzel Washington . Since it was announced in early 2014 that Nicholas Stoller would revise the script, but McKay, Smith, and Washington would remain on the team, there has been no new information about the remake.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Uptown Saturday Night . In: Turner Classic Movies . Turner Broadcasting System ( WarnerMedia ). Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  2. ↑ Los Angeles Sentinel . June 20, 1974. 
  3. ↑ Novotny Lawrence: Blaxploitation Films of the 1970s: Blackness and Genre . Routledge, New York 2008, ISBN 978-0-415-96097-7 .
  4. ↑ Kimberly Fain: Black Hollywood: From Butlers to Superheroes, the Changing Role of African-American Men in the Movies . Praeger, Santa Barbera 2015, ISBN 978-1-4408-3190-4 .
  5. ↑ Donald Bogle: Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks . Continuum, New York 2001, ISBN 0-8264-1267-X .
  6. ^ Atlanta Daily World . September 27, 1974. 
  7. ↑ Vincent Canby : Film: Poitier in 2 Roles . In: The New York Times . June 17, 1974, p. 25.
  8. ^ Gene Siskel (June 24, 1974). "Poitier's 'Uptown Saturday Night'". Chicago Tribune . Section 2, p. 14.
  9. ↑ Kevin Thomas (July 21, 1974). "Saturday Night: Black Is a Beautiful Comedy." Los Angeles Times . Calendar, p. 28.
  10. ^ Penelope Gilliatt : The Current Cinema . In: The New York Times . June 17, 1974, p. 89.
  11. ^ Gary Arnold, 'Uptown Saturday Night,' Crying in the Dark . In: The Washington Post . July 23, 1974, p. B7.
  12. ↑ a b c d James Robert Parrish: Black Action Films: Critiques, Cast, and Credits for 235 theatrical and made-for-television releases . McFarland, 1989, ISBN 0-89950-456-6 .
  13. ↑ Uptown Saturday Night . In: Variety . June 12, 1974, p. 18.
  14. ↑ David McGillivray , Uptown Saturday Night . In: The Monthly Film Bulletin . 42, No. 496, May 1975, p. 117.
  15. ↑ Uptown Saturday Night (1979) (TV)
  16. ↑ Uptown Saturday Night .
  17. ↑ VH1.com: Will Smith: Will Smith Secures Rights To Sidney Poitier / Bill Cosby Flicks - Rhapsody Music Downloads
  18. ^ Uptown Saturday Night (1974) - News
  19. ↑ Mike Fleming Jr: Adam McKay Signing On To Direct 'Uptown Saturday Night' Remake; Will Smith, Denzel Washington Eyed To Star , Deadline.com . April 26, 2012. Retrieved April 5, 2016. 
  20. ^ Adam Chitwood: Nicholas Stoller Talks Adam McKay's UPTOWN SATURDAY NIGHT Remake with Will Smith and Denzel Washington , Complex Media Inc. April 24, 2014. Retrieved April 5, 2016. 

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