Come Back Charleston Blue *** (1972, Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St Jacques, Peter De Anda) – Classic Movie Review 9495

Come Back Charleston Blue is an underrated blaxploitation comedy crime action thriller from the first (Seventies) wave of black movies.

Director Mark Warren’s 1972 sequel to Cotton Comes to Harlem (based on the Chester Himes thriller novels) is just as amusing, bizarre and violent as before, but it is wittier and the performances even sharper.

Godfrey Cambridge and Raymond St Jacques return as couple of Harlem cops (Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson), who investigate a mobster from The Prohibition era apparently avenging himself beyond the grave, razor-slasher murders and heroin hijacking.

The vibrant Donny Hathaway score helps.

Also in the cast are Peter De Anda, Jonelle Allen, Percy Rodrigues, Minnie Gentry, Dick Sabol, Maxwell Glanville, Leonardo Cimino, Toney Brealond, Tim Pelt, Marcia McBroom, Darryl Knibb, Joseph Ray, and Adam Wade.

Come Back, Charleston Blue is directed by Mark Warren, is made by Formosa Productions and Goldwyn, is released by Warner Bros, is written by Ernest Kinoy [Bontche Schweig] and Peggy Elliott, based on the Chester Himes novel The Heat’s On, is shot by Dick Kratina, is produced by Samuel Goldwyn Jr and is scored by Donny Hathaway.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9495

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