It may surprise you to learn that Shaft wasn’t the first Black detective novel adaptation (directed by an artist of color) to appear during Blaxploitation’s early days. Released in 1970, a year before Shaft, Cotton Comes to Harlem had actor/playwright Ossie Davis making his directorial debut, bringing to the screen Chester Himes’ 1965 installment from his Harlem Detective series. This flick gives us not one, but two badass Black investigators: Coffin Ed (Raymond St. Jacques) and Gravedigger (Godfrey Cambridge), a pair of surly, snarky rule breakers who are among several parties searching for a stolen $87,000, hidden in a bale of cotton. Unlike the serious-as-a-heart-attack Shaft, Cotton is an action-packed buddy comedy. It also features early appearances from Sanford and Son star Redd Foxx (playing — I shit you not — a junk man!), Blazing Saddles sheriff Cleavon Little, and Nashville-raised veteran actress Helen “I Love the Reefer” Martin. Belcourt historian/archivist T. Minton will introduce the film, which will be shown in glorious 35 mm!
8 p.m. at the Belcourt
2102 Belcourt Ave.
