Across 110th Street | | Cast : | Anthony Quinn, Yaphet Kotto, Anthony Franciosa | | Director : | Barry Shear | | Studio : | MGM/UA Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | January 01, 1972 | | DVD Released Date : | October 16, 2001 | | Language : | Spanish (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | February 05, 2005 | | Summary | Superb Crime Drama | Content
 | This film is a real find. It's a gritty police drama from the seventies that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. What distinguishes this film is the rich writing and believable characters. The plot involves a group of thugs who steal $300,000.00 from a Mafia operation in Harlem and in the subsequent getaway kill 7 people including 2 cops. Not only do the thugs have to contend with the police but the Mafia and their Harlem subordinates whose tactics don't exactly fall under the Geneva Convention. There are many outstanding performances here. Paul Benjamin as the epileptic leader of the gang of thieves;Richard Ward(Steve Martin's "father" in "The Jerk") as a Harlem kingpin;Tony Franciosa as the sadistic Mafiosi. Most compelling is the relationship between the police investigators who have a strained partnership played by Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto. Quinn is an old-school rascist police captain who's also on the take whereas Kotto plays a straight arrow lieutenant who can barely contain his disgust for Quinn. At no point in this film does this pair demonstrate anything that approximates grudging respect. If this film had been directed by either Sidney Lumet or Martin Scorsese it would get more respect. A definite buried treasure. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 10, 2004 | | Summary | So tough, you can practically feel the grit on your tongue | Content
| This violent little gem ranks right up there with "The French Connection" in the pantheon of early 70s urban crime thrillers. Smartly edited, paced like an out of control freight train, and with fabulous location work that bellows authenticity, "Across 110th Street" deserves a far bigger cult. Stir in Anthony Quinn's inimitable basset hound charm, Yaphet Kotto's steely cool, Anthony Franciosa's reptilian sneer and the raspy voiced dude from Brubaker and you have a combustble confection that belongs in the collection of every discerning action movie fan. Oh, I almost forgot to mention Antonio Fargas' so-cool-it-hurts supernova wardrobe and the bleak poetry of the final shootout, including a freeze frame ending that will stay with you for days. Aces all around. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 24, 2003 | | Summary | UNDER APPRECIATED GEM | Content
| ACROSS 110th STREET sad to say, was lumped in the blaxpop genre and was denounced for it's violent content. Wrong on both counts: This is an under appreciated gem that is brainy, tough and quick. Veteran action pro Barry Shear was the right director for the film and his experience shows in every frame. The Bobby Womack soundtrack deserved a better fate than having the title track be remembered as an opening for JACKIE BROWN (but this had to be a favorite film of Quentin's...you can read between the lines). The best cuts are: QUICKSAND, IF YOU DON'T WANT MY LOVE and HARLEM LOVE THEME. Too bad none of them charted. |
| Rating | | | Date | February 25, 2003 | | Summary | A real sleeper. | Content
| Extremely violent film concerning gang warfare between the mafia and their black counterparts. Entire cast is very good, as are the action scenes. |
| Rating | | | Date | November 17, 2002 | | Summary | An early 70's urban action gem awaiting rediscovery | Content
| Since it's release in 1972 this film has fallen by the cinema wayside, being lumped into the blaxploitation genre - a purgatory from which it needs to be rescued. Labeling this film has limited its audience appeal in the thirty years that have followed, but those of us who were fascinated with it then remain so now. "Across 110th Street" is sparked by the kind of gritty and incisive urban realism that blaxploitation films are missing. It's production values are an immediate tipoff that you are watching a first-rate movie. The competent, skillful direction by Barry Shear; a superb story that hardly takes a breath; great Harlem location shooting adds authenticity that makes it feel almost quasi-documentary. It's also highlighted by a great cast of veteran A-list movie stars, B-movie regulars and a few performers getting their first chance in a meaningful role. Anthony Quinn, one of the films' executive producers, plays a brutal, insensitive police detective with a streak of racism. Anthony Franciosa plays a cruel and ruthless Italian mobster tracking down his stolen money. Richard Ward plays a raspy voiced Harlem crime kingpin that Quinn tries to pressure; Ward will be recognizable to film buffs as a prisoner in the film "Brubaker" playing the pivotal role of Abraham. Paul Benjamin, the leader of the trio of thieves, appeared in the crucial role of the con 'English' in the terrific prison drama "Escape From Alcatraz". Antonio Fargas creates another of his patented colorful, hip characters as one of the thieves. And finally, Yaphet Kotto gets his first significant film role playing the no-nonsense, by-the-book, newly assigned lieutenant who is refreshingly free of vulgarity - although he will steal a truck when he needs to! Period detail keeps this film stuck squarely in the 70's which is one of it's strengths. The pulsating music score by Bobby Womack and J.J. Johnson perfectly matches the films moments of tension and transitional scenes. Womack's catchy title song is another plus. MGM has released this as part of it's 'Soul Cinema' DVD collection in Widescreen format - that's with the black bars on the top and bottom of the screen for those who don't know - and it's a great transfer. Pair this movie with "The French Connection" for a great double feature. |
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