Come Back Charleston Blue

Just watched this sequel to Cotton Comes to Harlem on YouTube. Once again, Gravedigger Jones (Godfrey Cambridge) and Coffin Ed Johnson (Raymond St. Jacques) are trying to make it safe to live in the streets of Harlem but there's someone running drugs there and the possibility of the title character returning to exact vengeance...While I thought CCTH was pretty entertaining, this one to me was a bit more funny and lively especially with help from Donny Hathway's score and supervision of it by Quincy Jones. I especially liked the performance of Minnie Gentry as Her Majesty who expects her late husband Charleston Blue to return any minute now though probably realizes he may never. Still, she likes to live in the past. Also returning is Dick Sabol as the dumb white cop Jerema though he's a bit more sympathetically treated here. Really, all I'll say now is I highly recommend Come Back, Charleston Blue. P.S. Since this is Black History Month, I'd like to cite other players of color that appeared here: Peter DeAnda as Joe, Percy Rodrigues as Bryce, Jonelle Allen as Carol, Maxwell Glanville as Caspar, Toney Brealond as a drag queen, Tim Pelt as Earl J, Marcia McBroom as a girl barber, Adam Wade as Benjy, Dorothi Fox as a streetwalker, and Theodore Wilson as the cemetery guard. Both Ms. Allen and Wilson previously appeared in Cotton Comes to Harlem as a secretary and Barry, respectively. Oh, and a year later, Ms. Gentry (who's Terrence Howard's great-grandmother) would also be in Black Caesar as Momma Gibbs.

I think the reason I really liked this movie so much is as a child, I remember seeing "Cotton comes to Harlem" on NBC and thought, wow, two black detectives who actually did detecting and didn't do much 'shuck and jiving'. They took their business protecting the streets and the black people of Harlem seriously. Godfrey Cambridge and Raymond St. Jacques are sorely missed! The movie, "A Rage in Harlem" was sooooo awful. Why can't somebody remake THAT, instead of remakes of fairly successful movies or comics or TV shows that were at the best, minor league (Dukes of Hazzard, BeWitched). Give me a break. Somebody will try to do a remake of the Jeffersons next!MY GOD!!!

Yea this one's got all the action the first was missing but it's still a classic. Both will make you laugh, the first one is more like an introduction to Coffin Ed and Grave Digger Jones, this sequel is where they Get Down

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The previous film in this series, "Cotton Comes to Harlem" is regarded by many as the first blaxploitation film, though in some ways it's not exactly an example of the genre. Much of it is because unlike traditional blaxploitation, the heroes are cops...albeit NOT typical cops as well as being cops who have a strong dislike for many other cops! It was a dandy film...and is well worth seeing.

"Come Back Charleston Blue" is a sequel, bringing back the police detectives Gravedigger (Godfrey Cambridge) and Coffin Ed (Raymond St. Jacques). And, as usual, they're fighting against folks who seek to exploit the folks in Harlem. However, when it comes to busting pushers, they have a unique problem during much of the film...there seem to be no pushers to arrest! It's because again and again, the pushers are being killed and robbed...and it's all being blamed on a dead man, Charleston Blue....a tough guy who supposedly died four decades ago!

What really is going on in this film is a new mob getting rid of the old mob....the mafia. The story going around town is that the new mob is working for the people...and are dumping the drugs into the river after they confiscate it. Gravedigger and Coffin Ed suspect that these 'do-gooders' are actually just planning on selling the drugs themselves and cutting out the mafia middle men. What the two cops want is to stop anyone who exploits their people...a message that must have resonated well to black inner city audiences of the day.

I don't care whether you are black or not, this is a very good and entertaining film...possibly more so than the original. It holds up well over time and has a much more positive message than many later blaxploitation pics....a message about empowerment and justice.

The film features some excellent drama, a few very good action scenes as well as some occasional humor than made me laugh out loud several times!

This sequel to "Cotton Comes to Harlem" begins at a social dinner in Harlem, which is suddenly cut short due to a chef's murder and the theft of several turkeys. After examining the scene, the police find a straight-edge razor left behind as the murder weapon, which immediately reminds them of a famous Harlem gangster named Charleston Blue, who was supposedly killed by Dutch Schultz nearly four decades earlier. To follow up on this murder, detectives "Coffin Ed Johnson" (Raymond St. Jacques) and his partner "Gravedigger Jones" (Godfrey Cambridge) question Charleston Blue's former girlfriend, whom they call "Her Majesty" (Minnie Gentry) because of her eccentric personality. Sure enough, after speaking with her, they learn that all of Charleston Blue's trademark straight-edge razors are missing. This sparks widespread speculation throughout Harlem that Charleston Blue isn't dead and has returned to New York City. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that I don't think this movie is as good as its predecessor, mainly due to the twisted plot and weak humor in several scenes. That said, while I don't consider it a bad film, I believe it doesn't quite reach the level of "Cotton Comes to Harlem," and I have rated it accordingly.