Come Back Charleston Blue- Forgotten Classic?

This week on Black Deth 101, Nubius Black and Johnny Deth head back to Harlem for Come Back, Charleston Blue — the 1972 sequel to Cotton Comes to Harlem. Godfrey Cambridge returns as Grave Digger Jones, and Raymond St. Jacques is back as Coffin Ed Johnson, the sharp-dressed, sharp-talking detective duo created by legendary crime writer Chester Himes. This time, Harlem is haunted by rumors that a long-dead Prohibition-era gangster named Charleston Blue has returned from the grave, leaving behind bodies and a blue straight razor. Is it a ghost story? A gangster mystery? A Harlem hustle? Or just another case too strange for anybody but Coffin Ed and Grave Digger? Directed by Mark Warren, produced by Samuel Goldwyn Jr., and loosely based on Himes’ novel The Heat’s On, the film trades some of the wild political bite of Cotton Comes to Harlem for a stranger, moodier, more supernatural-flavored crime comedy. It is still packed with Harlem street energy, colorful characters, crooked schemes, and two detectives who don’t take mess from anybody. And then there is the music. The soundtrack is by the great Donny Hathaway, with Quincy Jones connected to the title song. Hathaway’s score gives the movie soul, swing, sadness, and street-corner cool. The soundtrack includes “Little Ghetto Boy,” one of Hathaway’s most powerful songs, and it may be the movie’s greatest legacy. In this episode, we dig into: The return of Coffin Ed and Grave Digger How this sequel compares to Cotton Comes to Harlem The ghostly legend of Charleston Blue The movie’s mix of comedy, mystery, gangster business, and Harlem folklore Donny Hathaway’s incredible soundtrack The legacy of Chester Himes on screen Why this movie deserves more attention from blaxploitation fans So grab your blue razor, watch your back in Harlem, and come on back with us for Come Back, Charleston Blue. Black Deth 101 — where the movies are funky, the streets are hot, and the dead don’t always stay buried. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, comment, and tell a friend. Links: Shaft’s Big Score    • Shaft’s Big Score - Blaxploitation Classic...   Cotton Comes To Harlem    • Cotton Comes to Harlem: Breaking Every Rul...