The Harder They Come (1972)

Director:

Perry Henzell

Writers:

Perry Henzell (written by) &
Trevor D. Rhone (written by)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Music

Tagline:

dem a loot, dem a shoot, dem a wail in shanty town (British DVD tag-line)

Plot:

Ivanhoe Martin comes to the city to make it big singing Reggae. However, he finds life in the city to be harder than he thought...

Plot Keywords:

Record | Reggae | Marijuana | Police | Jamaica

Cast

Jimmy Cliff	...	Ivanhoe "Ivan" Martin
Janet Bartley	...	Elsa
Carl Bradshaw	...	Jose
Ras Daniel Hartman	...	Pedro
Basil Keane	...	Preacher
Bob Charlton	...	Hilton
Winston Stona	...	Detective Ray Jones
Lucia White	...	Mother
Volair Johnson	...	Pushcart Boy
Beverly Anderson	...	Housewife
Clover Lewis	...	Market Woman
Elijah Chambers	...	Longa
Prince Buster	...	DJ at Dance
Ed 'Bim' Lewis	...	Photographer
Bobby Loban	...	Fitz
Joanne Dunn	...	Barmaid
Adrian Robinson	...	Editor
Don Topping	...	DJ
Karl Leslie	...	Freddie
Sandra Redwood	...	Girl
Ula Fraser	...	Elsa Friend
Carol Lawes	...	Elsa Friend
Aston 'Bam' Winter	...	Drunk
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Toots Hibbert	...	Himself (uncredited)

Directed by
Perry Henzell

Writing credits
Perry Henzell		(written by) &
Trevor D. Rhone		(written by)

Produced by
Perry Henzell	....	producer
Jeff Scheftel	....	producer (30th Anniversary DVD)
Chris Blackwell	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Jimmy Cliff
Desmond Dekker
The Slickers

Cinematography by
Peter Jessop
David McDonald
Franklyn St. Juste

Film Editing by
Seicland Anderson
John Victor-Smith
Richard White

Art Direction by
Sally Henzell

Production Management
Yvonne Jones	....	production manager
Scott Michael Nabat	....	post-production supervisor (2006 restoration)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Robert Russell	....	assistant director
Tony Straw	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Bob Povey	....	sound
Winston Rodney	....	sound

Stunts
Alton Ellis	....	stunt double: Jimmy Cliff

Camera and Electrical Department
Ernest Davis	....	assistant camera
Roy Marsden	....	gaffer

Music Department
Brent Dowe	....	composer: song "Rivers of Babylon"
Trevor McNaughton	....	composer: song "Rivers of Babylon"

Production Companies

• International Films Inc.
• Xenon Pictures

Distributors

• New World Pictures (1973) (USA) (theatrical)
• Xenon Pictures (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• PolyGram Video (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (1992) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Tapeworm Video Distributors (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Continental Home Vídeo (2003) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Succéfilm AB (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Revolver Entertainment (2007) (UK) (all media)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2009) (Australia) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Island Records  soundtrack

Also Known As:

Hard Road to Travel (Jamaica: English title) (working title)

Runtime:

USA:120 min | Finland:103 min (TV)

Country:

Jamaica

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:X (original rating) | Australia:M | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Jamaica

Company:

International Films Inc.

Trivia:

First feature film produced in Jamaica

Quotes:

Man In Cinema: The hero can't dead till the last reel!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream (2005)

Soundtrack:

Shanty Town

"Dem a loot, dem a shoot, dem a wail in shanty town"

I have always listened very much to all kind of Reggae(also ska and rocksteady) and the record "The harder they come" is one of the best record's ever. So I had really looked forward to see this film. First off all I must say that the songs are fantastic in this film with songs like for example: "Rivers of babylon", "Many rivers to cross", "Sitting here in limbo" and of course the title song.

Jimmy Cliff stars as Ivan, a country boy who comes to the big city looking for fame through music but is forced to become a "rude boy" and it will have big consequences. The film maybe is not a masterpiece but the music is and I thought it was so very funny to watch a film from Jamaica.

This is also one of the biggest cult classics ever and it is very entertaining. The ending is pretty amazing. The acting by the great singer Jimmy Cliff is actually good, and the rest of the unknown cast is also good. This film is a MUST-SEE! My rating would be a 8 or a 9/10