Uptown Saturday Night (1974)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Sidney Poitier

Writer:

Richard Wesley (writer)

Release Date:

26 July 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

They get funny when you mess with their money.

Plot:

Steve Jackson and Wardell Franklin sneak out of their houses to visit Madame Zenobia's: a high-class but illegal nightclub...

Plot Keywords:

Lottery Ticket | Con Artist | Bar | Cross Dressing | Ghetto

Cast

Sidney Poitier	...	Steve Jackson
Bill Cosby	...	Wardell Franklin
Harry Belafonte	...	Geechie Dan Beauford
Flip Wilson	...	The Reverend
Richard Pryor	...	Sharp Eye Washington
Calvin Lockhart	...	Silky Slim
Rosalind Cash	...	Sarah Jackson
Roscoe Lee Browne	...	Congressman Lincoln
Paula Kelly	...	Leggy Peggy
Lee Chamberlin	...	Madame Zenobia
Johnny Sekka	...	Geechie's Henchman
Lincoln Kilpatrick	...	Slim's Henchman #1
Ketty Lester	...	Irma Franklin
Don Marshall	...	Slim's Henchman #2
Harold Nicholas	...	Little Seymour Pettigrew

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG | USA:PG | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

First Artists

Trivia:

The roles of Steve and Wardell were written for Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor but the studio felt they were not big box-office draws. Pryor ended up with a cameo.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Century of Black Cinema (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Uptown Saturday Night

Uptown Saturday Night was an enjoyable first teaming of Poitier and Cosby

In reviewing movies in chronological order that featured African-Americans for Black History Month, we're now at 1974 with Uptown Saturday Night. This was the first of three buddy comedies that paired Sidney Poitier with Bill Cosby. This was also Poitier's third directorial assignment after Buck and the Preacher and A Warm December. Instead of the perfect professional characters superstar Sidney had been playing for years, here he's just a working class man named Steve Jackson who's pals with Cosby's Wardell Franklin. As Steve's wife Sarah, Rosalind Cash has some nice, and partially racy, dialogue with Poitier but Ketty Lester seems wasted as Wardell's spouse Irma. With a script by Richard Wesley, Poitier shows some amusing touches though it does take a while for the story, about getting robbed as the two leads spend the night at an illegal gambling joint called Zenobia's before Steve finds out his winning lottery ticket was among the stolen items, to kick into gear. When it does you get treated to a hilarious supporting cast like Flip Wilson as the Reverend, Richard Pryor as Sharp Eye Washington, Roscoe Lee Browne as Congressman Lincoln (dig the way he turns a frame of Nixon to that of Malcoln X and then puts on his African digs when he meets his "constituents" Steve and Wardell), Paula Kelly as Lincoln's wife Leggy Peggy who the boys previously met at Zenobia's, and dancer Harold Nicholas as Little Seymour Pettigrew. That last character has a hilarious encounter with Cosby and Poitier himself cuts loose with some jokes you didn't think would come out of him. Also loved many of the "fights" the Cos instigates. Then there's Calvin Lockhart as Silky Slim and Harry Belafonte as Geechie Dan Beauford. These are rival gangsters that Steve and Wardell seek out to help find the stolen goods. Belafonte looks like he's having the time of his life impersonating Marlon Brando's Godfather role though I found him fitfully amusing like when he threatened to "knock the black off" Poitier and Cosby. Still, Uptown Saturday Night was a mostly enjoyable comedy that I bought on DVD with A Piece of the Action on the disc's other side. Dig Cosby's beard!