Cooley High (1975)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Michael Schultz

Writer:

Eric Monte (writer)

Release Date:

23 November 1979 (West Germany)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Where the Student Body Was a Chick Named Veronica... The Senior Prom was a "belly rub" and the Class of '64 ran a Permanent crap game in the Men's Room!

Plot:

In the mid-1960's, a group of high school friends who live on the Near North Side of Chicago enjoy life to the fullest...

Plot Keywords:

High School | Gambling | Basketball | Teenage Boy | Black Independent Film

Cast

Glynn Turman	...	Leroy "Preach" Jackson
Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs	...	Richard "Cochise" Morris
Garrett Morris	...	Mr. Mason
Cynthia Davis	...	Brenda
Corin Rogers	...	Pooter
Maurice Leon Havis	...	Willie
Joseph Carter Wilson	...	Tyrone
Sherman Smith	...	Stone
Norman Gibson	...	Robert
Maurice Marshall	...	Damon
Steven Williams	...	Jimmy Lee
Jackie Taylor	...	Johnny Mae
Christine Jones	...	Sandra
Lynn Caridine	...	Dorothy
Mary Larkins	...	Preach's Mother

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

New Zealand:R16 | USA:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Burr-Oak Cemetery - 4400 W. 127th Street, Alsip, Illinois, USA

Company:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Trivia:

According to writer Eric Monte, ABC had planned to do a TV version of this project. After a poorly received pilot, ABC retooled it completely. "What's Happening!!" (1976) was the result.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Cochise gets into the stolen car in front of Martha's he has on sneakers but after they crash the car and he and Preach are running he has on dress shoes.

Quotes:

Brenda: Y'all need to go to church!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Martin: All the Players Came (#3.18)" (1995)

Old-school classic I never get bored of watching.

Takes place in and around the Cabrini-Green projects on Chicago's Near North Side. Cooley High was a real school that was demolished in the '80s. The interiors, though were filmed in Providence-St. Mel's several miles away. This film is a classic, and if you aren't hip to it, then either you've been living in a cave or just awakened from a 25 year coma. The stellar cast features Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, fresh from "Claudine", veteran of stage and screen Glynn Turman, pre-SNL Garrett Morris, Cynthia Davis (who seemed to disappear soon after the film was released), Steven Williams (currently of "Linc's), Corin Rogers and Jackie Taylor, who has made a name for herself as a writer, producer and director in Chicago theatre. This film also marked the screen debut of Robert Townsend. (He had two lines).