Let's See it Again: Sidney Poitier Created a Successful Black Film that Stumbled into doing it Right

Four years deep into the "Blaxploitation" era of Hollywood, Sidney Poitier having conquered as Hollywood's most recognizable black presence sought to make a series of films that would stand apart from the general  themes of the genre. He succeeded and Uptown  Saturday  Night would be the first of what would become a pretty impressive trilogy of action comedy films featuring  both he and Bill Cosby as a pair of modern day Robin hoods of sorts. But it's the sequel to Uptown Saturday Night, "Lets Do it Again" that most deserves to be highlighted as a film.  It's  tighter, funnier, (thanks to some stand out performances ) And it allowed Poitier  to employ himself in a fashion Hollywood had rarely afforded him. A less serious version of himself, to some surprisingly  funny results. The story goes that in trying to find money to help pay for a building that houses a sort of African American lodge/community center, Sidney Poitier (Clyde Williams) and Bill Cosby  ( Billy Foster)  try and rig a boxing match using Clyde's skill as a hypnotist. Trouble ensues from the fact that they are ripping off known gangsters (John Amos, Calvin Lockhart  as Kansas City "Mack" and "Biggie Smalls")   in the middle of a turf war. The film was almost a wholly  black endeavor  written, starring and directed by African  Americans, and the quality is markedly  higher than the normal fare of the time aimed at black audiences. Boosted by (As was par the course for the films of the era ) a companion song that became wildly more well known than its film, and what should've been star turning performances  by the criminally underrated cast. But I believe the principle significance of Let’s Do it Again, is its sense of community both from with and without the margins of the film, as well as its distinctive blockbuster qualities, and its hodgepodge of politics set apart from its siblings in the blaxploitation era.

Community was not a theme common amongst blaxploitation despite the fact that our communities were obviously represented. Thematically films most commonly associated with the era were about loners, rebels,and outlaws. Seeing the people most often depicted as the dregs of even our neighborhoods centered and repackaged as heroes, their sexuality open, and their agency free was revolutionary, but the characters themselves were not revolutionaries. It’s not hard to draw a line between the individualistic politics of some of these on screen personas, and the young black children they influenced at least up to two decades later who would go on to become hip hop’s most prominent artist as can be noted by their constant references in the culture . But Poitier’s “Let’s Do it “Again does not center gangsters, or pimps, or the like though gangsters are in orbit around the central characters. Its central premise is two working class black men trying to help a community center by out hustling the very kind of gangsters at the heart of most blaxploitation, and yet writer Richard Wesley’s script neither glorifies or vilifies gangsterdom, it simply exists. Poitier’s direction highlighted a great deal of the interaction between not only the burgeoning black middle class and the streets , but between the evolving nature of the hustlers as it comes more and more to resemble the politics, and conflicts of the day, cemented in a clash that goes on between the two rival mobs during a sparring session for the boxer at the center of the big hustle “Bootney Farnsworth” (Jimmy Walker)..

(Biggie Smalls) Lockhart and Amos (Kansas City Mac) have it out Old School 70s style!

This particular clash in some ways exemplifies the issues at the core of the film, and parallels the issues on the heart of its director and star Sidney Poitier. Poitier had come under fire from some in the black community from being far too distant from the mindset, and the values of the black community of the time. The respectability politics in both his career, (and on the occasions he spoke politically) felt dated and conservative. The film seems at least in part to be an answer to those questions. It’s Poitier injecting his own politics into the common themes of not only blaxploitation films but black people of the day. Poitier and writer Richard Wesley pronounce and emphasize community throughout the film whether through the lodge or the hustlers, and it lives outside of the films plot in the sense of community between the actors, actors who had very few opportunities to work outside the borders of black filmmaking. As a result, Poitier’s film is a jumble of politics. It has nothing to say about white people and in fact their run ins brief though they may be with the cops are uneventful, and it is the police who help them in the end. It features homophobic slurs, repeatedly exhibits a raunchy male gaze, but outside of Foxy Brown, Cleopatra Jones, and a few others it gives its women (Denise Nicholas, Lee Chamberlain, Talya Ferro) more time and dignity than any other film released during that time. It’s clearly respectable , but the comedic elements, and the writing allows for the co-existence of less reductive forms of black expression. This was in part the point of Cosby’s hiring ( who funny enough at this time was much more in step with the politics of the time )…

Bill Cosby education children black youth

Cosby himself would obviously later become a purveyor of respectability politics himself as well as a vile predator, (but that is another story) his character in the film as well as his wife are portrayed as the opposite of Poitier and his wife. They talk openly of their sex life, and Billy is much more willing than Clyde to dabble in the streets. His presence makes Poitier the straight man in more ways than one, even while Poitier tries to expand his dimensions beyond his common perception to the audience. Poitier’s Clyde, and Cosby’s Billy are not the only intersection and culture clash in the film. If you look at not only the attire but the make-up of these clashing crews its representative of a number of cultural rifts. Kansas City Mack’s crew is entirely black, entirely male, and their dress is conservative, but their behavior, mannerisms, and vernacular is anything but. Biggie Small’s crew is the complete opposite. Their style is loud, full of statement, and a woman serves as his right hand man, but there is bit of refinement to their behavior, and Smalls and his crew are much more articulate, thus the designation of “College Clowns” by Mack. But again the differences here are merely demonstrated to reflect, the ultimate judgement, and subsequently the perception of these hustlers lies not in the interaction between them, but in the resolution of the plot. While most blaxploitation films were concerned with the “man” systemic injustice and white people, Let’s Do it again is intra -communal. The pariah exists not from without but within and if there is judgement and condescension in the film it lies here. It is here that one of the most persistent themes of respectability politics makes itself clear, black peoples problems are not outside the community but within.

Classic scene from "Let's Do It Again" (1975).... http://www.blaxploitationpride.org/ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blaxploitation-Pride/116353578381580 https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/108732895410564664497/+BlaxploitationprideOrg70s/posts

I think its worth noting that the last statement is implicit in the script but not loudly so. Regardless of our intent our latent feelings, and philosophies come through and materialize in our art. That being said Let’s Do It again is not overtly demeaning of any section of the black community, and its qualities outweigh its political shortcomings. If the Blaxploitation era is put into a vacuum as a somewhat self reliant industry then films like “Cornbread earl and me”,and “Coolie High” were its independent films, “Blacula”, “Three the Hard way”, and the like its wide releases, and “Shaft”, “Foxy Brown”, and “Lets Do it Again” its blockbusters. The difference in production value in Poitier’s comedy from other films of the day is well…night and day even while having a smaller budget. A testament to the drawing power and connections of Sidney Poitier’s involvement, the Costume design, set design, casting , and of course by extension acting are exceptional. Even as a comedy, Lets Do it Again is the best collection of black talent in the era. Poitier and Cosby were obviously heavy hitters, but they are not the best actors in the film by a long shot. That distinction belongs to John Amos, and Calvin Lockhart who absolutely steal this movie from their more well known counterparts. As Kansas City Mack, Amos is big, and boisterous, there is a rhythm to his line delivery, and an underlying spite to his inflection and manner that informs the audience where Mack is from, and why he is so intent on staying in power. Lockhart in a bit of perfect casting carries the natural refinement and confidence needed for his character. He also carries the character in a way that informs the audience of who he is, and juts how ambitious he is. He has two scenes with Poitier where its hard to tell who is the better actor. There was a regal quality to Lockhart that could express itself in multiple forms, here it is deployed as a way to express the desire for Smalls to look as big as he saw himself. Lockhart gives him a similar dignity, and poise as Poitier was known for, and given the opportunity it’s not hard to imagine him having been on the level of a Poitier.

Let's do it again set itself apart from the blaxploitation era by deviation from the formulaic plot devices and usual suspects of criminality, in what by this time had amounted to glorification, and exploitation  of the despair, and bleek realities of black life.  Depicting troublesome aspects of black life in the inner city as heroic, and injecting fantasies  of microcosms of revolution against white supremacy by anti heroes who in  real life would in all likelihood likely to end up in jail or dead .  Let's Do It Again was an indie film modeled after the blockbuster and in the image of films like "The Sting" and "Oceans 11".  A slightly underdressed  heist film that works as both a comedy and an action film,  with  two leads who displayed an uncommon chemistry that gave black audiences their very own Redford/Newman.   Brewing a unique brand of buddy comedy,  (the master thespian and master comedian)  that would later be recreated to wild success in Walter Hill's  48 Hours .  The streamlined writing, colorful improvisation (both behind and in front of the camera), and a litany of talent conspired to create a film as memorable to those who have seen it as its zany characters.  A rare "exploitation" film that doesn't do much exploiting,  and allows itself to have fun at the expense of no one,  but it's own creations. It is not that it’s revolutionary in any sense of character, or overt politics,( because in fact those are all over the place) it’s in its revolutionary blackness without being about blackness. Its a blockbuster black action-comedy independent of much of white gaze in much the same way Boomerang , was and very few comedies made on such a scale have been since. It is a film that is a must see in any library  or collection of film not so much because it is a great film (though it is one of the great comedies of its era) but because  it is a great example and indeed one of the earliest examples of black solidarity, creativity, growth, and skill in film making. And equally as important an unapologetically black film, directed by one of america’s greatest actors, centering black working class people, that only mildly condescends, and doesn’t preach.  And THAT is worth "doing" again and again.