Black Caesar

1973
R
1h 27m

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

YOUR RATING

Fred Williamson and Gloria Hendry in Black Caesar (1973)

Raised in Harlem, Tommy Gibbs becomes a successful mob boss but he clashes with the rival Mafia and his old enemy, dirty cop McKinney.

Play trailer2:20

1 Video

17 Photos

Action Crime Drama Thriller

Raised in Harlem, Tommy Gibbs becomes a successful mob boss but he clashes with the rival Mafia and his old enemy, dirty cop McKinney.Raised in Harlem, Tommy Gibbs becomes a successful mob boss but he clashes with the rival Mafia and his old enemy, dirty cop McKinney.Raised in Harlem, Tommy Gibbs becomes a successful mob boss but he clashes with the rival Mafia and his old enemy, dirty cop McKinney.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Videos1

Trailer 2:20

Trailer

Photos17

More like this

5.9

Hell Up in Harlem

6.1

Bucktown

6.4

Cotton Comes to Harlem

7.0

6.0

6.9

6.4

5.9

6.7

6.2

6.7

5.9

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
While filming in Harlem, Larry Cohen was accosted by local gangsters who threatened to disrupt the shoot unless they were paid off. Instead, Cohen offered them small roles in the film. They helped so enthusiastically that they attended the premiere to sign autographs.

Goofs
Tommy cuts off the left ear of the man in the barber's chair, but the ear he drops into the plate of spaghetti is a right ear.

Quotes
Tommy Gibbs: That used to be home, sweet home, Pa. Top window. Rear
Mr. Gibbs: Always seemed to me like a much bigger building.
Tommy Gibbs: You must know what I do for a living.
Mr. Gibbs: I'm not gonna lecture you. I don't have the right.
Tommy Gibbs: Did it ever occur to you... That I've been waiting 25 years just to kill you?
Mr. Gibbs: No. No. Wait, listen please. I mean, it was the depression. I mean, you don't know what it was like to... Then the war and my chance to get away. You never had those responsibilities. I mean, you never been trapped. Oh, no. Not knowing where to run or who to-- or who to hate. I was 20 years old, 20 years old when I enlisted. And I was a cook all through the war. I was a cook!
Tommy Gibbs: You never sent home one allotment check. My ma had to scrub floors on her hands and knees for pennies!
[pins his father against a wall pointing his gun at him]
Tommy Gibbs: I'm gonna kill you!
Mr. Gibbs: She-- she couldn't get no allotment! We wasn't married legal! Folks didn't bother much in those days.
Tommy Gibbs: [lowers his gun and turns away] She never told me.
Mr. Gibbs: I--I could have sent you something.
Tommy Gibbs: Go on. Start walkin.'
Mr. Gibbs: I didn't mean to break it to you that way. I mean, I wouldn't have said anything...
Tommy Gibbs: Don't matter. Move on, before I change my mind. Pa! I don't ever want to see you again.
Mr. Gibbs: I understand, son.
Reverend Rufus: What are you going to do now? Kill your momma?

Alternate versions
The European version included an additional scene before the end credits, where, after Tommy Gibbs is seen wandering in a neighborhood slum, a street gang robs him and fatally beats him up. This sequence was originally cut from U.S. prints, as AIP was already interested in making a sequel. However, in the late 1990s, when MGM bought the Orion Pictures library, the European cut made its way to home video, due to a mix-up on MGM's part. Therefore, all current video releases, to this day, feature this print.

Connections
Featured in Hell Up in Harlem (1973)

Soundtracks
Down and Out in New York City
Written by Bodie Chandler & Barry De Vorzon
Performed by James Brown

User reviews45

Review

Featured review

6/10

The Rise and Fall of a Gangster

In 1953, the delinquent teenager Tommy is raised in Harlem in a period of a racist American society. When he grows up, he becomes a hitman (Fred Williamson) working for the Italian mafia. When he steals accounting ledgers from the mafia, he becomes a powerful kingpin in Harlem, keeping the mobsters and the dirty police commissary McKinney (Art Lund) under his control. But his fall begins when he learns that his mistress Helen (Gloria Hendry) is betraying him with his best friend.

"Black Caesar" is an American action film by Larry Cohen, with the dramatic story of the rise and fall of a black gangster in Harlem. The plot may be dated in the present days, but in 1973 it was a full of action classic of blaxploitation. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Chefão do Gueto" ("The Big Boss of the Ghetto")