10/10/12 Shirley Clark

THE COOL WORLD 10/10/12  Produced by Frederick Wiseman and directed by Shirley Clarke and based on the novel by Warren Miller.

Filmmaker Shirley Clarke ("The Connection") directs this powerful, stark semi-documentary look at the horrors of Harlem ghetto slum life filled with drugs, violence, human misery, and a sense of despair due to the racial prejudices of American society. There is no patronizing of the black race in this cinematic cry for justice. A fifteen-year-old boy called Duke is ambitious to buy a "piece" (a gun) from an adult racketeer named Priest, to become president of the gang to which he belongs, and to return them to active "bopping" (gang fighting) which has declined in Harlem. It is a clearly patent allegory of an attempt by Duke to attain manhood and identity in the only way accessible to him - the antisocial one. Written by alfiehitchie  IMDB

The Cast
THE COOL WORLD, screenplay by Shirley Clarke and Carl Lee, based on the novel by Warren Miller and the play by Mr. Miller and Robert Rossen. Directed by Miss Clarke and produced by Frederick Wiseman. Released by Wiseman Film Productions. At Cinema II, Third Avenue and 59th Street. Running time: 105 minutes.
Duke . . . . . Hampton Clanton
Luanne . . . . . Yolanda Rodriguez
Priest . . . . . Carl Lee
Blood . . . . . Clarence Williams 3d
Angel . . . . . Joe Oliver
Miss. Dewpont . . . . . Marilyn Cox
Mrs. Custis . . . . . Gloria Foster
Grandma . . . . . Georgia Burke
Littleman . . . . . Gary Bolling
Mr. Shapiro . . . . . Jerome Raphael
Hurst . . . . . John Marriott
Rod . . . . . Bostic Felton
Beep Bop . . . . . Charles Richardson
Warrior . . . . . Bruce Edwards

Miss Clarke uses her camera to assemble facts and observe, to establish the nature of the environment and chase after the characters who interest her. She follows them, watches them closely, regards them in intimate, personal scenes. But the attitude in which she functions as a recorder is that of the outsider looking in.  New York Times Review