A Máfia Nunca Perdoa

Whether you regard 'Across 110th Street' as a genuine blaxploitation movie or not (I don't) there's no denying it's one of the toughest and most powerful crime movies of the early 1970s, easily as good as the better known 'Serpico' or 'Dirty Harry'. Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto both give excellent performances as the NYC cops who have different approaches to trying to bring to justice some petty crooks who have ripped off the Mob. I was also impressed by Tony Franciosa who I knew from his later work in Argento's 'Tenebre'. I love that movie but always thought Franciosa was its weak point. In this movie he is one of the strengths. Paul Benjamin is also very good as one of the thieves. In fact, this movie is full of great acting, a tough and realistic script, taut direction from Barry Shear (who also made the 60s exploitation classic 'Wild In The Streets'), and a wonderful theme song from Bobby Womack, later recycled by Quentin Tarantino for 'Jackie Brown'. Highly recommended.

I caught this on BBC 1 one night many years ago . I forgot the title but could vividly remember a number of scenes especially a line of dialogue where two characters describe a third one having his genitals mutilated . This type of movie would be broadcast on television 30 years ago and no one would blink an eyelid but at the same time you can understand why it wouldn't be shown on network TV today . It as also a sign of the times back then that the TV broadcast had the F word overdubbed to something less offensive but the racial slurs against both black and whites remained intact . Perhaps the fact this film is consciously insensitive and hard hitting works against it ? This is a pity because it's not some " Blaxploitation " fare but more of a New Hollywood thriller at its best

The story itself is no great shakes - a couple of black dudes rip off and kill a few members of the Mafia and the black underworld and also kill a couple of uniformed cops in the process and find if not the entire world against them then at least the law enforcers and law breakers of NYC wanting to cap their ass . It's the sort of film Tarantino has been inspired by but unlike Tarantino's work this movie is devoid of post modernism and crippling self indulgence and is a relatively tightly plotted screenplay where lots of nasty things happen to lots of nasty people . There's a subplot featuring character interaction between Anthony Quinn's nasty racist white cop and Yaphet Kotto's not very nasty by the books black cop that might have been clichéd but does seem fresh and realistic , probably down to the fact the performances and writing portraying a rather amoral relationship between the two men and the wider world . And this does feel like an exceptionally amoral film that we never see nowadays more is the pity

This top urban thriller was perhaps the best of the films made during the blaxploitation era. The story is grim, bleak and violent and the grit and grime of Harlem is present in every scene. The theme throughout is black vs. white with no subtle shades of gray. Three black men steal money from the Mafia, with predictable results that follow in short order. Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto are police officers with quite different agendas and their relationship is one of mutual dislike. Anthony Franciosa is over-the-top as the Mafia lieutenant and Richard Ward is a gravel-voiced Harlem crime boss who stands up to the Mafia with a brash defiance. Bobby Womack's vocals accompany the film.

Criminally underrated 70's crime pic.....fully equal to Dirty Harry & The French Connection, but virtually unheard of at least here in the UK- I IMPLORE fans of hardboiled urban thrillers to check this out, you won't be disappointed! 3 black hoods rob $300,000 from the mafia, killing 2 cops and some mobsters in the process. The mob send in Nick D'salvio, a paranoid sadist married to the bosses daughter & desperate to prove himself worthy to his formidable father in law. The two senior policemen on the case are like chalk and cheese- Capt. Martelli is 55 & a corrupt, hardened, cynical veteran of the streets whose time is clearly drawing to a close. Wheras Lt. Pope is a young black detective- ambitious but fundamentally honest & by the book, and therefore appalled by Martelli's violent and sometimes illegal methods. What raises this film above the norm isn't the rather generic plot. The performances are uniformly excellent- but it's really the writing and directing that elevate this film to greatness.....Martelli and Pope (played by Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto respectively) don't become "buddies" like Riggs and Mortaugh in Lethal Weapon, the simmering tension & mistrust between them remains- as it would in real life. The 3 robbers, whilst never glamourised (only one is shown as having any kind of real conscience, and their leader is dangerously & unpredictably violent), are far from cardboard cut out bad guys- they're all three dimensional characters, a realistic mix of good and bad, with understandable motives. The psychopathic D'Salvio on the other hand is a truly nasty piece of work with no redeeming features, but even he is intriguingly multi-layerd- particularly in his dealings with the positively Machiavellian boss of the Harlem crime syndicate Doc Johnson, in his own way the most ruthless and streetwise character in the movie.....On paper D'Salvio is the senior mobster, and so should have the upper hand, but Johnson expertly plays on his insecurities to gain the upper hand in a masterfully played scene. Perhaps the most surprising thing about the film is how well it has aged- made over 40 years ago it still holds up well today. Also the level of violence is very strong, even when compared to the many other tough thrillers of the time, but it's never gratuitous- like The French Connection, this is a film about the seamy side of life in New York's ghetto, and director Barry Shear captures the mood and texture of grim n gritty 70's Harlem in a way few have managed. A must see for those who like their thrillers edgy, realistic and uncompromising!

This movie sweats. Early on in the mostly pandering "blacksplotation" film cycle of the seventies, came this incredibly violent, hate filled drama of three small time crooks who stumble on a big score and their hopeless attempt to survive it. The film is utterly dark and features nary a cheap shot or moment of easy cynicism.

In one scene Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto go to the apartment of one of the crooks lovers, already slain, to look for information and break the news. This is one of the most heartbreaking scenes ever put on film, a model of restraint and economy in a film that is busting at the seams. Actors who were probably barely in another movie give magnificent performances. The neglected Kotto was never better.

A very disturbing film that demands to be seen; art.