According to Garrett Morris, the producers did not want to cast him in the role of Mr. Mason because they felt that he looked too young. Morris was a real-life schoolteacher at the time. Director Michael Schultz insisted that Morris was right for the role.
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.
Preaches' Mama, like many other actors in the movie, was a real-life resident of the Cabrini-Green housing project.
Director Michael Schultz wanted authentic characters to fill the gangster roles. He was told by Chicago police of two petty thieves who hung out together, Norman Gibson and Sherman Smith, so Schultz sought them out. Smith said in an interview that he and Gibson were just walking down the street when Schultz rolled up on them in a limo, asking them to read for the parts. Gibson was shot to death just one year and three months after the movie was released. This occurred in his Chicago neighborhood, where he reportedly was robbed by other stick-up men during a dice game. Smith later was convicted of armed robbery and served eight years in prison, but castmate Jackie Taylor helped him rehabilitate by giving him a job as a janitor at her Black Ensemble Theater in Chicago. He later moved on to acting roles in various productions there.
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