seymourblack-1 "Across 110th Street" is a powerful crime drama that's action-packed, fast-moving and very violent. Its numerous conflicts, rampant racism and volatile characters generate an incredible amount of tension and the quantities of blood, bullets and brutality featured are absolutely extraordinary. What distinguishes this movie from so many other similar ones, is its tremendously well-drawn characters. They provide a fascinating focus for everything that happens and also provide insights into their motivations. This makes them seem really authentic and through them, the ways in which poverty and desperation can lead to criminality is illustrated in a style that makes its point strongly without ever becoming too heavy-handed.During a meeting at a Harlem apartment during which a couple of Mafia gangsters and their local associates are counting out their week's takings, two men dressed in police uniforms steal the cash amounting to $300,000 and kill all five men before making their clumsy getaway during which they also kill a couple of police officers. The Mafia boss is determined not to lose his operations in Harlem and so appoints his son-in-law, Nick D'Salvio (Anthony Franciosa) to hunt down the gang who carried out the heist and retrieve the money they've stolen. D'Salvio is also aware of how important it is that these men need to be punished in a way that will deter others from doing the same thing in the future.NYPD Captain Frank Mattelli (Anthony Quinn) assumes that he'll be assigned to the case but is soon informed that he is to work with Lieutenant William Pope (Yaphet Kotto) who has been put in charge of the investigation. Mattelli, a white, racist Italian-American who's nearing retirement is incensed by this decision but is left with no choice in the matter. Pope is significantly younger, well-educated and black. He operates "by the book" and is disgusted by Mattelli's methods which mostly involve beating his suspects senseless in order to try to illicit information from them.Nick D'Salvio conscripts the help of some Harlem hoods led by Doc Johnson (Richard Ward) and together, they work determinedly to pursue the men who stole their cash so that they can reach them before the police do. A number of surprise developments and the continuing friction between everyone involved then cause a number of further problems before each of the thieves is eventually identified and hunted down.The three incompetent thieves who stole the Mafia money did so because they were so desperate to escape the poverty and squalor that characterised their daily lives and despite being fully aware of the dangers involved couldn't see any other means of escape. Their leader, Jim Harris (Paul Benjamin) recognised that as an uneducated 42-year-old black ex-con with epilepsy, his job prospects were minimal and the heist was his only chance of a better future. The fear and desperation that Harris and Joe Logart (Ed Bernard) experience is powerfully expressed in Benjamin and Bernard's marvellous performances and Antonio Fargas is also brilliant as their larger-than-life getaway driver.Anthony Franciosa is terrific as the sadistic D'Salvio who's a nervy man with a point to prove to his superiors and Yaphet Kotto and Anthony Quinn also impress as the mismatched detectives. The use of hand-held cameras and location shots contribute strongly to the very realistic feel of this movie and the musical contributions by Bobby Womack and J J Johnson are the icing on the cake.

Ed-Shullivan Some movies when they initially premier, do not do well at the box office and then through the passing of time. they gradually attain cult status amongst a specific movie genre fan base decades later. In this case the film Across 110th Street probably did all right at the box office and then faded in to obscurity. The acting was good with stars like Yaphet Kotto, Anthony Quinn, Tony Franciosa and Paul Benjamin starring in the film and it showed great potential.The film had plenty of action scenes with the old school mentality "beat 'em up" white cop played by Anthony Quinn, and the black cop in charge of the murder investigation played by Yaphet Kotto. We also have the white Italian crime boss played by Tony Franciosa and the black robber/murderer played by Paul Benjamin.Certain movies are made for a specific era that reflects the current world around us. A world that may be harsh and cruel, where guns, bribe money and mob strength rule the inner city. Why I think Across 110th Street fell in to obscurity over the passing of time, rather than in to the cult classic regime was the film had no historical value, and we the audience just got tired of seeing white cops beating up black criminals.After viewing this film for the second time in 40 years, it ends up not having much substance and I viewed it only as an extended chase scene throughout the film, with the cops, and the black and white mobsters hunting down the three black robbers who end up murdering several black and white bad guys and two cops in the process of completing their $300,0000.00 armed robbery of an Italian mob cash counting operation.So the chase is on for recovering the stolen mobs money, vicious interrogations on (innocent) suspects are performed by both the cops and criminals, and if the cops or criminals don't get answers to who the three guys are who committed the robbery and murders people will get hurt and eventually die. It is a predictable ending that I don't think I will be watching again for a third time in the next forty years because there are a lot better crime films from the 1930's that would be on my watch list before Across 110th Street would be.

tieman64 Set in the mean streets of Harlem, "Across 110th Street" is one of the better blaxploitation films released in the early seventies. With two fairly big stars in lead roles (Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto), the film also had a slightly larger budget than most of its siblings.The plot revolves around two detectives, played by Kotto and Quinn, who attempt to bring down a black gang. Unfortunately things don't go as planned, mostly because Kotto is black and Quinn is a racist Italian. Written, directed and produced by whites, this film pretends to make a racial statement (the last shot is that of a white on black handshake), but like most of these white-directed blaxploitation films, it's all rage and anger, everyone despicable, nasty and vile.The film ends with a massive shootout (lots of squibs and submachine guns) that was memorable in its day. Today the film is remembered mostly for influencing Tarantino's "Jackie Brown", particularly its opening shot.6/10

Nazi_Fighter_David Disguised as cops, three black crooks steal a big amount of cash after killing five syndicate runners and two policemen… The New York police and the Mafia react with immediate concern… Tough police veteran Captain Frank Mattelli (Quinn) resents the intrusion of Lieutenant Pope (Kotto), a black detective, in the case, while Mafia boss Don Gennaro (Frank Mascetta) sends his paranoid son-in-law, Nick D'Salvio (Anthony Franciosa), to reassert control over the Harlem branch and see that the money is recovered… The black syndicate, headed by Doc Johnson (Richard Ward) and his assistant Shevvy (Gilbert Lewis), rejects D'Salvio, while promising only token help, and accuses Mattelli, who has been on the take from Johnson for years… Anthony Quinn plays well the ageing detective who has long ago perceived that all his efforts are not going to do more than raise the very small part of the cover of crime, but he is not above taking a bribe from a racketeer… His method of dealing with a reluctant witness is to hit hard first and ask questions later…The rigorously legal approach to police work, as exemplified by Yaphet Kotto, is not for Quinn… This is his territory, his little kingdom, and he keeps the peace as best he knows