Across 110th Street (1972)

Two cops need to learn to work together in order to find three thieves who stole three hundred thousand dollars from the mob. Will they get to them in time before the mob does?

A lot of people thinks this is a blaxploitation film, but it isn't. Sure it takes place in Harlem and it does deal with issues pertaining to black people, but the lead character (Anthony Quinn) is white. So this is really a hard, gritty noir. Nevertheless, it does deal with universal issues. Particularly the idea of wasted time. All three of the main characters (Head thief, Mafia "messenger", police detective) are dealing with the fact that their lives are starting to amount to a hill of beans and aren't about to cut it in this new era. The story is raw and very well done and the main actors (Quinn, Franciosa, Benjamin) really bring out their characters very well. Kotto, playing a young, by the book cop does particularly good as well. But the real praise goes to Harlem itself. It's state of ruin and detriment helps reinforce the feeling of nihilism and depression that motivates the thieves to steal.

Is there some cons. eeehhh. One or two. The film had the feeling of being a bit long. I think this is due to the pacing. Trying to get all the characters introduced kind of slowed it a bit down. Trying to get everyone down at once in one big fell swoop just didn't do it. More evenly paced introduction would have done the film a whole lot better. Give the story a lot more impact.

The DVD is barebones. You're only given a trailer. The audio and visuals are alright. It looks like a transfer, but I'm ok with that. I do wished they did more coverage on this dvd. Just an interview from Yappet Kotto would have made a difference.

Three stars.