Minnie Gentry Movies
Distinguished singer/actress Minnie Gentry primarily worked on stage and television, but she also appeared in a few films. While growing up in Cleveland she began performing in church choirs. She made her acting debut with the Charles Gilpin Players at the Karamu Playhouse, Cleveland, and remained in close contact with them. In the late 1940s, Gentry went to New York and eventually landed on Broadway appearing in various highly acclaimed productions that include Lysistrata, her Broadway debut in which she starred opposite Sidney Poitier, A Raisin in the Sun, and All God's Chillun Got Wings. She also worked off-Broadway in such plays as Medea. On television she had a role on the daytime serial All My Children and played Gram Tee on the Cosby Show. Minnie Gentry's film credits include Georgia, Georgia (1971) and Spike Lee's Jungle Fever (1981). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1992
- NC17
If police lieutenant Harvey Keitel's life could get any more sordid, he could probably sell tickets. The least of his vices is gambling, which has gotten him in Dutch with the mob. He abuses his body with drugs and his soul with hookers, and now he's turned to exploiting teenage girls for sex. Keitel is forced to reassess his life while investigating the rape of a nun. Director Abel Ferrara co-wrote the screenplay with Zoe Lund, who as Zoe Tamerlis starred in Ferrara's cult classic Ms. 45. A soundtrack tune by rapper Schoolly D, which was included in the initial release of Bad Lieutenant, featured a sample from Led Zeppelin which was used without permission; the song has since been excised from the soundtrack. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harvey Keitel, Frankie Thorn, (more)
Writer/producer/director James Bond III also stars in this innovative supernatural thriller as Joel, a divinity student from rural North Carolina who has a serious crisis of faith and travels to New York to seek the advice of his friend, aspiring actor K (Kadeem Hardison). In an effort to loosen up his conservative companion, K gives him a taste of New York nightlife -- personified by an alluring club vamp with the less-than-subtle name of Temptation (Cynthia Bond). Although her true nature as a soul-stealing succubus is more than obvious to the audience (particularly after several scenes of unsuspecting wannabe players torn limb-from-limb), Temptation nevertheless ensnares naïve, innocent Joel in her devilish spell, prompting K to investigate the woman's background with a little help from a detective (Bill Nunn) determined to connect her with several murders. Bond's intelligent morality play is a step above simple homage to horror and blaxploitation genres of the '70s, avoiding many of those films' stereotypes to present three-dimensional characters and realistic dialogue. The vibrant, color-rich cinematography is the work of frequent Spike Lee collaborator Ernest R. Dickerson. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Bond III, Kadeem Hardison, (more)
- 1990
Originally scheduled to air on October 11, 1990, this Law & Order episode was bumped forward to November 20 of that year. The flames of racial unrest are fueled when a young African-American honors student is shot by Freddo Parisi (John Finn), a white cop. Much to their dismay, detectives Greevey (George Dzundza) and Logan (Chris Noth) are faced with the likelihood that the cop may have planted a weapon on the deceased to get himself off the hook. Likewise made uncomfortable by the implications and possible consequences of the incident, assistant D.A.'s Stone (Michael Moriarty) and Robinette (Richard Brooks) nonetheless set a trap to catch Officer Parisi in his own web of deceit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
The family gathers to celebrate the 98th birthday of Cliff's Great-Aunt Harriet "Gramtee" McCutcheon (Minnie Gentry). Although most of the family members are enthralled by Gramtee's fascinating stories about the old days (both bad and good), Olivia (Raven-Symone) is at first sullen and unresponsive, angered that the party has spoiled her plans to go to the zoo. Ultimately, Denise (Lisa Bonet) takes charge of the situation, proving beyond doubt that she is taking her newfound maternal responsibilities very, very seriously. This is the final episode of The Cosby Show's sixth season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
We're told that Apprentice to Murder is a true story. If so, we'll steer clear of the film's Pennsylvania Dutch locale in the future. A series of murders occur in a sleepy community, and suspicion immediately falls on the local "character": a self-styled faithhealer and mystic. Donald Sutherland plays this worthy, while Chad Lowe is cast as his nonplussed assistant. Though set in Pennsylvania, Apprentice to Murder was actually shot in Norway. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald Sutherland, Chad Lowe, (more)
- 1986
An TV news satire from director Robert Downey, this film concerns a cable evening news show that gradually turns into chaotic performance art. Head newscaster Terrence Hackley (Zack Norman) has been caught by his wife Joy (Tammy Grimes) with a plaid skirt in his suitcase, so he covers up by wearing it in his interviews. The sagging ratings start to go up and then they zoom sky-high after Joy and the weatherman bounce the station's signal off the moon and it lands in houses around the world. Several zany vignettes send up media moguls and film directors as the news program becomes increasingly bizarre. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zack Norman, Tammy Grimes, (more)
- 1984
- R
- Add The Brother from Another Planet to QueueAdd The Brother from Another Planet to top of Queue
Filmmaker John Sayles' first bonafide box-office success, Brother from Another Planet centers on a black escaped slave from a faraway planet (Joe Morton) who finds himself on the mean streets Harlem. Though the locals are put off by the slave's inability to speak, they are won over by his technical wizardry. He is adopted as a "brother" by his new friends, who protect him from pursuing white aliens played by director Sayles and David Strathairn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Morton, Darryl Edwards, (more)
- 1977
- PG
Based on the life story of NASCAR auto racing champion Wendell Scott, this film, starring Richard Pryor as Scott, covers his struggles -- from the end of World War II to 1971-- to overcome racism and gain the freedom to demonstrate his winning auto-racing skills to everyone. He is not without support: he has Mary Jones (Pam Grier), his loving wife, a sense of humor, and quite a few good friends, including the white race-car driver Hutch (Beau Bridges). Filmed in the Atlanta area, this movie features performances by folksinger Richie Havens, Julian Bond (later a Congressman), and Maynard Jackson (at one time Atlanta's mayor). ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Pryor, Beau Bridges, (more)
- 1976
Originally telecast September 14, 1976, as a CBS "General Electric Theater" special, Just an Old Sweet Song was the first of three pilots for Down Home, a proposed TV series created by filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles. Robert Hooks and Cicely Tyson star as Nate and Priscilla Simmons, the patriarch and matriarch of a middle-class Detroit family. Upon learning that their grandmother (Beah Richards) is not long for this world, Nate and Priscilla pack up their kids and head down South. Eventually, the family rediscovers its African-American roots and elects to stay in their new rural surroundings. Robert Hooks' real-life sons (Kevin and Eric Hooks) appear as his screen sons, Junior and Highpockets. Just an Old Sweet Song was followed by two 60-minute sequels in 1978: Kinfolks (in which Madge Sinclair replaced Cicely Tyson as Priscilla Simmons) and Down Home. Alas, none of the three films yielded a weekly series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Cult director Larry Cohen (It's Alive) directed this violent blaxploitation film. Nasty racist John McKinney cripples a black shoeshine boy, who grows up to be Tommy Gibbs (Fred Williamson), the Godfather of Harlem. The crimelord now has his tormentor McKinney (Art Lund) in his pocket, based on the cop's mob ties. Tommy's traitorous girlfriend Helen (Gloria Hendry) hands over the evidence, and McKinney moves in for the kill. But he may have underestimated the violent Tommy, who makes him shine his shoes in blackface while singing "Mammy." Rick Baker provided makeup effects, and James Brown did the music for this bloody oddity, followed the same year by Hell Up in Harlem. Cohen and Williamson got together 23 years later for an interesting (if unsuccessful) attempt at reviving the genre, Original Gangstas. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 1972
- R
Diana Sands stars in the provocative romantic drama Georgia, Georgia. While performing in Sweden, black singer Georgia (Diana Sands) falls in love with white photographer Michael Winters (Dirk Benedict). The issue of miscegenation weighs heavily upon the proceedings, though it is Georgia's black travelling companion Alberta (Minnie Gentry), rather than Michael's white friends, who is most upset by the interracial relationship. Alberta despises all whites with a vengeance, and it is her hatred that formulates the film's explosive climax. Scripted by Maya Angelou, Georgia, Georgia can't help but seem dated when shown today; its principal virtues are Diana Sands' performance and Andreas Ballas' cinematography. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
- PG
This sequel to Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) brings back Coffin Ed Johnson (Raymond St. Jacques) and Gravedigger Jones (Godfrey Cambridge), two freewheeling African-American police detectives working the beat in Harlem. Joe (Peter DeAnda) is a famous photographer who has mounted a crusade to drive drug dealers out of Harlem, but his intentions are hardly civic-minded; he hopes that by cutting out as much competition as possible, he can take over the business and corner the neighborhood's dope market. Caspar (Maxwell Glanville), one of Harlem's biggest dealers, is the only one who has figured out Joe's angle, and he carefully guards his territory. When a few local dealers begin turning up dead, Joe announces that the ghost of a powerful Harlem gangster, Charleston Blue, has returned to clean up the neighborhood; the small-time dope men are a suspicious lot, and many of them flee the city. But Coffin Ed and Gravedigger know that something fishy is going on, and they struggle to get the goods on Joe and Caspar, as well as solving the mystery of Charleston Blue. Like its predecessor, Come Back Charleston Blue was based on a novel by crime writer Chester Himes. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques, (more)
