Five on the Black Hand Side (1973)

Wissenswertes

Five on the Black Hand Side is a 1973 African-American comedy film based on the 1969 play of the same name by Charlie L. Russell. It was shot in Downtown Los Angeles, California. Leonard Jackson appeared as John Henry Brooks. He was cast in Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple fifteen years later.

Background

Five on the Black Hand Side was originally a play written by Charlie L. Russell. It was Russell's first Off-Broadway play, which was produced by American Place Theatre and directed by Barbara Ann Teer. Since the opening in 1969, the play was performed 62 times.

Russell was working as a play doctor (revised plays before production) at a theatre when he came up with the idea of Five on the Black Hand Side. First, Russell only worked out a draft, but had to finish the script when he met Luther James, a member of the Harlem Writers Guild. As Russell said himself, he wanted to "mix comedy and the political thing", as the 1960s and 1970s were an era full of political changes.

It took Russell about six months to rewrite the play into the movie script, the film was then released in 1973. Like in the plays, the character of Mrs. Brooks was again played by Clarice Taylor. Russell knew her from The Negro Ensemble Company. As he said, "She created the part. She is a wonderful woman, great actress, great person. I really got to know her more when we did the movie."

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