Editing The Cool World (film)

{{Short description|1963 film by Shirley Clarke}}
{{About|the 1963 film|the 1992 film|Cool World}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name       = The Cool World
| image      = The Cool World (1963 poster).jpg
| alt        = 
| caption    = Theatrical release poster
| director   = [[Shirley Clarke]]
| writer     = [[Warren Miller (author)|Warren Miller]] (novel)<br>[[Robert Rossen]] (play)<br>[[Shirley Clarke]] (screenplay)
| producer   = [[Frederick Wiseman]]
| starring   = Hampton Clanton<br>Yolanda Rodríguez<br> [[Antonio Fargas]]<br>[[Carl Lee (actor)|Carl Lee]] <br>[[Clarence Williams III]]
| released   = {{Film date|1963|09|02}}
| music      = [[Mal Waldron]] (composer)<br>The [[Dizzy Gillespie]] Quintet (performer)
| studio     = Wiseman Film Productions
| distributor = Cinema V
| country    = United States
| runtime    = 125 minutes
| language   = English
}}
'''''The Cool World''''' is a 1963 American drama film directed by [[Shirley Clarke]] about [[African-American]] life in the Royal Pythons, a youth gang in [[Harlem]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=AFI Catalog|title=The Cool World|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/22352|access-date=2022-01-10|website=catalog.afi.com}}</ref><ref name=":1">[https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9802E3DE1030E033A25752C2A9629C946591D6CF New York Times]</ref> In 1994, the film was selected for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref>{{Cite news|date=1994-11-15|title=25 Films Added to National Registry|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/15/movies/25-films-added-to-national-registry.html|access-date=2020-09-21|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|access-date=2020-09-21|website=Library of Congress}}</ref>

==Plot==
The plot concerns the obsession of Duke (Hampton Clanton), a 15-year-old member of the gang Royal Pythons, to get a gun from a racketeer named Priest (Carl Lee), in order to become the president of the Pythons and a big shot in Harlem. After their friend Littleman's father was forced out of his apartment, the Pythons take over the place and install Luanne, Python president Blood's girlfriend, as resident prostitute. Discovering that Blood is a heroin addict, Duke assumes leadership of the gang and Luanne becomes his girl. During an outing at Coney Island, however, Luanne vanishes, and Duke returns to Harlem alone.

Priest, who is pursued by his enemies, seeks refugee in the Python headquarter and is allowed to stay. In an ensuing battle with the Wolves, a rival gang, Duke stabs an antagonist. Seeking refuge, he returns to Python headquarter and discovers Priest's corpse. Duke then rushes back home and is apprehended by the police.

Utilizing first-time actors and true-life ghettos for scenery, Shirley Clarke's film dramatizes the life of young gang bangers in 1960s Harlem and transcends its narrative to deliver a vivid picture of inner city life.

==Cast==
''The Cool World'' stars real Harlem youth and some real gang members:
{{Cast listing|
* Rony Clanton as Hampton Clanton, Duke, a 15-year-old
* [[Carl Lee (actor)|Carl Lee]] as Priest, a neighborhood gangster, is killed by the Mob
* Yolanda Rodríguez as LuAnne, a prostitute used by the Royal Pythons
* [[Clarence Williams III]] as "Blood", the gang's president
* Gary Bolling as "Littleman", killed by the Wolves, a rival gang
* Bostic Felton as Rodney "Rod"
* Joe Oliver as Angel, leader of the Wolves, killed by the Royal Pythons)
* [[Gloria Foster]] as Duke's Mom
* Ted Butler as Mom's Lover
* Marilyn Cox as Priest's Woman, a prostitute
* [[Antonio Fargas]]
* The [[Dizzy Gillespie]] Quintet
}}

==Production==
This [[semi-documentary]] style movie was produced by soon-to-be documentary filmmaker [[Frederick Wiseman]], directed by [[Shirley Clarke]], and adapted by Clarke and Carl Lee from the 1959 novel ''The Cool World'' by [[Warren Miller (author)|Warren Miller]], with original music was by [[Mal Waldron]] and [[cinematography]] by [[Baird Bryant]]

A play, written by Miller and [[Robert Rossen]] based on the novel, was first shown in Philadelphia and then twice at Broadway's [[Eugene O'Neill Theatre]] on February 22 and 23, 1960, featuring [[Raymond St. Jacques]], [[James Earl Jones]], [[Calvin Lockhart]], [[Hilda Simms]], and others.<ref>[http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=2097 ''IBDB''; ''Internet Broadway Database'']</ref> The film helped launch [[Antonio Fargas]], [[Clarence Williams III]], [[Carl Lee (actor)|Carl Lee]], and [[Gloria Foster]], who married Williams three years later.

== Release and reception ==
''The Cool World'' debuted September 2, 1963 at the [[Venice Film Festival]] with a running time of 125 minutes. It received a standing ovation and was nominated for the festival's [[Golden Lion]] award.<ref name=":1" /> Following its loss to the Italian film ''[[Hands over the City]]'' (1963), ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' reported that at least one Italian publication, ''[[Il Messaggero]]'', decried the judges’ decision.<ref name=":0" />

Early reviews were mixed. While ''Variety'' commended Clarke for her achievement and ''[[The New York Times]]'' gave a largely positive review, the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' expressed disappointment, adding that African Americans were better qualified to make films about their people.<ref name=":0" />

On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film holds positive reviews from the site's six designated top critics. [[Richard Brody]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' praised the film: "Clarke's images endow the characters' energies with a sculptural grandeur and embrace street life with a keenly attentive, unsentimental avidity." [[Jonathan Rosenbaum]] also reviewed it positively: "It certainly had a visceral impact when it first appeared, helped enormously by Baird Bryant's cinematography and Dizzy Gillespie's score."

Currently, there is no home video release of the film. [[Frederick Wiseman]] owns the rights, and he is unwilling to release a home video version of ''The Cool World'' or to allow [[Milestone Films]] to release it among its Shirley Clarke series.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Shirley Clarke|url=https://milestonefilms.com/collections/shirley-clarke|access-date=2022-01-11|website=Milestone Films|language=en}}</ref> [[Amy Taubin]] has, in response, called for a boycott of Wiseman's films.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Taubin|first=Amy|title=The Cool World|url=http://www.lightindustry.org/thecoolworld|access-date=2022-01-11|website=www.lightindustry.org}}</ref>

==Soundtrack==
The soundtrack to the film was recorded by [[Dizzy Gillespie]] and his quintet, and was released as [[The Cool World (soundtrack)|an album of the same name]] in 1964.

==See also==
*[[List of American films of 1963]]
*[[List of hood films]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Sieving, Christopher J. ''[https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Searching-Black-Themed-Washington-Blaxploitation/dp/0819571334  Soul Searching: Black-Themed Cinema from the March on Washington to the Rise of Blaxploitation]'', Wesleyan University Press (2011). 280 pp.
*''The Cool World'' essay by Daniel Eagan in ''America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry'', A&C Black, 2010 {{ISBN|0826429777}}, pages 600–601

==External links==
{{Commons category|The Cool World (film)|''The Cool World''}}
*{{IMDb title}}
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=-UcEAAAAMBAJ&dq=The+cool+world+shirley+clarke&pg=PA15 Contemporary review] in LIFE Magazine

{{Shirley Clarke}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cool World, The}}
[[Category:1963 films]]
[[Category:United States National Film Registry films]]
[[Category:Blaxploitation films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Shirley Clarke]]
[[Category:Films based on British novels]]
[[Category:1963 drama films]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:1960s American films]]
[[Category:1963 independent films]]
[[Category:English-language independent films]]