Cooley High | Blu-ray Review

Forty years after its theatrical release, Michael Schultz’s poignant early title Cooley High (1975) comes to Blu-ray. A prominent figure in film in the 70s and 80s thanks to iconic titles like the progressive Car Wash (1976), martial arts film The Last Dragon (1986), and the excellent 1977 Richard Pryor film Which Way is Up? (a remake of Wertmuller’s The Seduction of Mimi), Schultz tends to get left out of deserving discussions as concerns black filmmakers.

References to this 60s period piece concerning a group of friends growing up in the Chicago housing projects is often referred to as the black American Graffiti, a thankless distinction, to be sure. Operating outside of the Blaxploitation paradigm, Schultz and screenwriter Eric Monte (apparently portions of this are autobiographical) simply recreate a certain period wherein two friends learn hard lessons as they grow to realize the cruelty of the world around them. Less dramatic than films it would come to serve as a template for, like John Singleton’s iconic Boyz n the Hood (1991) and, to a degree, Ernest R. Dickerson’s criminally underrated Juice (1992), it’s an excellent title worthy of discussion, and features a variety of cast members that would eventually reach a higher rung of stardom.

Neighbors from the projects and both attending Cooley Vocational High School best friends Leroy “Preach” Jackson (Glynn Turman) and Richard “Cochise” Morris (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs) are seniors facing a familiar rite of passage. Neither particularly interested in school, to the chagrin of their committed teacher, Mr. Mason (Garrett Morris), Preach wishes to be a Hollywood screenwriter while Cochise, the ladies’ man of the pair, recently netted a basketball scholarship. Like most heterosexual young men, most of their energy is focused on obtaining the attentions of women, and so they’re led through a series of comical circumstances. Things get serious when they foolishly get into a car stolen by a pair of acquaintances, Stone (Sherman Smith) and Robert (Norman Gibson). After running from the cops, all four are eventually arrested, but the intervention of Mr. Mason gets Preach and Cochise released. However, Stone and Robert are convinced they were snitched on, and pursue vengeance.

Though its final segment feels unduly melodramatic, Cooley High is an overall enjoyable film from Schultz, with this being his third feature. A box office success (the film cost $750,000 and took in thirteen million during its initial run), it secured a successful career for the director, who would go on to work with major stars. Here it’s a pleasure to see Glynn Turman, a television alum with too many credits to name, but who should be recognizable to fans of “A Different World” and “The Wire.” At times, Turman certainly seems way too old to be playing a high school student, but it’s a likeable characterization. Likewise for Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs, who portrayed Joe Jackson in the infamous VH1 biopic The Jacksons: An American Dream (1992), and at the time of filming Cooley High was on “Welcome Back, Kotter.” SNL alum Garrett Morris appears briefly as their well-meaning mentor.

Disc Review:

This transfer gets the general treatment from Olive Films, presented in 1.85:1 aspect ratio and without any extra features. Schultz amasses a notable Motown soundtrack in this vintage portrait of Chicago with a rare film that develops characters beyond the superficiality of racial dynamics.

Final Thoughts:

An excellent discovery for those new to Schultz’s filmography, Cooley High tends to feel more like the period in which it was made rather than the decade prior. Using a host of non-professional actors, the title sometimes fluctuates between feeling entertainingly organic and distractingly wooden. Several of his later titles would certainly supersede Cooley, but it’s a title of note.

★★★/☆☆☆☆☆
★★★/☆☆☆☆☆