Uptown Saturday Night (1974)
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Description:
Uptown Saturday Night is a 1974 American action comedy crime film written by Richard Wesley and directed by and starring Sidney Poitier, with Bill Cosby and Harry Belafonte co-starring. Cosby and Poitier teamed up again for Let's Do It Again (1975) and A Piece of the Action (1977). Although Cosby's and Poitier's characters have different names in each film, the three films are considered to be a trilogy. Uptown Saturday Night premiered on June 15, 1974 at the Criterion Theatre in New York and opened to positive reviews.
Plot:
After sneaking out of their houses to enjoy themselves at Madame Zenobia's(a high-class but illegal nightclub) on Saturday night, Steve Jackson(Sidney Poitier) and Wardell Franklin(Bill Cosby) are held up by robbers who raid the club and steal Steve's wallet. When they realize that a winning lottery ticket worth $50,000 is in the wallet, Steve and Wardell set out to find the crooks themselves with the help of gangster Geechie Dan Beauford(Harry Belafonte), who wants to defeat his rival Silky Slim(Calvin Lockhart). Steve and Wardell devise a plan to recover the ticket.
Background:
Uptown Saturday Night was produced by Warner Bros. in the midst of the blaxploitation film era along with films such as Cleopatra Jones and Black Belt Jones. Throughout his career, Poitier was frustrated with Hollywood's portrayal of Blacks in film and television, which motivated him to direct films during the blaxploitation era.
Themes
The characters in the film, while different in their motives and demeanor, have a sophisticated and classy appearance in the Black community (with the exception of Sharp Eye Washington). Poitier sought to represent Black actors on screen in an elegant manner in contrast to the usual image of Blacks in Hollywood. During his career, he refused roles that enforced negative stereotypes, and chose to play characters who were "dignified, proud, and ethical." Critics have noted this pattern: "In all his films, [Poitier] was educated and intelligent. He spoke proper English, dressed conservatively, and had the best of table manners.
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