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Bookmark this pageThe Cool World (1963)
Director: Shirley Clarke
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
The Cool World was Frederick Wiseman's first involvement with cinema (he produced it) and Shirley Clarke's second feature as director/writer (after The Connection). At heart, it's a not-very-interesting melodrama about a black kid in Harlem learning the hard way that crime is no answer to social problems. But on the surface it's a very much more interesting view of day-to-day life in the ghetto, patterned as a flow of 'insignificant' incidents, variously angry, frightened and defeated characters, and all too credible pressures. Often crudely photographed, but with a brilliantly multi-layered sound-track which integrates some fine jazz.Author: TR
Cast & crew
Director: Shirley Clarke
Producer: Frederick Wiseman
Cast: Hampton Clanton, Yolanda Rodriguez, Carl Lee, Gloria Foster, Bostic Felton, Jerome Raphael full cast
Duration: 106 mins
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