''Cool Breeze'' is a 1972 American

blaxploitation Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, the president o ...

heist film The heist film or caper film is a subgenre of crime film focused on the planning, execution, and aftermath of a significant robbery. One of the early defining heist films was ''The Asphalt Jungle'' (1950), which ''Film Genre 2000'' wrote "almo ...

directed by Barry Pollack and starring

Thalmus Rasulala Thalmus Rasulala (born Jack Crowder; November 15, 1939October 9, 1991) was an American actor with a long career in theater, television, and films. Noted for starring roles in blaxploitation films, he was also an original cast member of ABC's soap ...

. It was released by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

. The film is loosely based on

W. R. Burnett William Riley Burnett (November 25, 1899 April 25, 1982) was an American novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for the crime novel ''Little Caesar'', the film adaptation of which is considered the first of the classic American gangster ...

's 1949 novel ''The Asphalt Jungle''. It is the fourth film adaptation of the novel, after ''

The Asphalt Jungle ''The Asphalt Jungle'' is a 1950 American film noir heist film directed by John Huston. Based on the 1949 novel of the same name by W. R. Burnett, it tells the story of a jewel robbery in a Midwestern city. The film stars Sterling Hayden and Lo ...

'' (1950), '' The Badlanders'' (1958) and ''

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

'' (1963). The film was released with the tagline: "He hit the Man for $3 million. Right where it hurts. In the diamonds. And baby, that's cold."

Plot

Sidney Lord Jones is a

convicted felon A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

who is granted an early release by the

parole board A parole board is a panel of people who decide whether an offender should be released from prison on parole after serving at least a minimum portion of their sentence as prescribed by the sentencing judge. Parole boards are used in many jurisdiction ...

San Quentin San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County. Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is the o ...

. While imprisoned, he learns about the underworld diamond trade from reading and studying trade magazines. It motivates him to plan a heist to steal $3 million worth of diamonds from the largest diamond brokerage on the

Pacific Coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...

. After his release, Jones returns to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and proposes the idea to ‘the Money Man’ Bill Mercer and "Stretch" Finian, in hopes that Mercer would provide the $50,000

seed money Seed money, sometimes known as seed funding or seed capital, is a form of securities offering in which an investor invests capital in a startup company in exchange for an equity stake or convertible note stake in the company. The term ''seed'' ...

needed to set up the heist. Jones recommends using profits from the heist to start a

community bank A community bank is a depository institution that is typically locally owned and operated. Community banks tend to focus on the needs of the businesses and families where the bank holds branches and offices. Lending decisions are made by people w ...

to support black-owned businesses, in addition the bank could be used to launder illegal business activities. Unbeknownst to Jones, Mercer is having financial difficulty and has little money. However, he agrees to provide the funds, but secretly plans to keep all the loot for himself. To accomplish the heist, Mercer and Jones assemble a group of men consisting of Travis Battle (‘the Muscle Man’) a well-known career criminal, Roy Harris (‘ the Box Man’) an expert safe-cracker transformed into a

Christian minister In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidanc ...

, and John Battle (‘

the Driver ''The Driver'' is a 1978 American neo-noir crime film, crime thriller film written and directed by Walter Hill. It stars Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, and Isabelle Adjani. O'Neal is the getaway driver for robberies whose exceptional talent has prevent ...

’) an honest business man and

half-brother A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised separa ...

of Travis. Unfortunately, after the successful robbery, the group finds themselves caught up in a string of unhappy accidents and double crosses.

Cast

as Sidney Lord Jones * Jim Watkins as Travis Battle *

Judy Pace Judy Lenteen Pace (born June 15, 1942) is an American actress known for her roles in films and television shows, particularly blaxploitation films. Pace portrayed Vickie Fletcher on the TV series '' Peyton Place'' (1968–1969) and Pat Walters on ...

as Obalese Eaton *

Lincoln Kilpatrick Lincoln Kilpatrick (February 12, 1932 – May 18, 2004) was an American film, television, and stage actor. Biography Career Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Kilpatrick attended Lincoln University and earned a degree in drama before he began acting. ...

as Lieutenant Brian Knowles * Sam Laws as "Stretch" Finian * Raymond St. Jacques as Bill Mercer *

Margaret Avery Margaret Avery (born April 15, 1944) is an American actress and singer. She began her career appearing on stage and later had starring roles in films including '' Cool Breeze'' (1972), ''Which Way Is Up?'' (1977), ''Scott Joplin'' (1977), and ''T ...

as Lark * Pamela Grier as Mona * Paula Kelly as Martha Harris * Wally Taylor as John Battle *

Rudy Challenger Rudolph Michael Challenger (October 2, 1928 – August 22, 2012) was an African-American supporting actor who had roles in various projects over the course of his thirty-four year career in film and television in Hollywood. He appeared on such ...

as Reverend Roy Harris *

Stewart Bradley Stewart Harris Bradley (born November 2, 1983) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft and also played for the Arizona Ca ...

as Captain Lloyd Harmon * Ed Cambridge as The Bus Driver *

Royce Wallace Royce K. Wallace (May 9, 1925 – November 24, 1992) was an American actress, singer and dancer who had a long, distinguished career beginning in the 1940s through the late–1980s. Biography Born in Buffalo, Nebraska or Pleasanton, Nebraska or ...

as Emma Mercer *

Stack Pierce Robert Stack Pierce (June 15, 1933 – March 1, 2016) was a Hollywood actor who was previously a boxer and professional baseball player.Speakers InternationaStack Pierce His acting career began in the early 1970s with television roles in th ...

as "Tinker" *

Biff Elliot Biff Elliot (born Leon Shalek; July 26, 1923 – August 15, 2012) was an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as popular detective Mike Hammer in the 1953 version of ''I, the Jury'' and for his guest appearance as Schmitter i ...

as Lieutenant Carl Mager *

John Lupton John Rollin Lupton (August 23, 1928 – November 3, 1993) was an American film and television actor. Early years Lupton was the son of Adelma Lupton and Dorothy Marsh Lupton. He developed an interest in drama while he was a student at Sh ...

as Lieutenant Holster *

Frank McRae Frank McRae (March 18, 1941 – April 29, 2021) was an American film and television actor, and a professional football player. Early life McRae was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He graduated from Tennessee State University with a double major i ...

as Barry, Mercer's Servant (uncredited)

Themes

Gender and sexuality in the film have been highly critiqued by film critics who noted the characters mistreatment of women. The director of the film very intentionally portrays the young women as sexy but lacking complexity. This is a common theme that can be noted in many black films in which "the sexual dimension of American racism is reflected in the motion picture portrayal of the black woman" as is stated by Edward Mapp in ''Black Women in Films'' (142). Critics such as Roger Greenspun note that "''Cool Breeze'' has rather a lot to say about sexy young girls, and about sex generally (much of it fairly brutal), and about whatever matters of practical philosophy happen to pass through the minds of its characters" (New York Times 1972).

Reception

The film received very poor reviews overall. Critics reported that the characters were dry and lack dimension and the climax ended with a plot that seemed to lose its momentum. Much of the issues that were introduced in the beginning of the film were left unresolved by the end. Critics note that the film had a talented cast however the plot and character development was lacking. Though this is true, there were a few good scenes that were noted by film reviewers.

Roger Greenspun Roger Greenspun (December 16, 1929 – June 18, 2017) was an American journalist and film critic, best known for his work with ''The New York Times'' in which he reviewed near 400 films, particularly in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and for '' ...

of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' opened his review by writing, "From M‐G‐M, the company that gave you '

Gone With the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind may also refer to: Music * ''Gone with the Wind'' ...

,' there now comes 'Cool Breeze,' a mostly black remake of '

'—also given you by M‐G‐M. Actually, the quality of blackness is somewhat strained, embracing as it does much of the cast, and most of the attitudes, and virtually all the ad campaign—but none of the major technical credits, including Gene Corman as producer and Barry Pollack, who directed and wrote the screenplay." He cited that the film "really has nowhere to take its observations, since it is neither militant nor pacifist, but only, sporadically, ironic. And the film seems at each moment to be diminished below its potential even when it attempts strong bravado. Pollack directs some sequences very well, but he seems unsure of what matters dramatically and what doesn't, and he is unevenly served by his cast. The cast is only good in its sadness, and especially with Raymond St. Jacques as Mercer, the high‐powered fence (the

Louis Calhern Carl Henry Vogt (February 19, 1895 – May 12, 1956), known professionally as Louis Calhern, was an American stage and screen actor. Well known to film noir fans for his role as the pivotal villain in 1950's ''The Asphalt Jungle'', he was n ...

role in 'The Asphalt Jungle') who loses every thing except an understanding that the best use of the substance of life is to support a style."

References

External links