A black soldier comes home to Harlem after a tour in Vietnam and discovers that his wife had become a heroin addict and died of an overdose. Infuriated, he gathers three of his ex-GI buddies and they lay out plans to fight the drug dealers.
Direction
Ossie Davis brings unexpected moral weight to exploitation material.
Acting
Paul Winfield's barely controlled rage carries every frame.
Practical Effects
Raw Harlem locations beat any studio backlot.
Director
Ossie Davis
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Ossie Davis's second feature as director, sandwiched between his better-known Cotton Comes to Harlem and Gordon's War. He reportedly took it specifically to work with Paul Winfield.
Released at the absolute peak of blaxploitation (1973), this film straddles the line — studio marketed the action, but Davis and Winfield pushed for genuine social commentary about the heroin epidemic devastating actual Harlem communities.
US
