Cooley High

Author

Michael Schultz

Call Number

• BLU-RAY DRAMA (CEN)

Edition

Director-approved Blu-ray special edition.

Languages

English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Performers

Glynn Turman, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Garrett Morris, Cynthia Davis, Jackie Taylor.

Publication Information

[Irvington, NY] : Criterion Collection, [2022]

Physical Description

1 videodisc (107 minutes) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 folded sheet (color illustrations ; 17 cm.)

Audience

MPAA rating: PG.

Summary

"Chicago, 1964: it's the last weeks of high school for aspiring poet Preach and his best friend, Cochise, and they have a full slate of extracurricular activities: swinging dance parties, late-night joyrides, and the stumbling pursuit of romance. Of course, when you're a young Black man in America, your coming-of-age story is far from complication-free. With Cooley High, director Michael Schultz and screenwriter Eric Monte--who drew on his own experiences growing up in Chicago's Cabrini-Green housing project--arrived at something truly unique in 1970s cinema: an endearingly funny, tender, and authentic portrait of Black teens striving toward a brighter tomorrow, brought to life by a dynamic ensemble cast and set to a heavenly hit parade of Motown classics."--Container.

Notes

Originally released as a motion picture in 1975.

Special features: New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Michael Shultz, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack ; new conversation between Schultz and film scholar Racquel J. Gates ; program on the making of the film ; panel discussion from the 2019 tribute to Cooley High at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, featuring Schultz, actor-filmmaker Robert Townsend, casting director Gloria Schultz, and actors Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs and Garrett Morris.