A 'COOLEY HIGH' REUNION
AT THE 2022 TCM CLASSIC FILM FESTIVAL IN LOS ANGELES, CA
Steven Williams (73), Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (68), director Michael Schultz (83; middle back row), Cynthia Davis (63), Glynn Turman (75), and Garrett Morris (85) attend the screening of "Cooley High".
One of the most influential African American films of the 1970s, this coming-of-age tale was inspired by writer Eric Monte’s experience growing up in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green housing project, where he attended the real Cooley Vocational High School. Indie studio American International Pictures developed his story and had the wisdom to hire a Black director, Michael Schultz, to shoot the low-budget film on location. Glynn Turman stars as Preach, who dreams of writing plays while palling around with basketball champ Cochise (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs). Their episodic adventures and a soundtrack filled with Motown classics helped turn the picture into one of the year’s biggest hits.
It had a major influence on writer-director-actor Robert Townsend—who had a one-line bit—and John Singleton, among other Black filmmakers who saw its use of three-dimensional characters and focus on friendship as a breakthrough. It also inspired the hit TV series What’s Happening!!
