Pope wants to solve their case Mattelli thinks Pope wants his job. The racism that struggles to control the black community is felt on both sides of the criminal fence: mafia boss Nick D’Salvio (a marvellously spiteful Anthony Franciosa) resents associating with Harlem boss “Doc” Johnson (Richard Ward, wonderfully smug), while Mattelli – an open racist – bristles at Pope’s presence on the case.Īnthony Quinn is truly superb as Mattelli: he’s a few years off retirement, straining at the edges, and deeply resenting the approach of younger and more effective officers rising the ranks behind him. It takes New York and bisects it along the titular 110th Street: white, wealthy mafioso to the south, and the poorer African-American Harlem to the north. It is a revelation: a well-paced and impactful contemporary of Friedkin and Sargent’s works that capably stands with them shoulder-to-shoulder. Prior to a recent release of the film by Australian bluray distributor Imprint Films I was not even aware Across 110th Street existed, although like many I was familiar with Bobby Womack’s popular theme song. Endings, while satisfying, are rarely entirely happy. The violence is bluntly unpleasant something as simple as a punch to the face actually hurts. The characters feel a bit more ragged and morally compromised.
There is a hardened edge to American crime films in the early 1970s, whether in Friedkin’s The French Connection (1971), Joseph Sargent’s The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), or any number of films released between them. Meanwhile both the Italian Mafia and a Harlem gangster are hunting for those responsible themselves. When a botched criminal raid on a numbers racket results in the deaths of seven people – including two police officers – Captain Frank Mattelli (Quinn) is partnered with Lieutenant William Pope (Yaphet Kotto) to investigate. It sits beside the genre, however, as a strong and hugely effective remix of American cinema in the early 1970s. With a white director and screenwriter adapting a novel by a white author, and co-starring Anthony Quinn, it is definitely not a Blaxploitation picture in its own right. Produced in 1973 and released to American cinemas a year later, it is an inspired crime film that draws on multiple influences of its time: a bit of Italian organised crime via The Godfather, and a lot of African-American culture and struggles via the then-popular Blaxploitation genre. Barry Shear’s Across 110th Street (1972) is the sort of film for which the word ‘muscular’ seems intended.
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