On this day in comedy on October 7, 1977 ‘A Piece of the Action’ was released by Warner Bros.
Directed by co-star Sidney Poitier, this crime comedy is his third pairing with Bill Cosby in the trilogy that started with Uptown Saturday Night followed by Let’s do it Again. This entry is more serious in tone and less in humor.
This time the duo are thieves. Everything is rolling along fine in the world of high class robbery until a retired cop (James Earl Jones) lets them know he’s got the goods on them and it’s time to talk. His conversation consists of keeping his mouth shut and not sending them up the river in exchange for doing him a favor. He wants them to volunteer their time at a community youth center and help the local kids get their acts together. Naturally they don’t want to do it. Naturally the kids give them a hard time and naturally they all end up liking each other in the end. The difference in this case is the kids had to help the two crooks get out of a jam from an old heist that also caught up with them. ‘
With a soundtrack by Curtis Mayfield A Piece of the Action also featured Denise Nicholas, Tracy Reed, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Ja’net Dubois.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
Check out this clip:
