February is Black History Month, and the Rad Revival House is celebrating this momentous yearly observance our own way with a tribute to two iconic Blaxploitation classics, COTTON COMES TO HARLEM and COME BACK, CHARLESTON BLUE!

Master filmmaker Mike D of the African-American cinematic movement Reelblack makes his triumphant return to the RRH as he provides his grand film expertise to this week’s back-to-back film reviews. Based on two novels by legendary black author Chester Himes, COTTON COMES TO HARLEM and COME BACK, CHARLESTON BLUE zeroes in on the adventures of “Grave Digger” Jones (Godfrey Cambridge) and “Coffin” Ed Johnson (Raymond St. Jacques), two of the toughest cops from the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. In the first film, Digger and Ed must find a missing bale of cotton containing a very special monetary prize, before a thieving phony preacher/con artist (Calvin Lockhart) gets his mitts on it, first. In the second film, our two heroes hunt a long-dead vigilante who supposedly comes back from the grave and wreaks havoc on their beat.

Both Mike and podcast host Professor Cesare Augusto delve deep on how both pictures effectively capture the essence of post-Civil Rights 1970s Harlem and would subsequently lead the way for more famous Blaxploitation films as SHAFT and SUPERFLY, among others.

Aspiring filmmakers who look to explore creating urban detective thrillers should absorb COTTON COMES TO HARLEM and COME BACK, CHARLESTON BLUE for that right kind of racially-powerful and provocative inspiration!