Popular Culture Review Vol. 5, No. 1, February 1994 | Page 46

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movies--or who persist in regarding movies as
sociology. (Canby 50)
Canby also observed that the French literary critics had praised
Himes's work, comparing Himes's African-American detectives to
Inspector Maigret and Sam Spade.
Another asp)ect of the film, its humor, was viewed by Newsweek
as possibly promoting racial harmony during a period when race
relations were strained. However, the thrust of the negative criticism
in Newsweek was directed toward Davis's direction, which was
called "old-fashioned." Davis used some of the "burlesque"
techniques he had employed in his own work, Purlie Victorious
("Here Come" 82). Unlike Newsweek, Time did not appreciate the
humorous elements and panned the film as a "meretricious thriller
that should offend the sensibilities of any audience—black or white."
The film was seen as another attempt at exploitation by Hollywood
of the "current trend" in "'soul movies'" ("Honkies" 70).
Arthur Knight, who assessed the film for the Saturday Review,
found "holes in the plot wide enough to drive a squad car through."
Nevertheless, Ossie Davis achieved an "unforced yet always
credible presentation of the cross-currents" of urban black communities
represented in Harlem. Beyond that, the film could also serve as a
vehicle for inter-cultural understanding during a period when tensions
between blacks and whites were at a critical point. Davis's
"intelligence and sensitivity" in directing might produce a greater
understanding of African-Americans by whites but could also lead to a
sharper "understanding" of blacks in their own vision (Knight 22). In
contrast, Esquire magazine labeled the film a "crude, energetic
comedy about a couple of black cops in Harlem" and placed it within
the comedic rather than social satiric realm (Brackman 67).
The importance of humor as a way of probing social conscience and
also achieving economic success was not overlooked by the critics. The
review in Christian Century, "Humor, and More," argued that Davis
as director had not followed the lead of earlier black films in that
Cotton Comes to Harlem lacked the alleged "pretentiousness" of films
such as The Learning Tree or the heavily directed message of
Uptight. Davis's version had a message, but it was presented in "the
guise of a story" (DeMuth 1454-55). The film's reception in Life
magazine stressed the humorous element and the tremendous economic