Cornbread, Earl and Me

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
American International presents Cornbread, Earl and Me. The story of a young man with a talent

(00:06):
"Wow, what a shot! Two for ‘Bread" and a dream
"Come on mama, look at it because it's gonna take us off this street"
He was cool
What's happening, One-Eye?
When you gonna start running numbers for me?
Soon as I get out of college, we'll have him put it in my pro contract
Cornbread runs for One-Eye in the off-season.
He was smart
What did you do with those pills, man?

(00:26):
I flushed it down with toilet
Man, your time is coming
Look, I ain’t got time for this
Oh
He was special
Hold it high and let it fly
He’s the first boy from this neighborhood to make something out of himself
Cornbread Earl and me like Sounder
It's a story of people who never lose their dignity or their pride

(00:46):
Like Claudine, it's a story of family life full of love and laughter
Hold on
Bro, what are you pretty good at?
He fouled me, did you see him foul me?
Like no other movie, Cornbread, Earl and me will touch you
Shut up!
I will not shut up
And move you

(01:08):
Ah, they're not native, they're savages
Halt! Police!
Oh my God!
And perhaps even shatter you
I'm not gonna give more to you
Cornbread, Earl and Me
We're not talking about actors, we mean a real monster

(01:39):
I brought her back
She'll live and I'll get her another body
I’m know they're gonna catch me but don't let anyone see me like that! Please, doctor, help me!
Biologically speaking, it's of primary importance that man should want to mate
Hey, that's right! You don't get all your kicks from surfing do you?
We want to be free to ride our machines without being hassled by the man
And we want to get loaded

(02:01):
You think you're gonna make a slave of the world?
I'll see you in Hell first
The American International Podcast
Are you ready?
This is the American International Podcast, I'm Jeff Markin
I'm Cheryl Lightfoot
And we’re serving up Cornbread, Earl and Me from 1975

(02:23):
Cornbread, Earl and Me was directed by Joe Manduk, written by Leonard Lamenstorf
Based on the book Hog Butcher by Ronald L. Fair
It was produced by Joseph Manduke and Leonard Lamensdorf
Cornbread, Earl and Me stars Moses Gunn as Benjamin Blackwell
Rosalind Cash as Sarah Robinson
Bernie Casey as Officer Larry Atkins
Madge Sinclair as Leona Hamilton

(02:45):
Laurence Fishburne III as Wilford Robinson
Thalmus Rasulala as Charlie
Antonio Fargas as "One Eye"
It also stars Logan Ramsey as Deputy Coroner
Vince Martorano as Officer John Golich
Charles Lampkin as Fred Jenkins
Stefan Gierasch as Sergeant Danaher
Stack Pierce as Sam Hamilton
Tierre Turner as Earl Carter
Keith Wilkes as Nathaniel "Cornbread" Hamilton

(03:07):
Hal Baylor as Mr. Wilson
Randy Martin as Shifty
William Upton as Stud and Eric Kilpatrick as Ace
The movie opens with credits of course
The music it's Cornbread's theme
And Cornbread is dribbling a basketball while he gets ready for school
His parents Sam and Leona are bantering over breakfast
Leona asks Sam if there's anything in the sports page about Nathaniel

(03:29):
But not today
As for Nathaniel “Cornbread" Hamilton
He looks in the mirror in his room and strokes his chin
And calls himself beautiful
We see he has a lot of trophies
He's been featured in a number of newspaper articles
that are pinned to the wall
And then we hear Leona, Cornbread's mom, saying she's going to miss Cornbread when he goes off to college in two weeks
But she won't miss that incisal dribbling noise coming from his room

(03:53):
Yeah it seems that Cornbread might have an obsession ear
He's always got that basketball and he's always dribbling or bouncing it off the wall
Giving himself a play by play narration for everything that he does
As if he were in an actual basketball game
Leona calls out for Cornbread to get dressed
And he does stop dribbling long enough to throw on his shirt
Now he visited Downstairs apartment
Where Sarah Robinson is commenting to her still asleep boyfriend Charlie

(04:17):
That Cornbread is pounding around upstairs
She's not complaining she's just stating a fact
This is just something they deal with
Bluing in his neighborhood I guess because he's always dribbling that basketball
Charlie might be into doing some pounding himself
But Sarah is afraid her son Wilford
Who is 12
We'll find out just what it is that she and Charlie do when they're alone in her room
She wants him to go upstairs to his apartment where he lives

(04:39):
And he's very grumpy because well let's face it he's horny
So back upstairs in the Hamilton apartment
Leona asks Sam if he's going to be attending the neighborhood meeting tonight
But he's going to leave that to her
He says he'll go to work and bring him a paycheck
And she can take care of all the rest
Leona reminds him that she works too
And they share a loving kiss
Sam goes to leave for work but is blocked by Cornbread

(05:01):
Who is trying to start a one-on-one pick up game in the dining room
Leona is not thrilled about this or about Sarah participating
She wants Sam and Cornbread to take that game outside
A basketball doesn't belong in the dining room
It's not food
And happy music begins to play on the soundtrack
As Cornbread corrects his mother
He says "Mama I love you but you're wrong
This is food and more it's food and clothes for you and pop

(05:25):
And a house as big as a barn
See this thing mama? Look at it
Because it's going to take us off the street
Ain't that right Pop
That is so annoying
That is so elaborate
I didn't write any of that down
Cornbread says goodbye to his mom
And he and his father leave the apartment to go outside
Leona asks Cornbread as he's going out
If he's going to eat something

(05:47):
He says he's not hungry and follows his father out
She calls out that he can't live on orange soda
As Cornbread and Sam head downstairs
Cornbread is bouncing the ball against the wall as he goes
And Sam mentions that in only two weeks
The Daniel will be leaving for college
I think the neighbors are probably more thrilled about that than the Daniel
I think the neighbors are probably more thrilled about that than anybody else
Out on the street they meet huggy bear
I mean one eye

(06:09):
The neighbor would pimp numbers runner etc
Jack of all trades I'm sure
One I asked Cornbread if he wants to make some real money
Running numbers for him
Sam tells one I to lay off his son
He's got a future ahead of him
Cornbread says after he graduates college
He'll have it put in his contract
And he can run numbers for one eye in the off season
Number with officers Larry Atkins and John Goliage

(06:31):
They're cruising around in their squad car
Looking for minorities to harass
Oh yeah that's true
John points out their old pal Shifty
Pushing around a baby carriage
They decide that's suspicious enough to stop him and investigate
Larry pulls the car over
And both men get out
Larry chases after the man walking with Shifty
And John goes over to Shifty to give him a hard time

(06:53):
Shifty puts his hands over his head
John tells him he can put his hands down
But Shifty says he feels safer this way
When John goes to take the blanket off the
Whatever's inside the baby carriage
Shifty says that's my sisters
And after they start to arrest him
Shifty says I told you it was my sisters
But they don't believe him
And he says he's taking it to get fixed for her
At Fred Jenkins Soda Shop

(07:15):
And General Store
Cornbread is making up for skipping breakfast
By buying orange soda
What he finds himself stuck watching card tricks instead
And being a participant
The advantage is that he gets a free soda
And if he's able to guess the correct card
In this case the Six of Diamonds
And he was successful
So he gets a soda and runs off to the neighborhood basketball court

(07:37):
To play ball with some pals
Watching them are Earl and Wilford
Wilford tells Earl that Cornbread
And he points to him
Is his cousin which Earl does not believe
When Wilford's obnoxious hero-worsher
Of Cornbread gets too much for Earl
Earl demands to know why Cornbread is so special
Earl is kind of a hater
He's from Mississippi

(07:59):
Wilford says that Cornbread is the greatest player in the city
The state maybe you in the country
And Earl says he's seen better players in the south
Wilford says that Charlie told him Mississippi is the lynching state
But Earl tells him that this place has got nothing on Mississippi
Meanwhile Cornbread keeps playing basketball while his theme song plays
It is a very specific theme song

(08:21):
And we'll hear it again
Wilford and Earl run to the corner store
Mr. Jenkins store to get Cornbread a drink
They're sweaty, everybody's sweaty
They argue about what drink Cornbread wants
Wilford says that Cornbread sent them for a root beer
And he's going to buy one for the two of them as well
But Earl corrects them
He's seen Cornbread drink orange pop
Grape and wants to know how to coke

(08:43):
But never a root beer
Bread says he can settle this for them
As he asks Wilford to pick a card
Then Fred asks Wilford if he remembers the card
Sure says Wilford two of clubs
You're not supposed to tell me he says Fred
Fred takes her money and gives them an orange soda and a root beer
And tells them that whichever one Cornbread doesn't choose
Wilford and Earl can split the other one
Price is solved
And now we're at the supermarket

(09:05):
Sarah is buying groceries
And Leona is checking her out
We don't know the relationship
But we do know that Wilford and Cornbread are cousins
So there is some family relationship there
They're chatting about Cornbread
When the star manager marches up with Wilford
He asks if this is her boy
He's twisted one of Wilford's arms behind his back
Sarah admits to being his mother and asks what's wrong

(09:27):
The manager says he caught him with a candy bar
Wilford says Mama you said I could have it
Remember?
Leona tells her boss that she was just ringing it up with the rest of her stuff
The manager gives everyone a dirty look
But then he leaves
So Wilford gets off scot free until he asks to deal with his mother
Giving him a dirty guilt trip about his mother
Sarah is devastated that she's failed in raising her son

(09:49):
She's in tears
And it doesn't matter if it was valued at $15
Or $1 million it's still stealing
And stealing as we all know
Is wrong
Asterix
And if that wasn't bad enough
There's a knock at the door
It's the welfare worker
She's come to Hassel Sarah for her medical report
She's got a lot of money

(10:11):
She's got a lot of money
Sarah for her medical report
She's got to prove that she really needs disability for her heart condition
Wilford goes to wait in the hall
Where he can be on a site but still listen
What's really happening here is that the welfare worker is warning Sarah that
Without this medical report she can pretty much kiss her welfare checks goodbye
So Sarah does promise to go to the doctor and get something that she can show them

(10:35):
Then the welfare worker asks about little Wilford
And from the hallway Wilford sticks his tongue out at her
Little Wilford's fine
And the social worker says she understands how difficult it can be to raise a boy with her own father
And it's Sarah's job to keep him away from evil companions
So in the next scene Sarah is at a get together with Charlie, Sam and Leona and a few others
And they're all laughing at the phrase evil companions

(10:57):
And that someone actually used it in conversation
They break off and Charlie asks Sarah how she's feeling
Sarah says her heart feels a lot better now
Charlie walks Sarah home and it's clear that they have mismatched expectations of this relationship
Sarah likes to keep things light but Charlie is thinking maybe marriage one day
The problem with marriage is it's a complicated thing because it would affect her welfare checks

(11:21):
So she wants to know who will pay the rent if they would move in together
He says he will of course he'll just have to get a better job and he's been trying after all
Promises, promises
They return to Sarah's apartment where Earl and Wilford are watching a movie
Charlie is feeling amorous but Sarah wants to maintain decorum in front of the kids
Charlie doesn't like this and he throws a bit of a tantrum
He wants her to make up her mind

(11:43):
It's always Charlie stay, Charlie go, what's he's supposed to do?
Go upstairs to his rotten bed alone?
Charlie angrily storms up the stairs
I guess he was supposed to go upstairs to his rotten bed alone
The next day, Cornbread and Wilford are hanging out playing basketball
Of course, at the rec center where Cornbread works
Cornbread is trying to teach Wilford how to shoot
When two toughs come in, this is stud and ace
Shoot a basketball

(12:05):
I should guess I should say that because it's going to come up later
They kicked the ball back past Cornbread and Wilford
Wilford shouts, "Hey" and goes to retrieve it
Cornbread tells Wilford that to listen is over for today
And to go wait for him in the locker room
One of the guys asked Cornbread what he did with the pills that he had found in the locker room
They were worth a lot of money to him

(12:27):
Cornbread tells him to stud that he flushed them down the toilet
He told them he didn't want them bringing that stuff in here
Wrong answer
And they better leave because Mr. Wilson will be back at any moment
But stud doesn't care about Mr. Wilson
If that's the way you feel about it, says Cornbread
Chutney laying down the basketball and readying for a fight
Stud draws a knife and Cornbread takes up the basketball
He uses it as a shield between him and the knife

(12:51):
And it gets stabbed
And then suddenly Mr. Wilson enters with Wilford running behind him
And are two tough guys leave
Mr. Wilson tells Cornbread that he wouldn't want anything to happen to him
Cornbread jinxes himself by saying, "Ain't nothing gonna happen to me Mr. Wilson
The college needs me too bad"
He turns around and throws his ball through the basket
Is that how you say you made a basket?
So I said

(13:13):
In Jeff's language
He swishes
Nothing but net
Now we're with our friendly neighborhood officers, John and Larry
It is absolutely pouring
You get a call about a gunshot victim
It's nearby so they turn around and head that way
On the playground, Cornbread decides that the rain is too much and offers to buy the kids a soda
Officers John and Larry have arrived at the scene of the alleged crime

(13:37):
Officer John is interviewing a witness while Larry is looking over the victim
Just kind of patting her head as she lies there bleeding
The witness describes the perpetrator as black and very big
Larry says the victim is still breathing
And he will stay with her until the ambulance arrives
While John goes over the perpetrator
At Mr. Jenkins' soda shop, lots of kids are sheltering from the rain
Jenkins chases off all the ones without money though

(13:59):
Only Cornbread, Earl and Wilford remain
Up on the roof of the apartment building
Officer John bursts out of the doorway and gets drenched by the rain as he patrols the rooftop
Looking forward, the assailant
He has a gun drawn and he's searching for a man of whom he has only the biggest description
That will be important
Back down in the general store, one eye comes in
Cornbread commends him on his threads

(14:21):
And Earl and Wilford are impressed with them as well
His eye patch even matches his pinstripe suit
When I once again suggest that Cornbread should be running numbers for him
When I try to sue nonsensically defend his line of work by saying
If God didn't want him to run numbers, he wouldn't have invented the wheel
And Fred tells when I'd a Cornbread will be leaving in two weeks
And he's the first one to make it out of this neighborhood and make something of himself
When I as a little offended so Fred corrects himself

(14:45):
Something legal
Stop trying to do rail is promising basketball future with a life of petty crime
Back on the roof chop, Officer John is still searching for the perpetrator
He sees a man going down the fire escape and nails for him to stop
This is a tall black man wearing a gray sweatshirt
And we cut back to Mr. Jenkins shop where the boys are speculating about how fast Cornbread could run home in this rain

(15:09):
Could he really run between the raindrops?
The opening bid from Wilford is ten seconds
Cornbread counters with more like 25 seconds
Cornbread is going to have to prove this though
When I says that he'll never do in 25 seconds
But Wilford bets that he can
Cornbread says they can bet for a bottle of pop and he gives the money to Fred to cover the cost of the bet
Back at the apartment building, John spots someone coming out of the side door of the apartment building

(15:32):
He pulls his gun but it's just Officer Larry
John has Larry if he saw the perpetrator, John said he lost him in the rain
So back at the store, Cornbread has everyone coincide in the rain to watch him run home
Back at the apartment building, the cops finally spot the gray sweatshirt guy and give chase
Cornbread also wearing a gray sweatshirt
Runs off as the boys count how long he's taking and a one and a two

(15:55):
As this is going on, we see that the cops are getting closer to where Cornbread is
There's a series of quick cuts here, it's cutting back and forth very fast
Cornbread runs across the street, past a part of garbage truck
He offers a yell from the stop but he keeps running
So naturally they have no other choice but to shoot him in the back
The bottle of orange soda flies into the air and comes crashing down into the street

(16:17):
Mr. Jenkins, Earl and Wilford are horrified
Oh my god, he yells a shock Mr. Jenkins
Wilford starts screaming Cornbread's name and Earl is stunned into silence
Wilford takes off running and gets to Cornbread's body just as the cops finally get there
Fred grabs on to Wilford and tries to drag him and Earl back inside
Don't show your face as he says

(16:38):
Wilford breaks free and runs towards Cornbread
The cops are approaching Cornbread's body and just as they get there, so does Wilford
John grabs him as Larry examines the body
Also on the scene, the man in the grey sweatshirt that they have been chasing
He's just free to stand around and gap now that somebody else has died for his alleged crimes
Larry declares Cornbread dead

(16:59):
Wilford shouts out, "No he isn't, but he is"
Then Wilford runs up and down the street shouting to the whole neighborhood
Cornbread's dead, they killed him, he wasn't doing nothing
He successfully riles up the crowd to the point where the officers are in danger
Because he points them out and says that they are the murderers
Larry is sitting in a squad car to radio in when a brick is hurled through at the windshield of the squad car

(17:21):
The windshield shatters in a way that windshields usually don't
And Larry finds himself a glass pellets all over his face
By this time the crowd has become a mob and they're overwhelming the two cops
Both are subjected to punches, kicks and one person in the crowd draws a bat
Or at least a big stick
When Sarah appears she's walking down the sidewalk looking for Wilford calling his name
She finds him and tells Wilford that they've got to get out of here, everyone's gone crazy

(17:45):
More cops have arrived and they're also beating the crowd back
Wilford tells her that they killed Cornbread, she says no
Wilford points to the body on the ground and says that's him, mama, that's Cornbread
Sarah doesn't believe Wilford that Cornbread's dead
So Wilford goes to Cornbread's body which had been covered up when officer John had displayed a little decorum grabbing a raincoat from the car and covering up the body
But Wilford pulls the raincoat off of Cornbread's face when she sees that her nephew is dead, Sarah is distraught and she wonders why

(18:13):
She asks why do you let them do it to us? I don't know who she's asking, God maybe
Now Sam and Leona have had to go to the morgue to identify the body
They're shown as an image on a television monitor
They confirm it's Cornbread and sign papers to that effect
Then Sam asks that they can have him now
It's pretty devastating
Now some time has passed, Sarah and Wilford are taking a walk

(18:41):
Wilford comments that the streets are cleaner than ever now
But Sarah says they can't wipe out Cornbread that easily
Wilford says he's never playing basketball again but Sarah says he will one day
And that the cops will never murder him the way they did Cornbread
Who's going to stop him, Wilford asks? You and me, she says
They got Cornbread but they're not going to get you, we're going to get you out of here

(19:03):
Whatever it takes
Now in the office of Benjamin Blackwell
Sam and Leona are looking to hire an attorney
Blackwell assumes that they want to bring an action against the city for the wrongful death of their son
But they don't really care about money, they only want to clear their son's name
He wasn't the one who nearly killed that woman, he was just at the store drinking a soda
They only want the police to admit that they made a mistake

(19:24):
Benjamin says the paper said he assaulted and nearly killed that woman, Sam said that's a lie
Benjamin asks why he was running from the cops then and then they tell him the true story
He was running home in the rain innocent of all charges
Leona further wants an admission of guilt from the police
You'd have an easier time collecting the cash Benjamin says
They're not going to admit anything so they're going to have to go to court

(19:45):
He recommends they think it over but first there's going to be an inquest
And then they can file a civil suit and that it's going to be expensive
Benjamin says the city has received a lot of bad publicity from the shooting
Though they can expect everyone to close ranks to protect each other
They'll need witnesses and Sam says they have them
But Benjamin says that they'd be surprised how differently people act when they have to testify in a legal matter

(20:07):
Leona places something on Benjamin's desk then cries into her husband's shoulder
She tells Benjamin that that is a plane ticket
They were supposed to drive cornbread to the airport that morning so he could fly to school
She says they'll cash in as part of Benjamin's payment
Benjamin says that is necessary and Leona says that this is the way they want it
Now we're with Sarah and Wilford. They're on a Ferris wheel

(20:29):
She's trying to cheer him up and maybe it's starting to work
She points out the street where they live as if she could see it from the top of the Ferris wheel
Wilford doesn't seem to into this though
And now Benjamin Blackwell visits officer Larry who's in the hospital
Larry says Benjamin shouldn't be there but Benjamin reminds him that they grew up together
At least until Benjamin was 10 and Benjamin thought that Larry was a straight cop

(20:52):
Yes, if Larry is still planning to be a teacher, Larry says yes
But it took six years of night school classes to get there
Then Benjamin gets down to business
He wants to know about the case
Larry tells him that the statements have been made and papers have been filed
And if he wants to know more he can read the reports
If there is any discrepancy in those reports, the whole story falls apart
So it's better just to leave things alone

(21:13):
Larry says that John might be having a moral crisis over what they did
But Larry knows that they shot the right guy
Larry summarizes that John knows he was right but the headlines about good kid and police brutality are affecting his conscience
But that being white, John can afford to have a conscience
Benjamin wonders what color has to do with it, wrong is wrong
But Larry's not swayed by all those scholarship stories

(21:35):
And that cornbread is a local hero
Larry says that that means he was just a bad kid who hadn't been caught yet
Benjamin says he's got witnesses and they say cornbread was in a stored drinking soda pop when the incident occurred
Larry gets defensive so that means I'm lying right?
Benjamin tries to get him to calm down and saying that he's sure to Larry thought he was doing the right thing
He might have even done the same thing himself

(21:57):
But Larry isn't having that coming from a big time lawyer in his fancy suit
He doesn't know what it's like having to comb the streets with maniacs on the loose
Benjamin reminds Larry of the wound he received on the street when he was 14
Larry says that he healed up real good and the two bicker about how there are two world diverge when Ben got his ass out of the neighborhood
And whether it matters or not
Benjamin accuses Larry of acting this way because the people he wants to educate turned on him

(22:21):
But Larry says that their savages and his job is to keep them penned in their own neighborhood
So they don't escape to kill other people
Good people
Benjamin says he understands why the neighborhood turned on Larry
They see people get gunned down all the time but this time they knew for sure that it wasn't deserved
Is Larry going to tell his future students that they're just savages? Larry says it's Ben and his ilk that tell the neighbors that

(22:42):
Ben thinks that the people have no chance to get fairness when Larry thinks that way
Larry says they all have the same chance that everyone has to get out and then he orders Ben to get out of his room
Now we're back at the carnival and Sarah says she likes the fairest wheel the best
Wilford just wants to talk about cornbread and Sarah is trying desperately to distract him
She convinces him to ride the cyclone with her

(23:03):
It keeps her young she says so we see them on the cyclone and she's screaming like a maniac and Wilford's holding her hand and looking kind of bored
The two of them find themselves in the funhouse part of the carnival and they look in the mirrors and make their images look ridiculous and finally, Wilford laughs
Now we're back at Fred Jenkins General Store and a couple of cops are questioning Fred on his agreeing to testify

(23:26):
It's two new cops and they're from downtown
Yeah, they're not uniformed officers but Fred says sure he's going to testify why not after all he saw the whole thing he's a witness
Then one of the cops places a few joints on the counter and ask Fred if he's going to stick with that story
Store owners that keep his apply of marijuana around for the kids aren't always trustworthy
And this reminds Fred that he didn't see anything

(23:47):
He also says the cornbread was one of those wrongdoers
The cops take their joints back and smuckly promise that they'll be back if necessary
After they go, Mr. Jenkins breaks down calling the cops dirty rotten sons of bitches
They're railroading cornbread out of a fair hearing
We see Wilford is also getting a visit from a couple of plain clothes policemen
This officer calls himself Mr. Johnson

(24:10):
He's interrogating Wilford and even though he's a black cop, that's not going to help Wilford very much here
Also standing by you Sergeant Danner, Wilford asks why he wants him to lie
Mr. Johnson who happens to be the precinct captain says that they're not asking him to lie
They're just asking him not to say what happened and that's not the same as lying
Yes it is, says Wilford

(24:32):
His mama always told him that if you see something bad and you don't say something about it, it's as bad as lying and Sarah nods in agreement
This anger is Johnson
He sends up the threat and the little boy and says the whole city is behind them
If they want to take on an entire city, they should go for it
And then he says he's going to sick Sergeant Danner, her own Wilford
And he better give the right answers or else then he looks at Sarah and says that she can kiss her Wilford checks goodbye

(24:57):
He tags in Danner, her and then he leaves
So Danner sits down and he too tries to get a state that they can live with
He asks Wilford what he knows about the incident
Did he see cornbread the day that he was shot? Wilford said yes
And Danner tells him that's the wrong answer
He pulls Wilford up and starts shaking him and Sarah comes to defender son telling Danner her not to touch him

(25:19):
He smacks her sending her sprawling across the couch
Wilford runs out of the apartment and starts calling up to Charlie
Charlie comes downstairs with a gun in his hand
Danner pulls on his badge and tells Charlie he's the police
Wilford is screaming that the man heard his mama and Sarah comes out holding a knife and charging at him
Her eyes are rolled back in her head, she looks insane
Charlie holds her back

(25:40):
Danner heard his eyes it's time for him to leave and Charlie pushes him down the stairs
By this time the commotion is brought up all the neighbors and they advise Charlie to get out of there
because the cops are going to be back and they're going to beat him bad
Charlie gives his gun to one of the neighbors tells him to hide it
Then he tells Wilford that this is all his fault and threatens it with an ass-wobbing if anything happens to Sarah

(26:02):
Now we're at Sam and Leon is apartment
Sam is on the phone with Benjamin
Sarah and Leon are sitting at a table talking
After Sam hangs up the phone, he tells Sarah and Leon that Benjamin will do what he can with this report of police brutality and intimidation
Sarah asks where Wilford is and Leon says he's probably out playing
Sarah panics at a time like this he's outside

(26:25):
Sarah peeks out the window for a second then decides that Wilford is run away
despite Leon's reassurance to the contrary
Sarah explains that Wilford thinks he's making trouble for her on a kind of a Charlie it's said to him
but Sam and Leon will try to convince her that everything will be fine
Sam incorrectly declares that no cop would be the 12-year-old boy if only
Back with Benjamin in the parking garage of his office he goes to his car and finds Wilford waiting in the front seat

(26:51):
Apparently Wilford did a little bit of slew thing using Benjamin's business car to find his office
and a garage attendant to find his car
Benjamin is surprised but he quickly realizes who Wilford is
Benjamin tells him that he's headed to police station to straighten this out
Wilford starts to run but Benjamin holds him back
They're gonna talk this out
Wilford says that he told Mr. Hamilton what he saw

(27:14):
Benjamin tells Wilford he did the right thing
Then Wilford explains how this has caused all sorts of trouble for his mother so he's going to run away
That way he went off to lie and they can't take his mama off Wilford
and he wants Benjamin to help him find a safe place to hide
Benjamin says that would make him the liar and he sure Wilford wouldn't want to make a lie around him
Now we're in Sarah's apartment where we see Benjamin depositing a sleepy Wilford onto the exo-fabed

(27:40):
Benjamin tells Sarah that they made a deal with the police
If they don't press charges against Dana her the cops won't press charges against her or Charlie
Sarah is very pleased by this
She sends Wilford off to get ready for bed
Then Benjamin says that Charlie can come home now
She tells him Charlie doesn't live here and they get a little bit flirty
She asks him if he wants a coffee and he says no but maybe later and she agrees

(28:04):
Wilford re-enters the room and Benjamin leaves
Wilford correctly notes that she likes Benjamin and that it's okay he does too
Sarah says down next to Wilford and tells him that she knows he was going to run away to protect her
But she wants him to know that there's nothing more important to her than him
She wants him to do whatever he thinks is right, whatever that may be

(28:25):
Now the third act begins with an inquest
The deputy coroner is leading the inquest which operates very much like a trial
The owner is on the stand and the coroner just wants some basic facts about cornbread
And this consists of his age and occupation

(28:47):
When she answers the student the coroner takes that to mean unemployed
Benjamin stands up and says Nathaniel was scheduled to start college in two weeks
Any at a part-time job at the rec center
So unemployed is kind of a slur here and they're not going to settle for it
The coroner nods and makes a note
So this is all they need for Leo and his statement
There's a $27 fee but she can sign a waiver instead of paying it

(29:08):
But she stands up and takes the money out of her purse
A stunned audience member, there's a lot of people watching this comments
You mean they're going to make her pay for them killing her son?
This makes John and Larry who are also there
Look kind of angry and embarrassed
John turns around at that comment
But Larry holds him back
And someone else says they'll be making them pay for the cops bullets

(29:29):
This time Larry turns around and John holds him back
I've got a bunch of hecklers
The coroner repeats to Leona that she isn't required to pay
She can instead sign the waiver
But Leona chooses to sign only complete financial transaction instead
The coroner tries to defend this rule saying that it's just the law, not his personal choice
And offers his condolences

(29:50):
But Leona just returns to her seat without acknowledging that
And now it's time for Sergeant Dana her to testify
He says that an informant told him that Nathaniel Cornbread Hamilton was a gang member
And then he's robbed many people and committed many acts of violence
The coroner says just describe the incident
He's pretty frustrated already
And then Dana her tells them what happened from the cops' point of view

(30:13):
He says officers Larry and John responded to an incident and pursued the suspect
They chased him down and they saw a shiny object in his hand
They thought to be a gun and the officers ran out into the street to avoid shooting innocent people
Aha
Sanleona shake their heads and disgust
Yeah, good one
The coroner urges Dana her to continue
Dana her says that they yelled at the subject to stop and when he didn't, they shot and killed him

(30:36):
The coroner thanks him and turns the witness over to Benjamin
Who makes Dana her confirm that the cops lost sight of the man that they were chasing
Only briefly says Dana her when confronted with the idea that they shot the wrong guy
Anyway, they said stop and he didn't
And then men asked, well what about the garbage truck?
Wasn't there a garbage truck on the street making so much noise that no one would have been able to hear the shots to stop?

(30:59):
Dana her says he don't know nothing about no garbage truck
So Blackwell changes his line of questioning
He gets Dana her to confirm that it was a dark rainy day
And if they saw a shiny object in the hands of someone running away from them
Then he asks if a weapon was ever found at the scene, none was ever found
Did anyone else see a gun?
Nope, did anyone say what he did have in his hand?

(31:21):
Dana her admits that a kid said that it was just a bottle of pop
Orange pop, right?
Dana her demure and says, well if you say so
Benjamin says it doesn't matter what he says, he's not the one under oath
He asked Dana her to check the witness testimony
And Dana her most sheepishly admit that they lost the testimony
Ben snarks that this is evidence of police incompetence

(31:42):
The corner tells Benjamin to relax
The witness in question is in the room and he can simply give another statement
Benjamin says that is all for this witness
He doesn't wish to waste the corner's time with a liar
Dana her looks very offended at this accusation
I hope that she fits
Next to understand is Mr. Watkins
He was the man in the garbage truck at the time of the incident

(32:03):
His story is that he was reading his report and didn't see what happened
And the truck was making so much noise he didn't hear what happened
And then Ben says, so that means you're going to say nothing
And Watkins agrees
That's right
And next Fred Jenkins is on the stand
He lies and says that he saw nothing, he was back working
This causes Wilford to heckle him that he's a liar

(32:26):
He also claims that Cornbread wasn't in his store at all that day
From his seat Wilford can't believe what is happening
Another can stand
He stands up and starts in on Jenkins
What did Cornbread ever do to deserve this betrayal?
The corner tells him to be quiet
He threatens to and then sends the marshal over to remove Sam
Sam is still hollering an officer John stands up until Sam to calm down

(32:47):
But John's base is the last one Sam wants to see right now
You did it, you killed him
The corner asks once again for Sam to be removed but Benjamin steps in
Nathaniel was a son he says, yes that's had to be a lot of stay and the corner concedes
And next Earl is called to the stand
His father stands up and tries to beg off on his behalf

(33:08):
But the corner rudely tells him to sit down and shut up
Earl takes the stand and the corner immediately starts in on him
But Earl is paralyzed into speechlessness
And this makes the corner spitting mad
And once again his dad tries to intervene
Earl frees when he gets scared and besides he doesn't know anything
The corner asks Benjamin where he's found these witnesses

(33:30):
Three people were called up and three people don't know anything about the case
Benjamin says that his witnesses were intimidated
And if they were allowed to testify freely
They would all say that Nathaniel Hamilton was a good person
And he was at Jenkins' store at the time of the incident
Dana Hurr stands up to object to this assertion
The corner caution says to not make charges he can't prove
Benjamin was on to say that they don't believe the shooting was done intentionally

(33:53):
It was a case of mistaken identity
But the police just won't have it that way
They're afraid of the truth for some reason
John seems surprised by this idea
The corner is becoming exasperated
"I wish you would stick to the facts," he says
Benjamin tries to get Earl to admit that he saw the shooting
But Earl is just sobbing on the stand
Ben pats him on the cheek

(34:14):
And in the audience, John says to Larry that they've got no case
Earl is dismissed and Wilford is called to the stand
Someone says they got to him too
Sarah tells Wilford, "Hey, she knows I he will do what he thinks is right
And in that moment he would be a man and he would be a man for the rest of his life
Wilford takes the stand and after getting a nod from his mom
Very calmly explains what actually happened on that day

(34:37):
The game, the rain, the pop, one eye, the other pop, the bet
The four of them, Wilford, Earl, Mr. Jenkins and one eye
Watching Cornbread run home, the counting, the cops, the yelling, the garbage truck, the shooting
Wilford says they killed Cornbread and he wasn't doing nothing
He was just running home
The corner says that someone is lying

(34:59):
Larry and John exchange looks
Larry comments to John that that kid has to be lying
Benjamin asks Wilford if he knew of Cornbread being in a gang
Wilford said he didn't have time for that
He was always playing basketball
He always hear the bam bam bam of the ball against the backboard
Sometimes he'd be laying in bed and he'd hear that bam bam bam
And he knew it was Cornbread and it would put him right to sleep

(35:21):
The corner of dismisses Wilford
And demands that the two officers testify
Well, just one of them needs to
And so he picks Larry atkins
The corner tries to hurry this along
Does Larry agree with the report of the investigating officer
After a little bit of dithering
Larry says that he's starting to believe Wilford's testimony
Danher objects but Larry continues

(35:43):
That he has to conclude God help them
That they shot the wrong man
Danher stands up and says there must be some mistake
Because Larry has signed a statement and they have it on file
But the corner says the hearing is closed
Danher charges at the corner
You don't believe all this crap to you
You've had a sergeant, the next person that are going to be investigating is you
And everyone solently leaves the courtroom

(36:06):
Sobbing, Sam and Leona leave the courtroom
They make a point of snubbing Fred Jenkins as they walk past him
Yeah, that can't be too good for business
In a hallway outside the courtroom
Danher charges at Larry and John
He's not going to let two lousy cops ruin him
He demands that John do something
So if John does, he groin punches Danher who sinks to the ground
Now it's night and Wilford is shooting baskets on the basketball court

(36:29):
Earl comes over and has surprised that not only is Wilford not angry with him
But that they're still friends
Wilford says of course their blood brothers aren't they?
Earl takes the ball and underhand tosses it at the hoop
Wilford says no
Cornbread taught him to shoot it like so
And after that demonstration, Earl makes a basket
Then we hear the very weird Cornbread theme again as credits roll and that's the end

(36:51):
You are listening to the American International Podcast
Where we're discussing Cornbread Earl and me from 1975
According to an article published in the Chicago Tribune in December of 1987
That gave us a story of how Cornbread Earl and me was made

(37:12):
Financial advisor Melvin Pearl was working as a tax attorney for real estate developer Leonard Lamenstorf in 1972
When Lamenstorf told Pearl about his novel hit the open man
Which would make a great film he thought
Pearl contacted a former classmate who helped him set up a meeting at AIP
AIP liked the story and offered to fund half of the pictures to $800,000 budget
Lamenstorf and Pearl raised the remaining $400,000 from Chicago Illinois based investors

(37:38):
Although Lamenstorf perceived executive producer and screenwriting credits
His book is not credited
Instead the credit goes to Ronald L. Ferris-Naval, Hugg Butcher, as source material
Yeah, we don't know why
A Philadelphia Daily News article published in January of 1984
Said that the basketball, playing character and Nathaniel Cornbread Hamilton was partly based on Darrell McCray
A former graffiti artist who had since renounced graffiti and was working with troubled adolescents

(38:02):
Keith Wilkes, who would later go by the name Jamal, was nearly six feet seven inches tall
He was an all-American player on the University of California Los Angeles Bruins basketball team
And as a Golden State Warrior was the NBA's 1974 rookie of the year
In an interview in the San Francisco Examiner the night of the film's debut
Wilkes said he got the part because producer Lenny Lamenstorf contacted UCLA Coach John Wooden

(38:26):
about the possibility of him playing the role
Coach Wooden received a script, read it, and since he liked it, he called Wilkes to tell him about it
In the interview, Wilkes said that he liked Cornbread Earl and me
And that he never thought he would make a movie like this which was definitely not trash
And not even necessarily a black film though it was set in a ghetto
Wilkes said that he had seen exactly one black exploitation film Superfly and that was enough

(38:50):
He's quoted as saying, "I think there's more to black people in black neighborhoods than cocaine and pimps
Though Wilkes said in several interviews he would like to keep acting
He only had one acting credit after Cornbread, a guest appearance on the series "Capper John MD"
Cornbread Earl and me marks the film debut of Lawrence Fishburn, credited in the movie as Lawrence Fishburn III
And in promotional materials as Larry Fishburn III

(39:13):
Daily variety announced in March of 1975 that American international pictures had acquired distribution rights to the film
The United Negro College Fund sponsored several benefit premieres
With the Los Angeles California benefit set to take place at the screen director's guild on May 15th, 1975
According to an article in the LA Times published in April of 1975
Box Office magazine reported that the film was cited in the Congressional Record by Representative Thomas M. Reese of California

(39:39):
Who urged theater owners to screen the film which portrayed with great human dignity and drama
The hopes, the aspirations, and the warm family values of a black community
In June of 1975, Cornbread Earl and me was honored by the Los Angeles City Council for Excellence in Community Service and Entertainment
AIP's press book advised theater owners to kept the lives on the obvious

(40:01):
Keith Wilkes status as an elite basketball player
They recommended a shooting contest and a dribbling race for kids with a local sporting goods store providing prizes like basketballs
Naturally, he also suggested cooperating with the police, posting a pre-show demonstration where officers could show movie goers how to act when approached by the cops
Yikes
Taglines for Cornbread Earl and me include

(40:23):
It was a heavy town for someone with a light touch and Cornbread was gonna split out of there the only way he knew
Hold it high and let it fly was his motto but if you cut him you cut yourself some big trouble
We're gonna lick the world
Yuck
That San Francisco Examiner article that we talked about earlier reported that Wilkes girlfriend and future wife Joy Bramlett cried during Cornbread's death scene

(40:47):
But mostly because of how it affected the character of Wilford and the reporter said that Wilkes was seen holding his hand over his mouth during his death scene
A December 1976 LA Times news brief reported that roughly 100 youths rioted at a West LA movie theater which was playing Cornbread Earl and me
Holy high and JD's revenge
The rioters threw projectiles through the screen broke windows destroyed theater seats and the box office

(41:11):
They also injured two police officers but the motive for the riot was undetermined at the time of reporting
During the riot older members of the audience got on stage and appealed to the youth to settle down but that didn't work
After the theater was closed
Riders spilled out on Topiko Boulevard where six juveniles were arrested
An item in the May 30th 1975 daily variety reported that Cornbread Earl and me took in 83,512 dollars in box office receipts at New York City's Penthouse Theater in its first week of release

(41:40):
And by its third week of release it had taken in 228,000 from screenings in 12 cities
In 1987 an article in the LA Times called Cornbread Earl and me ultimately a box office success
And at that point the film had taken in over $2 million
According to a book called American Film Distribution the Changing Marketplace by Suzanne Mary Donahue
Kevin Thomas in the LA Times wrote that if Cornbread Earl and me does not live up to its promising beginning

(42:05):
It is redeemed by some powerful performances and some searing insights into what it's like to grow up black
But said it was unfortunate that writer Leonard Lamestorff didn't develop the premise more fully or credibly
But he also wrote Cornbread is strongest in the suggestion of how a boy like Cornbread could become a neighborhood hero
A symbol of hope
The film's chief accomplishment is in showing the impact of his death upon his younger pals

(42:28):
Martin Levine in Newsday wrote Cornbread's message of dinghity and honesty is eviscerated by race baiting or excessive violence
Indeed it marks an unlook for advance for American international pictures, hitherto noted for its profitable sleaze
He finishes reviews saying, "I realized I'm praising Cornbread Earl and me for being the equivalent of a decent TV show
But in the context of B movies, that's still praiseworthy"

(42:50):
Howard Coffin in Affiliate Alphia Inquire wrote, "If you haven't heard about Cornbread Earl and me, blame it on the executive who slothed this one into the theater
As though it were just another hell up in Harlem. It's not, and it deserves to be seen, particularly by kids of all races and by white grownups
We have a hard time coming to grips with the humanity of black people."
Over at the Philadelphia Daily News, Joe Belltaki called Cornbread Earl and me a "gettosopopra" where emotions are worked over with a heaviness even daytime TV is abandoned

(43:19):
Still there are some admirable elements in the new PG-rated family film, mostly in the form of performances
Plus a few incredibly affecting moments in which quiet truths are conveyed
Francis Taylor in the Jersey Journal wrote that Cornbread Earl and me is an unpretentious movie that offers real black people struggling upwards against the odds trying to raise children who respect moral principles and split their daily experience of the lack of morals in society outside their homes

(43:43):
So you concluded by saying that Cornbread Earl and me has no unrealistic happy ending
It shows that people who resist fear in order to do the right thing learn something of enormous value
Lowell Cohen of the peninsula times tribute in called Cornbread Earl and me overdone, saying that was hopelessly naive
It depicts a world where good people are nothing less than angels and the villains are the kind who would beat their own mothers

(44:06):
Coden dinged Wilkes acting, saying that once the specs for now at least, he couldn't tackle the part that called for much more
They destroyed repressed review called Cornbread, a feast of mediocrity, saying it was not a black exploitation film but neither is it a sensitive reflection of part of the black experience
Cornbread avoids some but not all of the black exploitation formula traps but has a more interesting and sophisticated story than most films made for the black market

(44:32):
The reviewer praised Fishburns and Cache's performances but set of Wilkes, he does just fine when he's bouncing a basketball
When he opens his mouth, one becomes thankful he dies early in the picture
The reviewer also said one could believe the soundtrack was headed straight for the New York Discos if only the lyrics weren't so enane
[Music]

(44:57):
So Cheryl, we saw that the reviews for Cornbread Earl and me were very mixed
What are your thoughts on the film?
Well, reading those reviews I kind of found something to agree with and all of them and something to disagree with often too
And my view of the film watching it is that there is the germ of a really good movie in here but unfortunately it's kind of turned into an afterschool special

(45:20):
Well I have to wonder because this is based on a novel if there's just more explanation of what's going on in the actual story that just didn't translate to the screen because I've got a lot of questions
I don't really have questions, I just have issues with how the movie was played out
And I think that maybe if we read the story it was based on that some of these questions I have would be answered

(45:41):
Give me an example
What kind of a nickname is Cornbread?
[Laughter]
Yeah
There has to be an explanation for why he has perceived this name
Well just like Puder and Cruley High, we're never gonna know, we have to accept it
And the character of One Eye, he doesn't really do anything in this but I'm sure he's much more involved in the story, he has to be
Yeah, he just serves as an example of how straight arrow Cornbread is or at least how everyone wants him to be

(46:07):
No, he is, it's kind of annoying how straight arrow Cornbread is
Well that's the problem I have with it, is that Cornbread is too good to be true, number one
He's a cartoon character
He is and number two, it took me reading about it to understand that the neighborhood rioted because they were so invested in Cornbread
Because we're given really nothing showing him interacting with anybody in the neighborhood except for One Eye and Mr. Jenkins

(46:36):
And Wilford
And well obviously Wilford's his cousin but I mean the whole neighborhood decides to beat up cops on Cornbread's behalf
But we don't know what he means to the neighborhood, we see very few people interact with him
And all those interactions seem kind of stilted and stagy
Right, the first sort of the movie we see it all basically through Cornbread's point of view and...

(46:58):
Then he dies
He dies but before that he seems so vain
Yeah, he's got a big head, I mean he's what 18 and he's going to get this big basketball scholarship
He deserves to have a lot of pride in what he's done
Can you imagine if Cochise had that kind of attitude and clearly high? He wouldn't have had any friends
Probably not
And we don't see that Cornbread has friends, we just see him hanging out with Earl and Wilford

(47:24):
They're little kids, he doesn't really have any friends his own age
But he's so... well you said cartoonish
He's just this figurehead, he doesn't really exist as a person, he's just a concept
And the concept is just too good to be true, he's not a human being
And maybe he was flushed out more in the story that this is based on

(47:47):
The hug busher was the book they reprinted with the title Cornbread Earl and me
It just would have been good to see him interact with other people in the neighborhood
We don't really meet a lot of people
Instead we just get these stilted conversations
Mr. Wilson saying, "Oh, we need you so much, we can't let anything happen to you"
Well the story isn't Cornbread's story, it's the story of what happens after he's killed

(48:09):
Right
But it would be helpful to have him be more of a character just as a viewer in the audience
To see why he represents what he does to these characters, rather than just saying, "Yeah, he's a good basketball player"
And he's going places, so that's something we can all strive to do
Good for him
I do see how his parents are affected and Wilfer too

(48:32):
And Wilfer's mom, Sarah, that part rings true
And I think those are the best performances in the movie
Obviously, Rosalind Cash, we've seen her just last week
Yes, she was in Monkey Huzzle
And Madgyson Claire and Stack Pierce as Sam and Leona, Cornbread's parents

(48:54):
I thought their performances were very good
And Lawrence Fishburn was amazing in this movie
Oh, he's very good, what would ever happen to him?
I bet he could have gone places
As child actors go, he's probably one of the best I've ever seen
And the scene where he's running up and down the street saying that Cornbread died
It felt so real, I gasped
I kind of get into a bunch of thinking about how well he played that scene

(49:19):
My least favorite character in this movie is the score
Oh god
The music is awful, it's so smalty
An intrusive
Everything's quiet, it comes up just before a big speech or something
And you can't help but notice it
And you're really not supposed to notice it
It's supposed to subliminally help you feel what you're supposed to feel
But it kind of punches you in the gut when it's telling you to feel this way instead

(49:42):
The speech that I did in the synopsis where he's going, "No, mama, this is food by his basketball."
I mean, that's corny stuff he's saying anyway
But the score going behind it doesn't help
No, and we saw one of the reviews that the music was better suited for a disco
And then the theme song
The theme song's kind of fun, it's catchy
It's catchy but it's kind of silly too

(50:04):
It's very silly, I've got the lyrics here
I don't remember the tune at all so you don't have to hear me sing it
In the heat of the night, you hear the bump of the ball on the floor of the court on the sides of the hall
He's cornbread
Cornbread
He's cornbread
Cornbread
I'm not doing it every single time
He's a man, made of steel

(50:27):
Was no sucker to buy, was a giant in his field
Not a trick for one eye, he's cornbread
Cornbread
He's cornbread
Oh God, get on with it
He's the man with the plan, he's got a basketball on his hand
Well, he's cornbread
Cornbread
He's cornbread
He's the man with the plan, got the whole world in his hand
He's cornbread

(50:49):
Cornbread
He's going to school, now looking to fight
Not an neighborhood fool, got no gun or knife, he's cornbread
Cornbread
He's cornbread
He's a dream to his mom, he's a man to his pop
He's an idol of the kids and he loves soda pop
He's cornbread
Cornbread

(51:11):
He's cornbread
And then it repeats, he's the man with the plan, he's got a basketball on his hand, he's cornbread
I see what I'm saying, it's just so silly
But it's really difficult to get out of your head, but apparently it works because I don't remember the tune
Yeah, so that's, it's annoying, but I understand they have to have it there
The song was better than the score
The soundtrack album has that song twice, it's the first and last track, so I don't know if the lyrics are slightly different when they play it the first time for you to compare it

(51:35):
I don't think it is
But the rest is just the score, so I don't think I'll be trying to track down that soundtrack album
No, it's pretty annoying
And the song does a better job of explaining who Cornbread is than the movie does though
So that's kind of not great
We get more information on Cornbread from the theme song than we do from his interactions with others in the movie

(51:56):
No, I guess it doesn't really matter though, beyond the fact that he's a really good basketball player and he's going to get out of this neighborhood because of that
Well, that's why I say there's a germ of a really good movie here because it's the aftermath that really concerns us
Cornbread is like in the first half hour of the movie
The second half hour of the movie is the police and the police responding and trying to intimidate the witnesses

(52:20):
And then the last half hour is the inquest
And it's the middle part that's pretty interesting where we get real conflict and character growth
And then in the third act when we see the results of that and how it affected different people
All these people aren't speaking at all because they're scared
Right, and that was very realistic
What I thought wasn't realistic was the fact that all Wilford had to do was testify

(52:44):
And the coroner's like, "Oh, okay, I believe you."
And then he's ready to throw the book at Danher for doing the witness intimidation
When he had just been so cruel to Earl who just sat on the stand and sobbed
I mean, he really was, he was mean to Earl
But he listens to Wilford explain everything
And to be fair Lawrence Fishburn did a great job with this scene

(53:07):
He explained it very matter of faculty without emotion, what happened
And even though he didn't get emotional, it was emotional to watch him do this
And speaking of Earl, this is Tier Turner
Is the third character we've seen a play in an AIP movie?
Very different
All from this year, this was the first one, so we watched them in their verse order that they came out
And he looks like he's a year younger

(53:29):
He's a year older actually than Lawrence Fishburn
I mean, he looks like a year younger than we've seen him before
Oh, he does, he looks very much like a little kid here
And he acts like one
He's not the smart act we've seen in the other two films
Yeah, he's not this best operator that he was in Friday Foster and in Bucktown
And as for the character of Earl, I don't understand what he did to Warren and getting his name in the time

(53:50):
He's just sort of the naysayer to everything that Wilford says
I feel this is a lot more than this character deserved
Yeah, the title could have made it a lot more dramatic
It makes it sound like sort of a fun buddy comedy when it's not
And all the players don't deserve equal billing in the title
This is really Wilford's movie

(54:12):
And what's happening to him is the most important part of the movie
Yeah
His relationship with Earl is they argue all the time
They were always bickering their friends but they don't get along that well
The part at the end where Wilford teaches Earl how to shoot
That was a good scene, I like that scene
And that kind of thing could have happened a lot earlier
If Earl was just an easier person to get along with

(54:33):
He's very contrary
He doesn't want to believe anything Wilford says
And it's kind of hard to see how they are friends
Because it sounds like he just got here from Mississippi
Or at least he's always talking about it
Well, when your kids is a lot easier, you make friends with the other kids in the neighborhood and they don't seem to be a lot
No, there aren't a lot of kids play basketball but not a lot of kids actually hang

(54:54):
With either cornbread or Wilford and Earl
Another thing that may have been handled better in the book
I really would kind of like to read this story just to see if they did a better job
Because the way that the story is put together, it's kind of angering
I mean, the material is supposed to make you angry
That this kind of thing is happening anyway with the police intimidation and everything that's going on

(55:16):
But I think the way that the film handles it makes it even worse
It does
This is a serious subject
Extradudicial execution by the police has been in the news constantly in the past 10 years at least
For good reason
And it should be
And the way that it plays out here
It's just wrapped up
So neatly and tidily and it shouldn't be

(55:39):
At least one of the officers is going to have to face consequences
At least they imply that much
Yeah, but it's not the shooters
It's the guy who tried to cover up for the shooters
And to be honest, I don't believe any of that
I don't think anything is going to happen to anybody here
It never does
This is not a problem that has been solved
It's a problem that's been exacerbated in the past 50 years

(56:01):
This is a 50-year-old movie
And what was interesting
And I don't know if they were just trying to pull the punches or what
But it was the white cop that was having doubts about what they did
Yeah, but I think they explained that pretty well
When they had Benjamin talk to Larry in the hospital
Well, they had to
Obviously, but I think that was a good scene
And I think that getting the two of them to talk to each other about their history

(56:24):
Their experiences
And their different perspectives on the people in the neighborhood
I thought that was really important
And that made sense
And I think if you focus on Larry and John and their transformation
That adds to the benefit of the movie
The cartoonish mustache twirling villain Sergeant Danner
Does not add anything to this movie

(56:45):
It's so ridiculous how evil he is
And then how he gets his justice in the end
I don't believe any of it
Well, up to the end
I thought that he was the most realistic character
Well, I can believe that the police do intimidation of witnesses
It's just the way that it happens here is not realistic to me
It doesn't feel like a natural scene

(57:08):
It's like something that a middle schooler wrote
Where do you think the story takes place?
Is this somewhere in a Los Angeles area?
Yeah, I believe that
I think that's some of the signage that we saw indicates that it's LA
And I think that's something that the story takes place
It's not indicates that it's LA
It's probably one of the more ethnic neighborhoods

(57:31):
So the reason I ask is because they kind of interchange the term soda and pop
Which is a regional thing
And you don't find an area that uses them both
You may call it soda pop
You may call it soda, you may call it pop
And a lot of places according to the maps that I see it's Coke
Well, you know what Earl is from Mississippi
So not everyone who lives in California grew up in California

(57:52):
So there are regional differences
I used to call it pop when I lived in the Midwest
And I'm kind of transitioned to calling it soda since I moved to Arizona
So that could happen
I don't think that that's really important
But I will say having grown up in the Midwest that when they did say pop
They pronounced it right
Well, like I said, just because you live in an area doesn't mean you're from that area

(58:13):
And I grew up in Indiana
And I didn't have the same accent as people one county south of me
So just being part of a state doesn't really guarantee anything
There's city versus rural
I just think that there's a whole plethora of ways to say things
And that there might be people saying it one way in a neighborhood

(58:34):
It's not going to be everybody
Well, so far I think we're in agreement that the acting is really good here
Yeah, Rosalind Cash is very good
Her handling of Wilford after the shooting was so amazing
She's trying so hard to get her boy back on track
She knows something terrible has happened and he had to see it
And she's doing a fantastic job

(58:57):
Trying to rescue him basically
Trying to keep him from giving into despair
And being unable to see a future for himself
And the way that it happens in the movie is just so sweet
They're just walking around talking
There's no big intervention where she's trying to lecture him
She's just kind of talking to him as a person, an older person, like he's an adult

(59:20):
And just trying to encourage him
What about the storyline where she's got the bad heart?
That's the other thing that I think was probably explained better in the book
Yeah, it was just shorthanded for the film
Well, they needed something that the police could use as leverage over her
And that's what they had
And that's all the serves in this movie is
Right
Yeah, she's on welfare because of this

(59:42):
She's not really supposed to be on welfare
She doesn't have a hard condition, that's the thing
She just can't or won't work for whatever reason
Maybe she doesn't want to leave her son home alone while she works three jobs
I mean, that's what I would imagine
But nothing gets explained
And I think we just shorthand a lot of this
And that's why it feels very much like an afterschool special for me

(01:00:05):
It's very simplistic
Between that and some of the dialogue particularly cornbread's dialogue is
Yeah
It's as schmultzi as the score
Keith Wilkes is not a good actor
He seems like a nice guy
He does seem like a great guy
And I definitely think he's a fantastic basketball player
I just don't know why he got cast in this movie
I think it's because he has an unusual look
He's got really light eyes

(01:00:27):
He's very tall
He's very tall, that's not going for him too
And I mean, yeah, he seems like a real person
But usually you won't
He didn't seem like a real person
I think that was the problem
Yeah, what I mean is like he seems like a civilian pulling off the streets to act in a movie
And he doesn't seem like an actor because he's not an actor
He didn't do anything after this except for one TV appearance

(01:00:50):
And then some sports stuff
And I can see why
I think there's a lot of missed opportunities here
Because there's a lot of good stuff mixed in
There's a lot of good stuff
The cinematography I think is really good in this movie
Yeah, there were a couple scenes that I thought were
I think this is the scene where Cormorant dies
And the riot starts
The cuts between that I didn't really care for that

(01:01:11):
Because we couldn't really see what was happening
They were cutting to the light on top of the police car flashing
And then they cut back to the beating
And then they cut away to something else
And that would seem like maybe the editing wasn't that great
But yeah, the cinematography is good
And they cut away to Officer Larry
With little pieces of glass pellets poking on his face
If that happened every time a windshield shattered

(01:01:33):
Yeah, I know
There'd be a lot more blind people in the world
Yeah, that didn't happen any of my car accidents
But in terms of the cinematography, particularly in the courtroom stuff
They keep getting really tight
Yeah
And it's really, really well done
Yeah
Yeah
Like I said, there's so much going on in this movie
They just insisted on inserting some of these really ridiculous scenes

(01:01:56):
The scene where Sarah comes out to stab, Dan or
Oh my god, she looked like a rabid animal
It was just so ridiculous
Oh, and when Cornbread is shot
And then the orange soda bottle flies through the air
Yeah
That was a little overdramatic, I think
Yeah
So I just wish I could redo this movie
I think I would give it a different title

(01:02:17):
Maybe I'd call it Hit the Open Man
I think I would cast a real actor to play Cornbread
Go into his background a little more
Like why is everybody thinking so great?
Because he seemed a little like a blank canvas to me
We have to go back to the book and see what's missing from the film
Yeah
But a lot of the stuff I wouldn't touch
Like anything with Wilford

(01:02:39):
I would give one eye something to do
I thought the only thing that he did was disappear when the police were about to come around
And we never saw him again
No, they don't talk about him
And it was not Charlie again, either come to think of it
Yeah, we didn't see Charlie again, but that's okay
Because Sarah's moved on, she's got herself a lawyer
Well, maybe
We don't really see anything solid developing there
There's an implication of something possibly interminating there

(01:03:04):
But yeah, but I think she's going to like him a lot better than she likes Charlie
The horny guy
The horny guy without a job, yeah
Yeah, right, exactly
Benjamin can pay the rent
But he's a good guy
And Moses Gunn as Benjamin was very good too
In the tradition of movie lawyers
He's wise, he's kind, he's forceful

(01:03:25):
He did a great job with the role
And I really liked him in this movie
And I can see who I Rosalind liked him too
When they go into these reports and they talk about a shiny object in his hand
Nobody mentions the basketball
He's always got a basketball in his hand
And that's going to be more noticeable than a soda bottle
I think so too
And he couldn't really dribble because it was raining
And a little harder to control your hands or slippery

(01:03:47):
I can understand now
He's still running with the basketball
Yeah, he was dribbling it as he went
But he was dribbling it?
Yeah
I guess that's in character, sure
He always, when does he not dribble a basketball?
He's bouncing it off the wall
Well, there you go
I think he bounced it off some of the buildings that he walked past too
He did
So they never really explained why the cops should have shot him in the first place

(01:04:08):
I mean, they later amended their story that they thought he had a gun
But I guess the person they were chasing did shoot somebody
So assuming that he had a gun
Right, but they didn't have a description of what this person was wearing
No
They were chasing somebody with a gray sweatshirt, they didn't know that was the right guy
It probably was, we don't know
It might have been

(01:04:29):
It probably was
But he wasn't charging at anybody with whatever he had in his hand
Cornbread, I mean, wasn't actually physically threatening anybody
He was just walking across the street
He wasn't even going that fast despite what everyone else said
The one thing is it did look like he turned around when they said police
And then he turns around and starts running
Well, he probably assumed they weren't talking to him

(01:04:50):
Yeah, probably
That's what I would do, like I wouldn't assume the cops were chasing me
I don't know, it just...
Obviously it's not right to shoot suspects that's not the police's job
Their job is to catch them and bring them to trial
And so that's very problematic
They didn't really address that in the movie though
That's not really what it was about

(01:05:11):
Same in the owner were quick to say it was just a case of mistaken identity
Like you should have shot the other guy
But maybe the other guy didn't do it either
We never saw him holding a gun when he was standing in the background
He stood right behind the cops as the cops were examining Cornbread's body
And then eventually he's like, "I should get out of here"
But should they have shot either one of those guys?

(01:05:33):
Oh, thanks so
No, under the circumstances that we've seen
And they'd lost sight of the person they were chasing
And it was raining, we said it was raining, but we didn't describe how rainy it was
It was a pretty torrential rain
Imagine you're in the shower except for it's on the entire street
It's like that much rain
So their vision was obscured, it was loud, it was noisy, there were lots of people

(01:05:54):
And despite all this rain, there were tons of people walking around
But anyway, it was just a scene that didn't call for someone to be shot in the back
But the movie doesn't really address that
Well, we wouldn't have had a movie if that hadn't happened so I can understand why
Oh yeah, sure it happens all the time
It never stopped happening
It's just that the movie doesn't address the fact that they shouldn't have shot the movie

(01:06:16):
It's just the fact that they shouldn't have shot the other guy either
They make Sam and the owner seem like they're very magnanimous by just wanting the admission of guilt and apology
And just clearing Cornbread's name, that's all they wanted
But honestly, they could have got a bundle and they deserved it
So Cheryl, it sounds like you have some very strong feelings about this film

(01:06:40):
How would you rate Cornbread in early me, given those strong feelings
Using our AIP scale, for A is awesome, i is intermediate, and P is pathetic
I think I know where I mean, I'm obviously gonna give it the great, I'm gonna give it
But it's unfortunate because parts of this movie deserve an A
Lawrence Fishburn's performance and some of the other performances that we mentioned are A material

(01:07:06):
But parts of it are pathetic
The parts of the script, the ending was wrapped up too patly
The scenes where the police are intimidating, the witnesses where Sarah was trying to stab the cop
That's just enane stuff, this movie deserves better
So I think I have to take the A parts and the P parts and average it out and give it an i

(01:07:28):
What do you think?
I agree, there's so many good ingredients here
Like I said, I love the cinematography, the acting is for the majority of this superb
A few notable exceptions
With a few notable exceptions, yeah
But it sings like the score
Yeah
That is just grating

(01:07:49):
It's so annoying
The Cornbread song is bad, but it's fun bad, so I can go with it
Yeah, I think it should have left it off the ending though
I think what really hurts it is the stuff that's not there that has to be in the book
Because I don't see how the story could have even been published with so many unanswered questions

(01:08:11):
So I think the problem is the adaptation is what really hurts this film
But I don't know, so I have to judge the film on its own
You would anyways
Yeah, I would
So I'm going to agree this is an “I” movie, there's just not enough here to give it the A that the subject matter
Give it the A that the subject matter deserves
Exactly
And we'd love to know what you think of our podcast or our treatment of this movie

(01:08:35):
Cornbread, Earl and Me
Or anything else that you'd like to tell us
And the way to do that is to go to our website
aippod.com
It's aippod.com
Where you can find out more about the movies, see posters, trailers, promotional materials, and the like
And like I said, get in touch with us and give us your thoughts on
This movie or any of the other movies that we've covered

(01:08:58):
aippod.com
And that's it for this episode of the American International Podcast
I'm Jeff Markin
And I'm Cheryl Lightfoot
And we'll meet you at the drive-in
Follow the American International Podcast on Instagram and Letterbox @aip_pod
And on Facebook at facebook.com/AmericanInternationalPodcast

(01:09:20):
The American International Podcast is produced and edited by Jeff Markin
A man whose mind is distorted by hatred
And Cheryl Lightfoot
A girl hungry for too many things
The American International Podcast is part of the Pop Culture Entertainment Network

(01:09:46):
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