LET'S DO IT AGAIN

US, 1975, 113 minutes, Colour.
Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, Calvin Lockhart, John Amos, Denise Nicholas.
Directed by Sidney Poitier.

Give this film about 20 minutes (some initial comedy and vulgarity) because it warms well into an amusing comedy of two ordinary types really working a sting on the New Orleans gangsters - in fact, it is so effective they most agreeably do it again. Part of the enjoyment is going over the same routine with memories of how it worked the first time. It is all most impossible with hypnosis, boxing bouts and a hilarious final chase. In the vein of Uptown Saturday Night, Sidney Poitier directs himself and Bill Cosby in a show that is not meant to be memorable but does provide a fair amount of enjoyment.

1. The appeal of the comedy, the stars and their style, a sequel to 'Uptown Saturday Night'?

2. The tone of the title? its significance for the structure, the conning trick and its repetition?

3. The impact of black comedy, the background of wealth, black customs, the parallelism? The comparison with comedies with white characters? The film as an American comedy? The world of Atlanta, New Orleans?

4. The importance of establishing the characters of Clyde and Billy? Their language, qualities of personality, work, holiday? Their reaction to New Orleans, tourists, innocents abroad, the visits to various places, the chatter about sex at the restaurant? The introduction to their wives and their relationship with their husbands? The irony of their confidence trick mission?

5. The church background and the nobility of getting money for the church? The humour of the ability to hypnotise? The presentation of Bootney Farnsworth as a potential champion? The comedy in the character of Bootney? The comedy in the hypnosis sequences and audience anticipation of the results?

6. The parody of gangster films in the betting sequences? Billy and Clyde and their costumes and their poses, the mimicking of gangster language? The satire on the gangsters as 'Biggy Smalls' and 'Kansas City Mac'? Their premises, their henchmen etc.?

7. Audience response to their winning and the exuberance of this?

8. The background of Mafia-style comedy as presented in the black world?

9. The preparations for the enormous confidence trick, the involvement of the wives and their using their husband's style, the anticipation of the bets and the losses?

10. The response to the chase, the great detail of the chase and the involvement of the police? The irony of the chase finishing in the police station? The criminals being caught?

11. The theme of money? Its usage, people's attitudes, greed and gambling? The film as a comedy of money?

12. Comment on the particular comic qualities of the film: Bill Cosby and his style,, his impersonation of Mongo Slade, the other impersonations? His pairing with Sidney Poitier? The quality and verve of their style? The value of this kind of comedy entertainment, satire on American conventions, as presented by blacks?



LET'S DO IT AGAIN

US, 1975, 110 minutes, Colour.
Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, Calvin Lockhart, John Amos, Ossie Davis, Denise Nicholas, Julius Harris.
Directed by Sidney Poitier.

Let’s Do It Again is a cheerful sequel to Sidney Poitier’s Uptown Saturday Night.

During the 1970s, after the release of Shaft and other films about black private eyes, there was a trend which became blaxploitation. This was the era of Pam Greer, Fred Williamson, Jim Brown and others in action stories.
However, Sidney Poitier took another tack, focusing more on comic possibilities for black actors. He had teamed with Bill Cosby for Uptown Saturday Night and does so again. This time they appear as two Atlanta blue-collar workers who want to raise some money for their fraternity. When they go to New Orleans and hypnotise a scrawny boxer who wins, gaining them a great deal of money for their fraternity, everything seems to be alright. However, they have tricked some gangsters who then persuade them that they have to do it again, hypnotising the fighter so that the gangsters can win their money back.

Poitier had directed a number of films including Buck and the Preacher and A Warm December. He was to direct Bill Cosby in Ghost Dad. It is an interesting sideline for Sidney Poitier’s career. In his films, he often appeared the noble man: To Sir With Love, Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner. However, he is able to participate in this kind of humorous escapade.