Together Brothers

Together Brothers
1974 20th Century Fox
Directed by William Graham



SYNOPSIS

Mr. Kool (Ed Bernard,) a beloved beat cop is gunned down in a run-down ghetto southern town. A small boy witnesses the shooting and group of street thugs led by H.J. (Ahmad Nurradin,) the boy's older brother, decides to track down the killer.



MY THOUGHTS

I've always had a soft spot for the blaxploitation films of the 70's. Over the years I've seen most of the best known ones like Shaft, Superfly, Dolemite, the Pam Grier ones, and a few lesser known ones. Together Brothers is certainly more on the obscure side, not even available on DVD, but it remains an exciting and somewhat unusual entry in the genre.

Most blaxploitation films use very urban settings (NYC and LA) but this film is different. It was shot in Galveston, Texas which gives it an almost rural feel. It's still the ghetto, but there's grass fields instead of concrete. The outfits aren't as garish and tacky in the poor south as they would be in big urban areas with money.

Story-wise the film offers little new. It's a variation on the often-used revenge story.
The most impressive sequence comes at the end when the killer stalks the little boy. The editing really amps up the suspense of the scene, and knowing how mentally unstable the killer is you don't know what will happen.

Like most other films in the genre, this one was a very low budget film and used grainy film stock, which adds a gritty feel. The use of natural lighting also helped achieve the grit. The actors were adequate and clearly didn't have much experience in front of the camera, but didn't detract from the film.

The genre often used some of the great musicians of the era to score the soundtracks. In Together Brothers, Barry White provides the killer soundtrack. You hear him and also his groups Love Unlimited and the Love Unlimited Orchestra. The songs are fast, free and funky. The theme song was clearly sampled for the 90's hit "C'mon and Ride The Train."

I certainly recommend this film to blaxploitation fans, but others may want to watch something else.