Cooley High (1975) [The Criterion Collection]

Director: Michael Schultz
Writers: Eric Monte
Stars: Glynn Turman, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Garrett Morris

Chicago, 1964: it’s the end of high school for aspiring poet Preach and his best friend, Cochise, and they have a full slate of extracurricular activities: swinging dance parties, late-night joyrides, and the stumbling pursuit of romance. Of course, when you’re a young Black man in America, there’s no guarantee that your coming-of-age story will be free of complications. Director Michael Schultz and screenwriter Eric Monte—who drew on his own experiences growing up in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green housing project—arrived at something truly unique in 1970s cinema with Cooley High: an endearingly funny, tender, and authentic portrait of Black teens striving toward a brighter future, brought to life by a dynamic ensemble cast and set to a heavenly hit parade of Motown classics.

Extras:
- New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Michael Schultz, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- New conversation between Schultz and film scholar Racquel J. Gates
- Program on the making of the film
- Panel discussion from the 2019 tribute to Cooley High at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, featuring Schultz, actor-filmmaker Robert Townsend, casting director Gloria Schultz, and actors Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs and Garrett Morris
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing




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