Let's Do It Again (1975 film)
Encyclopedia
Let's Do It Again is a 1975 film starring Sidney Poitier
, Bill Cosby
and Jimmie Walker
. Poitier also directed. The film is about blue-collar worker
s who decide to rig a boxing match to raise money for their fraternal lodge. The song of the same name by The Staple Singers
was featured as the opening and ending theme of the movie, and as a result, the two have become commonly associated with each other.
This was the second film pairing of Poitier and Cosby following Uptown Saturday Night
, and followed by A Piece of the Action
(1977). Although their characters have different names in each film, the three Poitier-Cosby pictures are considered to be a trilogy
. Of the three, Let's Do It Again has been the most successful both critically and commercially. Calvin Lockhart
and Lee Chamberlin
also appeared in Uptown Saturday Night.
) that he is a highly skilled prize fighter. He fights and defeats the champion, 40th Street Black (Rodolphus Lee Hayden). Williams and Foster clean up after betting Farnsworth. The pair return home, and all is fine until the gangsters who lost money betting on the other guy figure out the scam and come to Atlanta, to get the pair to do it again...or be killed.
Unable to enter Farnsworth's training room to hypnotize him again, Williams and Foster decide to bet on the match being a draw, and place bets with both gangster groups. They then enter his 40th Street Black's training room and successfully hypnotize him. Both fighters end up simultaneously knocking each other out, and Williams and Foster are able to collect their bets before the gangsters discover what happened.
When the film premiered, John Amos and Jimmie Walker were starring as father and son in the CBS
sitcom Good Times
.
and his production company
, Overbrook Entertainment
, had secured the rights to the trilogy for remakes to star Smith and to be distributed by Warner Bros.
Smith stated that he hoped to get Eddie Murphy
, Martin Lawrence
and other famous African-American stars to be in the films.
Sidney Poitier
Sir Sidney Poitier, KBE is a Bahamian American actor, film director, author, and diplomat.In 1963, Poitier became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field...
, Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
and Jimmie Walker
Jimmie Walker
James Carter "Jimmie" Walker is an American actor and stand-up comedian, known for portraying J. J. Evans on the television series Good Times, which ran from 1974 to 1979...
. Poitier also directed. The film is about blue-collar worker
Blue-collar worker
A blue-collar worker is a member of the working class who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled, manufacturing, mining, construction, mechanical, maintenance, technical installation and many other types of physical work...
s who decide to rig a boxing match to raise money for their fraternal lodge. The song of the same name by The Staple Singers
The Staple Singers
The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group. Roebuck "Pops" Staples , the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha , Pervis , Yvonne , and Mavis...
was featured as the opening and ending theme of the movie, and as a result, the two have become commonly associated with each other.
This was the second film pairing of Poitier and Cosby following Uptown Saturday Night
Uptown Saturday Night
Uptown Saturday Night is a 1974 comedy film written by Richard Wesley, and directed by Sidney Poitier. Poitier also stars in this film, along with Bill Cosby and Harry Belafonte. Cosby and Poitier teamed up again for Let's Do It Again and A Piece of the Action...
, and followed by A Piece of the Action
A Piece of the Action (film)
A Piece of the Action is a 1977 comedy crime film starring Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby. Poitier also directed the film. This was the third film pairing of Poitier and Cosby following Uptown Saturday Night and Let's Do It Again, and Poiter's last acting role for more than 10 years, as he focused...
(1977). Although their characters have different names in each film, the three Poitier-Cosby pictures are considered to be a trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
. Of the three, Let's Do It Again has been the most successful both critically and commercially. Calvin Lockhart
Calvin Lockhart
Calvin Lockhart was a Bahamian-American actor on stage and in film. He was best known for the role of a big time gangster "Biggie Smalls" in the 1975 film Let's Do It Again, not to be confused with the deceased rapper Biggie Smalls...
and Lee Chamberlin
Lee Chamberlin
Lee Chamberlin is an American film and television actress.Chamberlin was a regular performer during the first two years of the esteemed series The Electric Company, and she made guest appearances in the television series What's Happening!! Diff'rent Strokes, and NYPD Blue to list a few...
also appeared in Uptown Saturday Night.
Plot
Set in Atlanta, it follows Clyde Williams (Poitier) and Billy Foster (Cosby) as a pair of blue-collar workers who are trying to raise funds for the Brothers and Sisters of Shaka. They decide to rig a boxing match in New Orleans. They use hypnotism to convince underdog boxer Bootney Farnsworth (Jimmie WalkerJimmie Walker
James Carter "Jimmie" Walker is an American actor and stand-up comedian, known for portraying J. J. Evans on the television series Good Times, which ran from 1974 to 1979...
) that he is a highly skilled prize fighter. He fights and defeats the champion, 40th Street Black (Rodolphus Lee Hayden). Williams and Foster clean up after betting Farnsworth. The pair return home, and all is fine until the gangsters who lost money betting on the other guy figure out the scam and come to Atlanta, to get the pair to do it again...or be killed.
Unable to enter Farnsworth's training room to hypnotize him again, Williams and Foster decide to bet on the match being a draw, and place bets with both gangster groups. They then enter his 40th Street Black's training room and successfully hypnotize him. Both fighters end up simultaneously knocking each other out, and Williams and Foster are able to collect their bets before the gangsters discover what happened.
Cast
- Sidney PoitierSidney PoitierSir Sidney Poitier, KBE is a Bahamian American actor, film director, author, and diplomat.In 1963, Poitier became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field...
— Clyde Williams - Bill CosbyBill CosbyWilliam Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
— Billy Foster - Calvin LockhartCalvin LockhartCalvin Lockhart was a Bahamian-American actor on stage and in film. He was best known for the role of a big time gangster "Biggie Smalls" in the 1975 film Let's Do It Again, not to be confused with the deceased rapper Biggie Smalls...
— Biggie Smalls - John AmosJohn AmosJohn Amos is an American actor and former football player. His television work includes roles in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Good Times, the miniseries Roots, and a recurring role in The West Wing. He has also appeared on Broadway and in numerous motion pictures in a career that spans four decades...
— Kansas City Mack - Jimmie WalkerJimmie WalkerJames Carter "Jimmie" Walker is an American actor and stand-up comedian, known for portraying J. J. Evans on the television series Good Times, which ran from 1974 to 1979...
— Bootney Farnsworth - Ossie DavisOssie DavisOssie Davis was an American film actor, director, poet, playwright, writer, and social activist.-Early years:...
— Elder Johnson - Denise NicholasDenise NicholasDenise Nicholas is an American actress and social activist who was involved in the American Civil Rights Movement...
— Beth Foster - Lee ChamberlinLee ChamberlinLee Chamberlin is an American film and television actress.Chamberlin was a regular performer during the first two years of the esteemed series The Electric Company, and she made guest appearances in the television series What's Happening!! Diff'rent Strokes, and NYPD Blue to list a few...
— Dee Dee Williams - Mel StewartMel StewartMilton "Mel" Stewart was an American character actor, television director, and musician who appeared in numerous films and television shows from the 1960s to the 1990s. He is best known for playing Henry Jefferson on the popular television series All in the Family...
— Ellison - Rodolphus Lee Hayden — 40th Street Black
When the film premiered, John Amos and Jimmie Walker were starring as father and son in the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
sitcom Good Times
Good Times
Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Michael Evans, and developed by Norman Lear, the series' primary executive producer...
.
Influence in popular culture
- The late New York rap artist The Notorious B.I.G.The Notorious B.I.G.Christopher George Latore Wallace , best known as The Notorious B.I.G., was an American rapper. He was also known as Biggie Smalls , Big Poppa, and The Black Frank White .Wallace was raised in the Brooklyn borough...
took his alias, Biggie Smalls, from Calvin Lockhart's character in this film. However, the alias could not be used as his name due to ownership issues. East Coast rap group Camp LoCamp LoCamp Lo is an American hip hop duo, formed in 1995, which hails from The Bronx, New York. The duo consists of rappers Sonny Cheeba and Geechi Suede , both of Muslim upbringing.-Career:...
named their second album "Let's Do It Again" after their debut album was named "Uptown Saturday Night," a reference to the two Cosby and Poitier movies. - Musician/MTVMTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
personality Fonzworth BentleyFonzworth BentleyDerrick Watkins, in Atlanta, Georgia and popularly known as Fonzworth Bentley or Farnsworth Bentley, is a musician and author. He is perhaps best known for being Sean Combs' former personal valet and assistant, as first seen in Making the Band 2, and is currently the host of MTV's From G's to Gents...
took his stage name from Jimmie Walker's character, Bootney Farnsworth.
Remake
In 2002, it was announced that Will SmithWill Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
and his production company
Production company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...
, Overbrook Entertainment
Overbrook Entertainment
Overbrook Entertainment is an American entertainment company based in Beverly Hills, California, USA. The production company was started by Will Smith between 1997 and 1999, about the same time the production for Wild Wild West was underway....
, had secured the rights to the trilogy for remakes to star Smith and to be distributed by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
Smith stated that he hoped to get Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
, Martin Lawrence
Martin Lawrence
Martin Fitzgerald Lawrence is an American actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and stand up comedian. He came to fame during the 1990s, establishing a Hollywood career as a leading actor, most notably the films Bad Boys, Blue Streak, and Big Momma's House...
and other famous African-American stars to be in the films.