Director: Michael Schultz
Cast: Glynn Turman, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Garrett Morris, Cynthia Davis, Corin Rogers
Country, Year, Length, Format: U.S., 1975, 107 min., 16mm
Presented by: Michael Schultz
Print Source: Private Collector

Screening:
Saturday, April 29, 2:15 PM, Charles 2

Synopsis:
The Maryland Film Festival is proud to present the 25th Anniversary screening of the oft over-looked classic, Cooley High. The film burst onto the film scene in 1975 with a hip Motown soundtrack in the midst of the "blaxpolitation" era of films. But unlike some of the movies of that era, Cooley High was different. It wasn't an action film like Shaft, Superfly or the films that made Pam Grier famous, Cooley High was a movie that was a teen-based comedic drama with heartfelt emotion starring Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Glynn Turman and Garrett Morris of Saturday Night Live Fame.

The story centers around a group of working class friends in 1964 Chicago, including Preach, a poet loving student, and Cochise, a young man who is a star athlete. There are extremely funny moments like when Preach, without a license, gets behind the wheel of a stolen car; or when they cut school to go to the zoo and Pooter has an encounter with a gorilla. There is also romance in this film with one of the most sensitively shot love scenes featuring Preach and Brenda. Cooley High has influenced generations of African-American filmmakers, take a close look at Boyz n The Hood and Menace 2 Society. Directed with a deft hand by Michael Schultz and scripted by Eric Monte, Cooley High, formed the basis for the television series What's Happening and Good Times. -Darryl Wharton

Tidbit:
Where the Student Body was a Chick Named Veronica... The Senior Prom was a "belly rub" and the Class of '64 ran a Permanent crap game in the Men's Room.

Bio:
Director Michael Schultz has had a film and television career spanning four decades. As a television director Schultz established himself as a pioneer early by directing episodes of The Rockford Files and Starsky and Hutch. As a feature filmmaker he helmed a number of '70s classics like Cooley High, Car Wash, and Greased Lightning, starring Richard Pryor. The '80s saw Schultz continuing his stride between television and films, including Carbon Copy, which features a young Denzel Washington, as well as one of the first films to feature hip-hop artists, Krush Groove. In the '90s Mr. Schultz concentrated on television directing. Some of his credits include, Chicago Hope, JAG, The Practice, and Ally McBeal. In a year in which diversity became a battle-cry in the television industry, Mr. Schultz, directed episodes of the new Steven Bocho show City of Angels which features a majority African-American cast and crew.