COOLEY HIGH
Special Features: 50th Anniversary | New Restoration
Directed by Michael Shultz, this deeply felt recollection of adolescent life on Chicago's Near North Side in 1964 deals with a pair of high school seniors preparing for life post-graduation. The chums are "Preach" (Glynn Turman), a poetry and history afficionado who wants to become a Hollywood screenwriter but has the worst grades in the school, and “Cochise” (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs), a high school basketball star and suave lady-killer. The two best friends contend with love problems, school problems and law problems in this funny yet heartfelt variation on AMERICAN GRAFFITI that features a soundtrack of Motown hits. Offering ‘70s audiences a unique perspective on the Black experience amidst the height of the blaxploitation craze, COOLEY HIGH is a classic adored by filmmakers like John Singleton and Spike Lee. The film’s legacy was cemented when it was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2021. (Note adapted from Park Circus.) DIR Michael Schultz; SCR Eric Monte; PROD Steve Krantz. U.S., 1975, color, 107 min. RATED PG
Restoration from the 35mm original camera negative, supervised and approved by director Michael Schultz.
Run Time: 107 Minutes
Opening Date: Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Genre: Comedy-drama, romance