Anthony Franciosa, Anthony Quinn, Antonio Fargas

A trio of Harlem homeboys disguised as police knocks off a Mafia numbers house, pocketing $300,000 and gunning down a few cops in the process. It's up to a shifty white detective (Anthony Quinn) and h...( read more  read more... )is reluctant black partner (Yaphet Kotto) to nab the amateur crooks before sadistic mob enforcer Nick D'Salvio (Anthony Franciosa) gets his hands on them. This unrelentingly violent action-thriller has become a cult favorite.

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65% liked it

2,466 ratings

R, 102 min.

Directed by: Barry Shear

Release Date: January 1, 1972

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DVD Release Date: October 16, 2001

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Flixster Reviews (93)


  • October 17, 2009
    The significance of 110th Street in New York is that it is the line where Central Park ends and Harlem begins. This ultra-violent '70s cop thriller wastes no time in painting the streets of Harlem as a hard, gritty, unforgiving pit where the law has little meaning and the only wa...( read more)y to earn respect is by fear or money. While the years have slightly diminished the film's power to startle, there's still no denying that for its time this is indeed a strong, raw, bleak piece of cinema.

    Three down-at-heel blacks - Jim Harris (Paul Benjamin), Joe Logart (Ed Bernard) and Henry J. Jackson (Antonio Fargas) - disguise themselves as cops and storm into a Mafia-controlled numbers bank where they proceed to steal $300,000. However, the heist turns violent and the three robbers end up killing everyone in the room, including a few Mob guys, several blacks, and even a couple of real cops who happen by. The Mob send in a small-time hood with big-time ambitions, the violent and trigger-happy Nick D'Salvio (Antony Franciosa), to find the three crooks. Meanwhile, Harlem gang lord Doc Johnson (Richard Ward) puts his own guys on the trail of the trio of robbers. Caught up in the hunt too are cops Frank Mattelli (Anthony Quinn) and Det-Lt. Pope (Yaphet Kotto), the former an aging hard-nut who uses violence and intimidation to get results, the latter a young and honest black officer who prefers diplomacy wherever possible.

    Rarely has New York been portrayed as such a living hell, certainly for those living in poverty and squalor. Initially, the viewer is repulsed by the three robbers for what they've done, but quickly they are made to look positively sympathetic as the truly repulsive supporting characters are introduced - Franciosa, chillingly psychopathic; Ward, ruthless and manipulative; and Quinn, totally lost in corruption and aggression. Only Kotto's character shows any grain of decency and optimism in this ugly society. Viewed nowadays, the film has a slightly dated feel to it which lessens the relevance of some of the social comment being explored. Quinn and Kotto don't get enough time on-screen either, which is a shame as their volatile working-relationship isn't explored as much as it could be and the twist ending lacks impact because their characters haven't been sufficiently developed. However, Across 110th Street still deserves to be seen for its ground-breaking violence, its hard-boiled action, and its relentlessly damning views of New York's ethnic wasteland in the early '70s.
  • June 15, 2007
    An interesting if standard blaxploitation crime drama, of course involving a black crimelord, villianous racist Italian mobsters... but the complex and origina play between old-school 1940's hardboiled street cop (Anthony Quinn) and the by-the-book yet besieged modern black cop (...( read more)Kotto), manages to hold ones attention for the duration of the otherwise standard crime-drama and blaxploitation plot hooks (which are gritty and violent, but no more so than other similar blaxploitation movies of the era.)

    As a side note, Richard Ward's role as the quintessential black crime-boss is one of the best in the genre.
  • October 20, 2009
    GREAT 70s crime flick
  • June 6, 2009
    Worth a watch, dodgy stereotypes aside.
  • February 9, 2009
    It's a pretty standard exploitation flick with a great cast. Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto are awesome, but you can tell they were working within the confines of a low budget. The story is engrossing, but the heavies from both the "black gang" and the "mafia" are laughable. I wa...( read more)s pleasantly surprised by the downer ending, but, like I said, it's Quinn and Kotto (I am a huge Homicide fan and it was great to see almost a prequel to his character's arc in this film) are the things that keep you watching.
  • December 7, 2008
    Better than Shaft. This is a very good and underrated movie. Yaphet Kotto and Anthony Quinn are very good.
  • October 3, 2008
    great movie great song
  • April 21, 2007
    Excellent soundtrack.
  • February 6, 2007
    Anthony Quinn and Yappet.. good ass movie..

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