The Definitive List Of Black Movies From The 40's, 50's, 60's, and 70's
by AfrocentricFilmsCollaborative | created - 31 Jul 2017 | updated - 29 Aug 2018 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Cooley High (1975)
PG | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In 1964 on Chicago's Near-North Side, the lives of four carefree high school seniors and best friends, including an aspiring playwright and an all-city basketball champion, takes a tragic turn.
Director: Michael Schultz | Stars: Glynn Turman, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Garrett Morris, Cynthia Davis
Votes: 5,544
2. Nothing But a Man (1964)
Not Rated | 95 min | Drama, Romance
A black man and his school-teacher wife face discriminatory challenges in 1960s America.
Director: Michael Roemer | Stars: Ivan Dixon, Abbey Lincoln, Julius Harris, Gloria Foster
Votes: 1,984 | Gross: $0.02M
3. Porgy and Bess (1959)
Not Rated | 138 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A woman whose past is scorned by nearly everyone around her meets a man who'd love her regardlessly- if only everyone else would allow them to.
Directors: Otto Preminger, Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis Jr., Pearl Bailey
Votes: 1,913
4. A Raisin in the Sun (1961)
Approved | 128 min | Drama
A substantial insurance payment could mean either financial salvation or personal ruin for a poor black family.
Director: Daniel Petrie | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, Ruby Dee, Diana Sands
Votes: 9,566
5. Uptight (1968)
M | 104 min | Drama, Thriller
In this landmark collaboration between activist and actress Ruby Dee and director Jules Dassin, Black revolutionaries are betrayed by one of their own. Based on the 1935 classic "The Informer."
Director: Jules Dassin | Stars: Raymond St. Jacques, Ruby Dee, Frank Silvera, Roscoe Lee Browne
Votes: 964
6. Black Orpheus (1959)
PG | 100 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, set during the time of the Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro.
Director: Marcel Camus | Stars: Breno Mello, Marpessa Dawn, Lourdes de Oliveira, Léa Garcia
Votes: 12,250
7. Shaft (1971)
R | 100 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A crime lord hires black private eye, John Shaft, to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.
Director: Gordon Parks | Stars: Richard Roundtree, Moses Gunn, Charles Cioffi, Christopher St. John
Votes: 21,017 | Gross: $16.69M
8. Car Wash (1976)
PG | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A comedic take on the daily life of car-wash employees, chronicling their hopes, fears, joys, dreams, and tribulations, and meeting some eccentric customers along the way.
Director: Michael Schultz | Stars: Richard Pryor, Franklyn Ajaye, Sully Boyar, Richard Brestoff
Votes: 8,194
9. Across 110th Street (1972)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Two New York City cops go after amateur crooks who are trying to rip off the Mafia and start a gang war.
Director: Barry Shear | Stars: Anthony Quinn, Yaphet Kotto, Anthony Franciosa, Frank Adu
Votes: 7,142 | Gross: $3.60M
10. Truck Turner (1974)
R | 91 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
While tracking a strong-armed pimp who has skipped bail, a bounty hunter discovers a contract has been put out on him and must go on the run.
Director: Jonathan Kaplan | Stars: Isaac Hayes, Yaphet Kotto, Alan Weeks, Annazette Chase
Votes: 3,590 | Gross: $0.18M
11. Imitation of Life (1959)
Not Rated | 125 min | Drama
An aspiring white actress takes in an African American widow whose mixed-race daughter is desperate to be seen as white.
Director: Douglas Sirk | Stars: Lana Turner, John Gavin, Sandra Dee, Susan Kohner
Votes: 18,213 | Gross: $13.99M
12. Cabin in the Sky (1943)
Passed | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A compulsive gambler dies during a shooting, but he'll receive a second chance to reform himself and to make up with his worried wife.
Directors: Vincente Minnelli, Busby Berkeley | Stars: Ethel Waters, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong
Votes: 3,412
13. Blacula (1972)
PG | 93 min | Fantasy, Horror, Romance
An 18th-century African prince, turned into a vampire by Dracula, finds himself in modern-day Los Angeles.
Director: William Crain | Stars: William Marshall, Vonetta McGee, Denise Nicholas, Thalmus Rasulala
Votes: 7,862 | Gross: $3.00M
14. Friday Foster (1975)
R | 90 min | Action
At Los Angeles airport, magazine photographer Friday Foster witnesses an assassination attempt against billionaire Blake Tarr and is drawn into a murky political conspiracy.
Director: Arthur Marks | Stars: Pam Grier, Yaphet Kotto, Godfrey Cambridge, Thalmus Rasulala
Votes: 2,548
15. The Cool World (1963)
105 min | Crime, Drama
A look at the horrors of Harlem ghetto slum life filled with drugs, violence, human misery, and a sense of despair due to the racial prejudices of American society.
Director: Shirley Clarke | Stars: Rony Clanton, Carl Lee, Yolanda RodrÃguez, Clarence Williams III
Votes: 660
16. Black Caesar (1973)
R | 87 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Raised in Harlem, Tommy Gibbs becomes a successful mob boss but he clashes with the rival Mafia and his old enemy, dirty cop McKinney.
Director: Larry Cohen | Stars: Fred Williamson, Gloria Hendry, Art Lund, D'Urville Martin
Votes: 3,891
17. Carmen Jones (1954)
Approved | 105 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
Contemporary version of the Bizet opera, with new lyrics and an African-American cast.
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: Harry Belafonte, Dorothy Dandridge, Pearl Bailey, Olga James
Votes: 5,916
18. Black Belt Jones (1974)
R | 85 min | Action
A Mafia buy out of Papa Byrd's karate school downtown ends in his death. Byrd's daughter, Sydney, refuses to sell, and wants revenge. Byrd's students call the Black Belt Jones for help. Jones reluctantly teams with Sydney in many battles.
Director: Robert Clouse | Stars: Jim Kelly, Gloria Hendry, Scatman Crothers, Eric Laneuville
Votes: 2,724 | Gross: $0.73M
19. Bucktown (1975)
R | 94 min | Action, Crime, Drama
After being hassled by The Man in a southern town, a cool operator asks some violent friends for help. After all, if you can't trust another brother, who can you trust?
Director: Arthur Marks | Stars: Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, Thalmus Rasulala, Tony King
Votes: 1,598
20. The Learning Tree (1969)
PG | 107 min | Drama
A bittersweet, idyllic story about a year in the life of 14-year-old Newt Winger, born into a poor Black family in Kansas, who learns about love, fear, racial injustice, and immorality.
Director: Gordon Parks | Stars: Kyle Johnson, Alex Clarke, Estelle Evans, Dana Elcar
Votes: 1,621
21. Willie Dynamite (1974)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama
A social worker tries to get a pimp to change his ways.
Director: Gilbert Moses | Stars: Roscoe Orman, Diana Sands, Thalmus Rasulala, Joyce Walker
Votes: 1,313 | Gross: $0.48M
22. Sugar Hill (1974)
PG | 91 min | Action, Crime, Horror
When her boyfriend is murdered by mobsters, Sugar Hill decides not to get mad, but BAD. She asks the voodoo priestess Mama Maitresse to summon Baron Samedi, the Lord of the Dead, to help ... See full summary »
Director: Paul Maslansky | Stars: Marki Bey, Robert Quarry, Don Pedro Colley, Betty Anne Rees
Votes: 2,302 | Gross: $0.03M
23. Sergeant Rutledge (1960)
Approved | 111 min | Crime, Drama, Western
Respected Black cavalry Sergeant Brax Rutledge stands court-martial for raping and killing a white woman and murdering her father, his superior officer.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Jeffrey Hunter, Woody Strode, Constance Towers, Billie Burke
Votes: 5,364
24. The Beast Must Die (1974)
PG | 93 min | Horror, Mystery
Eight people are invited to an island estate for the weekend. One of them is a werewolf. Can you guess which one?
Director: Paul Annett | Stars: Calvin Lockhart, Peter Cushing, Marlene Clark, Charles Gray
Votes: 4,172
25. Bright Road (1953)
Approved | 68 min | Drama, Music
Based on the story, See How They Run (The Ladies' Home Journal June 51), and subsequently won that year's Christopher award. The story was written by Mary Elizabeth Vroman, a 4th generation... See full summary »
Director: Gerald Mayer | Stars: Dorothy Dandridge, Philip Hepburn, Harry Belafonte, Barbara Randolph
Votes: 809
26. Anna Lucasta (1958)
Passed | 97 min | Drama
A young woman struggling with a sordid past finds that her biggest enemy had larger demons than she did.
Director: Arnold Laven | Stars: Eartha Kitt, Frederick O'Neal, Henry Scott, Rex Ingram
Votes: 720
27. Native Son (1951)
91 min | Drama, Film-Noir
In 1940s Chicago, a young black man takes a job as a chauffeur to a white family, which takes a turn for the worse when he accidentally kills the teenage daughter of the couple and then tries to cover it up.
Director: Pierre Chenal | Stars: Richard Wright, Jean Wallace, Gloria Madison, Nicholas Joy
Votes: 496
28. The Harlem Globetrotters (1951)
Approved | 78 min | Drama, Sport
Abe Saperstein, owner/manager of the world-famous "Harlem Globetrotters", an all-Negro professional basketball team, signs Billy Townsend, an All-American, to play with the "Globetrotters."... See full summary »
Directors: Phil Brown, Will Jason | Stars: Harlem Globetrotters, Thomas Gomez, Dorothy Dandridge, Bill Walker
Votes: 248
29. Dilemma (II) (1962)
89 min | Drama
Around 1960, Englishman Toby Hood comes to Johannesburg to run a publishing company. He is open-minded and befriends people with different social ranks, but the harsh realities of society force him to make a choice about friendships.
Director: Henning Carlsen | Stars: Ivan Jackson, Evelyn Frank, Marijke Mann, Zakes Mokae
Votes: 106
30. In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Approved | 110 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A black Philadelphia police detective is mistakenly suspected of a local murder while passing through a racially hostile Mississippi town, and after being cleared is reluctantly asked by the police chief to investigate the case.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant
Votes: 83,533 | Gross: $24.38M
31. Cry, the Beloved Country (1951)
103 min | Drama
In the back country of South Africa, black minister Stephen Kumalo (Canada Lee) journeys to the city to search for his missing son, only to find his people living in squalor and his son a ... See full summary »
Director: Zoltan Korda | Stars: Canada Lee, Sidney Poitier, Charles Carson, Joyce Carey
Votes: 994
32. New Faces (1954)
Approved | 99 min | Comedy, Musical
Ronny Graham is in trouble on opening night because a big check is due before the curtain can go up. A wealthy Texan says he will put up the money since his daughter is in the show - but he wants to see the show first.
Directors: Harry Horner, John Beal | Stars: Ronny Graham, Eartha Kitt, Robert Clary, Alice Ghostley
Votes: 193
33. Halls of Anger (1970)
GP | 96 min | Drama
An all-black inner city school has to become an integrated school. Few dozen white kids are transferred there, but the black students are aggressively opposed to this. The school then approaches a tough black teacher for help.
Director: Paul Bogart | Stars: Calvin Lockhart, Janet MacLachlan, Jeff Bridges, James A. Watson Jr.
Votes: 436
34. Rio, 40 Degrees (1955)
100 min | Drama
A semi-documentary on the people of Rio de Janeiro. The camera follows boys from a hillside shanty town who sell peanuts at Copacabana, Sugar Loaf Mountain, and a soccer game. Various ... See full summary »
Director: Nelson Pereira dos Santos | Stars: Modesto De Souza, Roberto Bataglin, Jece Valadão, Ana Beatriz
Votes: 860
35. The Mark of the Hawk (1957)
Approved | 83 min | Drama
Obam finds himself caught in the middle of hostility between British colonists and African villagers who want to reclaim their land. He sets out to save his country before tensions get out of control.
Director: Michael Audley | Stars: Eartha Kitt, Sidney Poitier, Juano Hernandez, John McIntire
Votes: 303
36. St. Louis Blues (1958)
Not Rated | 105 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The story of W. C. Handy, the undisputed father of the blues.
Director: Allen Reisner | Stars: Nat 'King' Cole, Eartha Kitt, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald
Votes: 725
37. Take a Giant Step (1959)
Approved | 100 min | Drama
A black high school senior struggles with becoming a man, and living in a middle class white neighborhood in the late 1950s U.S. In protest of the paternalistic views of the Civil War ... See full summary »
Director: Philip Leacock | Stars: Johnny Nash, Estelle Hemsley, Ruby Dee, Frederick O'Neal
Votes: 489
38. I Passed for White (1960)
Not Rated | 93 min | Drama
A young girl meets and marries the man of her dreams--only she hasn't told him that she is half-black, and he and his rich family and friends are white.
Director: Fred M. Wilcox | Stars: Sonya Wilde, James Franciscus, Patricia Michon, Elizabeth Council
Votes: 320
39. This Rebel Breed (1960)
90 min | Drama
Damon's in black-face as blacks take on whites who take on Hispanics in this very entertaining teenage gang war extravaganza. Teenage punks slice and dice each other, turn innocent young ... See full summary »
Directors: Richard L. Bare, William Rowland | Stars: Rita Moreno, Mark Damon, Gerald Mohr, Jay Novello
Votes: 196
40. The Connection (1961)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama
A director tries to film a group of junkies in Leach's room while they are waiting for Cowboy to bring their heroin connection.
Director: Shirley Clarke | Stars: William Redfield, Warren Finnerty, Garry Goodrow, Jerome Raphael
Votes: 1,008
41. Buck and the Preacher (1972)
GP | 102 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A wagon master and a con-man preacher help freed slaves dogged by cheap-labor agents out West.
Directors: Sidney Poitier, Joseph Sargent | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee, Cameron Mitchell
Votes: 2,685 | Gross: $3.03M
42. Pressure Point (1962)
Not Rated | 91 min | Drama
A black prison psychiatrist is assigned the distasteful task of helping a paranoid American Nazi charged with sedition.
Directors: Hubert Cornfield, Stanley Kramer | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Bobby Darin, Peter Falk, Carl Benton Reid
Votes: 2,024
43. All Night Long (1962)
Not Rated | 91 min | Drama, Music