[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_code module_class=”custom-cat” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
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[\/et_pb_code][et_pb_text module_class=”article-title” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_font=”||||||||” header_text_align=”center” header_text_color=”#111111″ header_font_size=”68px” custom_margin=”40px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-main” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Words by Fred Dellar<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/Harder-copy.jpg” title_text=”Harder-copy” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”image-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-10px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Guns fever! (main) Jimmy Cliff as Ivan Martin, hero of The Harder They Come film poster<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”text-with-dropcap” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Reggae Movie Opens\u201d ran the NME headline to a news item that announced, \u201cJamaica\u2019s first major movie, The Harder They Come, makes its debut at London\u2019s Notting Hill Gaumont on September 3.\u201d<\/p>\n The film, a crime drama with a killer soundtrack, was directed by Perry Henzell and starred Jimmy Cliff. Its global debut actually came a few months earlier with a screening in Kingston, Jamaica, at the Carib Theatre in July. That was a riotous occasion, boosted by the arrival of Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley and his fianc\u00e9e Beverly Anderson, an actress who had a role in the film. It was reported that several thousand would-be moviegoers attempted to access the bullet-hole ridden cinema, muscling aside local bigwigs and forcing even the film\u2019s stars onto the street outside.<\/p>\n There was also a brief stay at Brixton\u2019s Classic, where it played to an empty theatre on its opening night. \u201cI had to print up thousands of flyers and literally stand outside the underground station and hand them out,\u201d Henzell recalled. <\/p>\n It had taken Henzell nearly three years to piece together his low-budget masterpiece, which, it was hoped, would enhance the international reputation of its star, Jimmy Cliff. Cast as \u2018Ivan\u2019 Martin, Cliff portrayed a young Jamaican who heads for Kingston to become a singer, only to become involved in music-biz rip-offs, marijuana trafficking and then increasingly violent battles with the police. Made on a shoestring budget, several cast members died during shooting and had to be replaced by lookalikes. Additionally, the film\u2019s use of the local patois was deemed difficult to understand without subtitles. Even so, it proved a highly compelling cinema experience. <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/GettyImages-73908769.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” title_text=”1972, Kingston, Jimmy Cliff” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”image-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-10px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Jimmy Cliff in Kingston, Jamaica, 1972.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”pull-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#111111″ header_2_font_size=”46px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”pullquote-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_font_size=”46px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” header_3_text_align=”center” header_3_text_color=”#111111″ header_3_font_size=”38px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Cliff, who had been born James Chambers in Jamaica in 1948, was an apt choice for the lead role. A former ska singer contracted to Island Records, he\u2019d enjoyed a modicum of international fame in 1968 when he\u2019d won the Brazilian Song Festival with a self-penned composition, Waterfall. He\u2019d enjoyed considerable success with such songs as Wonderful World, Beautiful People, Vietnam and a version of Cat Stevens\u2019 Wild World. He was also familiar with the criminal culture that prompted much of The Harder They Come\u2019s screen action. The film was also based on the story of Ivanhoe \u2018Rhygin\u2019 Martin, an outlaw who had died in a hail of bullets following a shoot-out with the police in 1948. <\/p>\n \u201cI run around with gangs\u2026 I man was a youth \u2018mongst them,\u201d Cliff explained to NME journalist Penny Reel. \u201cAnytime I come around them I always have some positive reasoning\u2026 I moved with the gangs so I understand the psychology of the runnings with them.\u201d <\/p>\n The Notting Hill screening, boosted by the release of Island Records\u2019 soundtrack album and full-page adverts in the music press, was intended as the film\u2019s real introduction to the wider movie-going community, and the response was positive: Let It Rock magazine promised its readers that the film, \u201cwill engross you\u201d. Yet it wasn\u2019t successful enough to bring Cliff superstar status, and the singer soon opted to quit Chris Blackwell\u2019s label and flee to EMI instead. <\/p>\n At that point, Blackwell stumped up the legendary \u00a34,000 cheque to ensure Bob Marley And The Wailers signed to Island. Blackwell had envisaged promoting Cliff as a revolutionary reggae star, but later said, \u201cwhen Bob walked in he really was that image, the real one that Jimmy had created in the movie.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll never see that money again,\u201d one doubter informed him. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was all about trust,\u201d Blackwell insisted. Correctly, as it turned out.<\/p>\n As for The Harder They Come, in February 1973 it was picked up by Roger Corman\u2019s New World company for distribution in the US, playing mainly to midnight audiences and steadily acquiring cult status. This was aided by its fabulous soundtrack, which included You Can Get It If You Really Want, Many Rivers To Cross and the powerful title track, all performed by Jimmy Cliff, plus songs from The Maytals, Desmond Dekker, The Melodians and others that would soon inspire punks and 2-Tone ska revivalists alike. <\/p>\n For his part, Henzell achieved international recognition but little in the way of financial stability with the film\u2019s release. After working in theatre and as a novelist, Henzell did eventually complete another Jamaican feature, No Place Like Home, after relocating a print of the film misplaced for nearly 30 years. The movie \u2013 which contained a performance by a young Grace Jones \u2013 received its premiere at the three-day Flashpoint Film Festival in Negril, just days after Henzell\u2019s death from cancer on November 30, 2006.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-names” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”14px” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Images:<\/strong> Getty<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The sex, drugs and draft card\u2013burning theatre production split opinions wherever it played.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"kschwarz","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=910"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1005,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910\/revisions\/1005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u201cI run around with gangs\u2026 I man was a youth \u2018mongst them,\u201d<\/h2>\n
Jimmy Cliff<\/b><\/h3>\n