Original Gangstas

Marvin Bookman is a small shop owner in Gary, Indiana, USA. After he sees a drive-by shooting of Laurie Thompson’s son by a local gang…

• Director:Larry Cohen
• Genre:Action / Crime / Drama / Thriller
• Runtime:99 minutes

Cast

Fred Williamson : John Bookman
Jim Brown : Jake Trevor
Pam Grier : Laurie Thompson
Paul Winfield : Rev. Dorsey
Isabel Sanford : Gracie Bookman

The movie opens to a narration detailing the poor economic state of a gang-ridden Gary. The narrator explains to the audience of how the city came into such a state. After the opening narrative, the scene switches to the base of operations for the Rebels, a local street gang, and a one-on-one basketball game between a Rebel gang member and a local boy named Kenny Thompson. Kenny humiliates the Rebel by winning and taking the gambled winnings for his own. After he leaves, Spyro, the current co-leader of the Rebels (opposite Damien) is under the impression that Kenny’s skills are something more than “something he picked up.” He instructs his lieutenant, Kayo, to exact retribution on Kenny for being hustled.

While Kenny and his friend Marcus are relaxing at a diner, Kenny decides to call his girlfriend. He enters a phone booth to make the call, but is subsequently shot by Kayo in a drive-by shooting; his mother, Laurie Thompson, alarmed by the gunshots, steps outside her home to discover her son murdered. One of the owners of the diner, Marvin Bookman, a well-respected member of the community by both the Rebels and local citizens, feels that justice should be brought to Kenny’s murderer and discloses the license plate number of the shooter’s vehicle. When the Rebels discover this, Spyro orders Kayo to dispose of the vehicle. Spyro and Damien then proceed to confront Marvin about his assistance to the investigators of Kenny’s death; Marvin argues that Kenny was a good person and did not deserve to be shot. The co-leaders of the Rebels describe how they respected the Bookmans’ store and, while others around it were robbed and ransacked, their store was left alone; the fact that Marvin would “sell them out” expresses a high amount of disrespect to the Rebels, who then immediately seek revenge on Marvin. Eventually, Kayo and Bobby, with a group of fellow Rebels, attacks the diner, resulting in the near-fatal shooting of Marvin by bobby.

The attack on Marvin’s life prompts his son, pro football coach and ex-Rebel John Bookman, to return to the impoverished Gary neighborhood to find Bobby the shooter. After seeing his father, John goes to a local barbershop, where Kayo eventually turns up; trouble immediately brews, and John and the gang members fight. John has the upper hand, but is overpowered. Jake Trevor, another original Rebel, enters the fray and saves John. After the fight, the two converse, and it is revealed that Jake is here to bury his illegitimate son, Kenny Thompson. Read more

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