Don't Play Us Cheap (1972)
December 11, 1972Release Date
Don't Play Us Cheap (1972)
December 11, 1972Release Date
Plot.
Where to Watch.
Currently Don't Play Us Cheap is available for streaming online, rent, buy or watch for free on: Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Max Amazon Channel, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video
Streaming in:🇺🇸 United States
Cast & Crew.
Esther Rolle
Miss Maybell
Avon Long
Brother Dave
Mabel King
House Guest at the Party
Rhetta Hughes
Earnestine
Frank Carey
Mr. Johnson
Thomas Anderson
Mr. Percy
Robert Dunn
Guest
Jay Van Leer
Mrs. Johnson (as Jay Vanleer)
Joshie Jo Armstead
Guest
Joe Keyes Jr.
Trinity (as Joseph Keyes)
George "Ooppee" McCurn
Guest
Nate Barnett
Guest
Melvin Van Peebles
Director / Music / Editor / Theatre Play / Screenplay / Songs
Bernard Johnson
Costume Design
Robert Maxwell
Director of Photography
Charles Blackwell
Associate Producer
Jerry Weissman
Associate Producer
Bernard Johnson
Costume Design
Ernest Murray
Production Manager
James E. Hinton
Second Unit Director
Todd Scott
Sound
Mike Lamb
First Assistant Camera
Harold Wheeler
Music Director
Media.
Details.
This Movie Is About.
Wiki.
Don't Play Us Cheap is a 1973 American musical comedy film based on the 1970 musical of the same name. The musical was written, produced, scored, edited and directed by Melvin Van Peebles. Both the original stage musical and the film adaptation are based on Van Peebles' 1967 French-language novel La fête à Harlem (1967).
The film stars Avon Long and Joe Keyes Jr. as Brother Dave and Trinity, a pair of demons who take human form to break up a house party thrown by Miss Maybell (Esther Rolle), an African American woman, in honor of her niece Earnestine (Rhetta Hughes), who is celebrating her 20th birthday in Harlem. Trinity's devotion to his mission comes into question when he falls in love with Earnestine. Don't Play Us Cheap was part of a diptych with Van Peebles' stage musical, Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death, which presented a darker vision of African American life compared to the lighter portrayal in Don't Play Us Cheap.
Don't Play Us Cheap was filmed in 1972 as Van Peebles' follow-up to his hit film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, but he could not find a distributor, and subsequently wound up adapting the script for a Broadway stage play based on the film. The film later received a limited theatrical release on January 1, 1973, and was not widely seen until it was released on home video. The film's plot has been seen as an allegory for African American resilience in the face of adversity. The house party has been described as a stand-in for the Black Panther Party, and the imps turned human as a metaphor for attempts to thwart the black power movement. The film has also been described as a defense of the United States.