The Harder They Come **** (1972, Jimmy Cliff, Janet Bartley, Carl Bradshaw) – Classic Movie Review 12,934

Reggae singer Jimmy Cliff plays Ivan Martin, the country boy lured into being a runner in the lucrative ganja trade, in Perry Henzell’s vibrant 1972 cult classic Jamaican crime film The Harder They Come. 

Co-writer/ director Perry Henzell’s vibrant 1972 cult classic Jamaican crime film The Harder They Come is a weird amalgam of Caribbean folk tale and Chicago gangster picture, in which reggae singer Jimmy Cliff plays Ivan Martin, the country boy lured into being a runner in the lucrative ganja trade while seeking his fortune in Kingston, Jamaica.

Henzell directs in broad, occasionally clumsy strokes, conjuring up a ragged shanty-town world of scheming hustlers, bogus preachers and corrupt officials.

It is an exhilarating ride and the movie’s wit and cultural vitality find perfect expression in a delectable reggae soundtrack, including ‘Many Rivers to Cross’, ‘You Can Get It If You Really Want’ and the title track.

The soundtrack was a breakthrough for reggae worldwide, especially in the United States.

Cliff’s character based on the real-life Jamaican criminal Ivan Martin, aka Rhyging, who achieved fame in the 1940s. The story is updated to the 1970s, and changed as Rhyging was neither a musician nor drug dealer.

The film premiered at the Carib Theatre in Kingston, Jamaica, on 5 June 1972, and was released in February 1973 in New York City by Roger Corman’s New World Pictures.

The cast are Jimmy Cliff as Ivan Martin, Janet Bartley as Elsa, Carl Bradshaw as Jose, Ras Daniel Heartman as Pedro, Basil Keane as The Preacher, Elijah Chambers as Longa, Bob Charlton as Hilton, Volier Johnson as Pushcart Boy, Winston Stona as Detective Ray Jones, and Lucia White as Mother.

Prasad Corporation digitally restored the film in 2006.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 12,934

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