UPTIGHT

Uptight is a psychological drama set against the backdrop of the growing Black Liberation movements that would come to prominence in the early 1970s. The film was released in 1968, just eight months following MLK’s death. The story was written and filmed before MLK was assassinated. After that tragic murder, director Jules Dassin felt that it would be important to incorporate this loss into the storyline. Several scenes were rewritten and re-filmed so that the assassination could be integrated into the film’s story. It was an excellent decision as it intensified the anger, loss, frustration, and motivation of all the central characters. Actual footage of MLK’s funeral is woven into the beginning of Upight, setting the highly charged mood. The movie’s era is further cemented by the exceptional soundtrack provided by the Memphis R&B band, Booker T. and the M.G.’s.

The story is an adaptation of the 1935 film, The Informer. The screenplay was written by the film’s director, Jules Dassin, and two of the film’s actors, Julian Mayfield and the renowned Ruby Dee. The three of them shared a commonality… they had each been forced into exile and/or blacklisted by the U.S. government for their political affiliations before the making of this film. Mayfield’s primary acting experience was on stage. Outside of one bit part 10 years earlier, this would be his only other film role. He plays “Tank Williams”, the central character of the movie.

The story takes place in Cleveland, specifically in the city’s black ghetto known as the Hough. MLK has been assassinated and factions of the Black community are fed up. They view King’s peaceful protesting as accomplishing too little, too slowly. B.G. (Raymond St. Jacques), a local schoolteacher says, “In his way, he [King] was a fighter.”, to which B.G.’s girlfriend, Jeannie, angrily counters, “He was a beggar.” With this, a divide of the Black community is firmly established. Jeannie’s brother, Johnny, is leading a militant group aimed at stockpiling weapons and leading a black revolution. Tank is one of Johnny’s closest friends, but he struggles with accepting Johnny’s message over King’s. The film starts with Johnny picking up Tank to rob a local warehouse containing a cache of weapons. Tank, an alcoholic distraught over MLK’s death, has become too inebriated to help Johnny. Johnny and two others commit the robbery, but Johnny ends up accidentally killing a guard. With evidence left behind, Johnny soon has a warrant issued for his arrest, with a $ 1,000.00 reward to anyone helping find him. B.G. steps in to fill Johnny’s role, uniting and leading those seeking a revolution. He finds himself at odds with Kyle, another Black leader within the Hough, who wants to stay the course with peaceful protest. One of Kyle’s allies is a White man named Teddy. Teddy has a long history working within the Black community in the past, but B.G.’s new revolutionaries want no help whatsoever from a whitey. He’s told, “Go help the white brother, he’s in deep trouble. Change him. That’s your job.” The subtext is clear, “stop trying to fix/acclimate us, we’re not the problem.”

The majority of the film is shot entirely at night. It’s dark, bleak and depressing. This intensifies the pallor of existence for those in the Hough and for the Black community of this era in general. They exist in a system designed to provide as few opportunities for advancement as possible, and they distrust everything about a world where they have no say in the rules. Tank’s girlfriend, Laurie (Dee) can’t rely on Tank for financial support, so she humiliatingly resigns herself to occasional prostitution to make sure her children are fed.

Now enter “Daisy” (Roscoe Lee Browne), a self-serving Black resident of this Cleveland ghetto who has no allegiance to anyone but himself. He ingratiates himself with the existing establishment by selling out anyone he needs to for financial compensation. He’s a repellent character, but Browne portrays Daisy as real and memorable. In Daisy’s first scene, hanging out with five White police officers, one of the officers tells Daisy not to use the N-word. Daisy, in a slavery-ridden drawl, retorts boldly, “[I’m a] nigger. Stool pigeon. And... faggot.”, and with that we loath him as much as he eventually reveals he loathes himself. A while later, Daisy lures Tank to his apartment with the promise of free booze. As Tank downs the drinks Daisy shows him some photos, photos that could incriminate Tank of having participated in a riot. Daisy throws out the notion that he might be able to make the pictures “go away” if Tank were to tell the police where they can find Johnny. Tank takes the bait and heads to the police station.

At this point, the black militant revolution story takes a backseat and the film focuses on Tank’s emotional descent after receiving his thirty pieces of silver. He lives joyously for some fleeting moments in a bar, then wanders the streets giving donations to street preachers. He staggers through Johnny’s wake and eventually ends up at an arcade. He’s met there by a group of expensively dressed White people who appear to be slumming it for their own amusement. They nuzzle in with Tank and foolishly ask if he’s one of those “militant” Blacks, all the while calling him “my brother” and “my friend”. This scene then plays out with Tank deliriously sharing his Black experience and about the revolution to come… with the entire scene filmed through elongated and distorting funhouse mirrors. This scene is magnificent and the icing on Mayfield’s sobering and brilliant overall performance.

Tank’s newfound wealth becomes suspicious to B.G., and how he acquired it eventually spills out in yet another amazing scene by Mayfield. We watch Tank desperately try to claw his way out of the circumstance he’s created, but in the end, he can’t escape. He’s desperate for anyone to tell him why he did what he did… essentially leaving it up to the viewer to decide what his true breaking point really was. Tank temporarily escapes the confines of the revolutionaries, and for the first time in the film, we see daylight and a Tank that finally conveys a feeling of peace. Sadly, it’s because he’s accepted that his existence of non-stop struggling will soon be put to an end.

I thought Uptight was magnificent. I recently reviewed Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner and spoke of how I felt the film was intentionally geared to assuage White filmgoers. Uptight is the total opposite. It is unapologetically not softened in any way to make White viewers feel more comfortable. Nor should it have been. The film had a point of view that was entirely overdue for representation. This often-overlooked movie should be a must-see for anyone with an interest in innovative filmmaking and storytelling.