Cornbread, Earl and Me

Cornbread, Earl and Me is a 1975 coming of age drama film that stars Tierre Turner, Laurence Fishburne (in his film debut), and Jamaal Wilkes and directed and co-produced by Joseph Manduke, the film is loosely based on the 1966 Ronald Fair novel Hog Butcher.

The film focuses on three African-American youths living in an urban neighborhood. Nathaniel Hamilton (Jamaal Wilkes, credited as Keith Wilkes) is a star basketball player from the neighborhood, nicknamed "Cornbread." In the movie, he epitomizes the dream of the neighborhood to be successful, as he is about to become the first from his district to enter college on an athletic scholarship. He is also a local hero to the much younger friends Earl Carter (Tierre Turner) and Wilford Robinson (Laurence Fishburne III). Later, Earl and Wilford get into a playful argument about how fast Cornbread can run home. It is decided that Cornbread should make it home in 25 seconds, so he runs off, after buying another soda for himself. Unknown to all of them, an assault suspect in the neighborhood is dressed like Cornbread. As two police officers are coming out of an alleyway, they see Cornbread running by and mistake him for the suspect they're looking for. Cornbread dies in a shooting. Wilford screams hysterically, ensuing a riot. The coroner's inquest is hampered by severe police intimidation, and no one knows anything about the shooting, except for Wilford, who appears on the witness stand by telling exactly what he saw in graphic detail.

Cast

 * Moses Gunn as Benjamin Blackwell
 * Rosalind Cash as Sarah Robinson (mother of Wilford)
 * Bernie Casey as Larry Atkins
 * Madge Sinclair as Leona Hamilton (mother of Cornbread)
 * Laurence Fishburne III as Wilford Robinson
 * Thalmus Rasulala as Charlie (boyfriend of Sarah)
 * Antonio Fargas as One Eye
 * Logan Ramsey as Deputy Coroner
 * Vince Martorano as John Golich
 * Charles Lampkin as Fred Jenkins
 * Stefan Gierasch as Sgt. Danaher
 * Stack Pierce as Sam Hamilton (father of Cornbread)
 * Tierre Turner as Earl Carter (Wilford's friend)
 * Keith Wilkes as "Cornbread" Nathaniel Hamilton

Release on DVD & HD

 * In 2001, it was released on DVD.
 * In 2010, it was digitized in High Definition (1080i) and broadcast on MGM HD.