Uptown Saturday Night

Critics Consensus

No consensus yet.

82%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 1,388

Super Reviewer

Movie Info

Uptown Saturday Night is a delightful comedy directed by and starring Sidney Poitier. Steve Jackson (Sidney Poitier) is a factory worker. One evening, when boredom gets the best of him, Steve and his pal Wardell (Bill Cosby) decide to go to an underground gambling club to have some fun. While they are there the place is held-up and Steve's wallet is stolen. When Steve and Wardell learn that the wallet contains a winning lottery ticket, the friends go on a desperate search to find it. Shape Eye Washington (Richard Prior), an incompetent private eye, is enlisted to aid them in their search through the criminal underworld where they come up against Geechie Dan Beauford (Harry Belafonte) the mobster who runs the town. Belafonte, in a hilarious parody of Marlon Brando in The Godfather, steals the show. The movie was a huge success and led to two sequels, Let's Do It Again and A Piece of the Action, both also directed by Poitier.

Rating:

PG
Genre:

Classics, Comedy
Directed By:

Sidney Poitier
Written By:

Richard Wesley
In Theaters:

Jun 16, 1974 wide
On Disc/Streaming:

Jan 13, 2004
Runtime:

104 minutes
Studio:

WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES

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Cast

Sidney Poitier
as Steve Jackson

Bill Cosby
as Wardell Franklin

Harry Belafonte
as Geechie Dan Beauford

Flip Wilson
as The Reverend

Richard Pryor
as Sharp Eye Washington

Rosalind Cash
as Sarah Jackson

Roscoe Lee Browne
as Congressman Lincoln

Paula Kelly
as Leggy Peggy

Lee Chamberlin
as Mme. Zenobia

Johnny Sekka
as Geechie's Henchman

Calvin Lockhart
as Silky Slim

Lincoln Kilpatrick
as Slim's Henchman No. 1

Ketty Lester
as Irma Franklin

Don Marshall
as Slim's Henchman No. 2

Harold Nicholas
as Little Seymour

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Critic Reviews for Uptown Saturday Night

All Critics (7) | DVD (2)

Very dated humor with youngish Cosby and Poitier...who directs OK.

Aug 1, 2005 | Rating: 3/5

Steve Crum
Video-Reviewmaster.com
...harmless enough, flimsy and almost forgettable entertainment but easy going down.

Jan 7, 2004 | Rating: 5/10 | Full Review…

John J. Puccio
Movie Metropolis
An uproarious urban comedy that's sure to cater to the crowd. Poitier and Cosby make for a riotous duo in this flipppant farce.

May 28, 2003 | Rating: 4/5

Frank Ochieng
TheWorldJournal.com
Great buddy chemistry between Cosby and Poitier make this a 70's classic.

Mar 19, 2003 | Rating: 4/5

Brian Mckay
eFilmCritic.com

View All Critic Reviews (7)

Audience Reviews for Uptown Saturday Night

Jun 16, 2008

Not as good as "Let's Do It Again", but has its moments.

Anthony V Super Reviewer
Jun 02, 2008

Something about Bill Cosby picking a fight makes me laugh.

Keith M Super Reviewer