Cornbread, Earl and Me

Cornbread, Earl and Me
Movie cover for Cornbread, Earl and Me
Directed by	Joseph Manduke
Produced by	Joseph Manduke
Written by	Ronald Fair Leonard Lamensdorf
Starring	Tierre Turner Laurence Fishburne Jamaal Wilkes Moses Gunn Bernie Casey Rosalind Cash Antonio Fargas Thalmus Rasulala Madge Sinclair
Music by	Donald Byrd
Edited by	Aaron Stell
Production company	American International
Distributed by	American International Pictures
Release date	May 21, 1975
Running time	95 min.
Language	English

Cornbread, Earl and Me is a 1975 American drama film that stars Tierre Turner, Laurence Fishburne, and Jamaal Wilkes. Directed and 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, who also goes by the nickname of "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). The plot thickens after a pick-up basketball game ends because of a heavy rain, and all the kids run to the local store and hang out, waiting for the rain to end. All the kids leave, except for Cornbread, Earl and Wilford. 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 is in the neighborhood, and is dressed like Cornbread. The two police officers are hot on the suspect's trail, but lose him in the rain. As the police officers are coming out of an alleyway, they see Cornbread running by and mistake him for the suspect they're looking for. Subsequently, Cornbread is shot in the back, and dies in the middle of the street. Wilford screams hysterically, and a riot ensues. The coroner's inquest is hampered by severe police intimidation, and no one knows anything about the shooting, except for Wilford, who becomes a man on the witness stand by telling exactly what he saw, in graphic detail.