The end when Preacher says his goodbye's to his best friend Cochise at the cemetery. The song playing is "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday" by G.C. Cameron
This was actually done by Steve Krantz who Wife is Judith Krantz who in the 1980's wrote a lot of Bestselling Novels Scruples, Princess Daisy, and I'll Take Manhattan. He also changed his mind at the last minute to direct Grease and lost a chance to make Three Hundred & Fifty Million Dollars. One Critic called this Movie The Black American Grafitti.
I could be wrong, but this song and the movie was for Black folks, this movie was our lives, didn't matter where you were from, you could relate to this movie.
It's already been named as one of the top 100 best films by the Television academy. Directed by the greatest black director Charles Schultz and written by the greatest black writer of all time Eric Monte. Which was about his life. Dynamic duo.
Without a doubt the saddest on screen death ever filmed. When Preach was kneeling over Cochise saying "Help" as the train rolled by...man that was a gut punch.
Roland Hawkins one of the hardest things for to do was to watch my 16 yr old take his friend to his final resting place 6 young men all under 25 taking their friend to his grave hurt my heart
he did make it Hollywood this is a true story. Born Kenneth Williams in Chicago and raised in the Cabrini-Green housing project, Monte dropped out of Cooley Vocational High School and hitchhiked to Hollywood. His first big break came five years later, with a script written for and accepted by All in the Family which eventually contributed to the spawning of The Jeffersons. From there, he went on to produce work that inspired two 1970s sitcoms: Good Times (which he co-created with The Jeffersons star Mike Evans) and What's Happening!! (which was based on his screenplay for the motion picture Cooley High (1975)).[2] (Cooley High also inspired the CBS television show The White Shadow (November 27, 1978 to March 16, 1981), starring Ken Howard.[3]
Excellent post. I’ve read this as well. Also, in the movie, they gave background on the characters as to what happened to them later in life. Loosely based on their real lives, much of it was true. Preach girlfriend (light skin girl) did fall off the radar in real life and was sought after. I recently found her on Facebook and she looks damn near identical to her movie character. It wasn’t a fake page. There were up to date photos with her in them and I was like, did she ever age? She is obviously older but she looked immaculate in those photos.
That happened to me last year. My best friend since first grade stopped talking to me and I have no idea why. She didn't invite me to her wedding and when she moved I lost contact with her and never found out what was wrong. She died in August and I'm still hurting over the fact that I never got to talk to her again.
AuntRuby'sDaughters that's a Cooley high moment. you loss someone who don't want to be bother with you until they die. your rhymes are so deep I could hug and kiss you. that's a cooley high moment you wrote. I'm Lifeworks,ndh enterprises,llc. I wrote a cooley high moment of my own if you find it. i also a education venue called LifeWorks,ndh enterprises,llc. check onu educated but deep vids. send this one to your children.
And as usual, they would have to change the storyline to make it relatable to the new generation. What young person reads today? So a writer won’t fly. They’ll have to make him an aspiring singer, actor, comedian (getting his start on RU-vid no doubt). They would have to change it too much for it to be relatable. Probably best left alone.
You aren't the only one either. I be loving this movie up to the train scene where Preach finds him laying dead and I lose it every time. And the part during the song when he sees Brenda and he tries to hold back the emotions. My favorite movie of all time!!!!!!
Whew!! You sure got that right!! That means it is was written and performed to be emotional and that is one of the reasons it is the CLASSIC that it is!! I make sure all my younger generations see this movie and a few others!!
Now that I'm older and see how times have changed and a lot of wonderful people have passed on, this movie is more relevant I cry a little harder when I see this.
Can't believe they didn't show the complete ending. Where he starts running as the Four Tops song kicks in ( I'll Be There) and then freeze camera. Unforgettable!
@jett woodward I don't know the people that wrote the screenplay (Eric Monte, etc.), but i assume he was trying to make it like real life. Unfortunately, some people do get away with murder. Back then and now.
Brock Cureton On this tragic note, the obituary for John Singleton, mentioned that his mother took him to see Cooley High as child, he became very emotional , the film influenced him greatly ;
Tabitha, With the music and scenery, I would agree. However, I would like to nominate the scene in Brian's Song where Billy Dee Williams, playing Gale Sayers, giving that locker room speech as an hangable mention.
Jetsen Marin have you ever read “the house on mango street “ I have respect for you, just a black girl from jersey that thought that story should be a movie 💪🏽❤️
CLASSIC!!! Can not watch this scene without breaking down. I first saw this movie in '79 when i was 10 yrs old. Even though everyone cried on this scene you don't understand the true emotional impact of it until it's someone close to you. Even though it's been 21 yrs and 2 days it still hurts and i still miss you Bro. Just spent the holiday with your kids...smh. Sorry...y'all brothers and sisters take care of eachother out there!!!
It use to bother me that he didn't attend the funeral but as I'm older now, I understand that he wanted to say goodbye in his own way and start a new life. Start over, and honor his friend by being successful just as they dreamed they'd be. I lost a cousin and my best friend growing up. And in situations where they were with the wrong crowd. Every now and then you think about the past and wonder how great those you lost too early, could have been. When he says, "Chise, you could have been the greatest". That is one of the saddest things to me. It's like losing a part of yourself. And growing up in Chicago, knowing this is based on a true story, makes it that much more real. And I've been to a few funerals at that very same cemetery. I just bought this movie on Blu-ray. Gotta get the soundtrack next. Such a important film for Black History.
Me and my mom saw this classic movie last night on TV One. I say every time I see this episode I always say "okay I am not going to cry this time". As soon as the part when the song says "I thought we get to see forever, but forever's has blown away", I start bawling. Love this movie!!!!!
Ain't that deep! Back in the day. That song was sung at many Youngster's funerals. Most of the time. This sung was NEVER sung to the end. Cut short, because Family and others became overwhelmed. Screaming; total break downs in the church.And boy! The ones singing it, could blow!
One of the greatest movies ever when I was growing up..... Needs a Unsung Hollywood.... Also this is the best version of “Its So Hard to Say Goodbye”.... Sorry Boyz II Men
"...basketball days and high nights. No tomorrows, unable to remember yesterday. We live for today..." Poignant words to say the least. Wonder who the writer was.
Eric Monte...Same creator/writer that created What's Happenin', Good Times and Sanford and Son...This movie was inspired by his real life in the projects of Cabrini Green housing projects..This character "Preach" was supposed to be him..
Before Ricky in that alleyway in 'Boyz In Da Hood', & Cane in front of "Ronnie's" house in Menace 2 Society, it was all about "Cochise" under dying under that elevated train track !!!
Everything about the ending of this movie (Cochise's death, funeral, Four Tops) devastated me when I saw it as a kid, and I was a white kid in the suburbs. I always saw Cooley High as the black counterpart to American Graffiti, but Cooley ends on a note of tragedy, whereas Graffit ends on a note of longing and hope. Cooley is definitely an underrated movie.
This is a very, very underrated film. One of my favorites of all-time. This ending scene is exquisite, incredibly touching. Too bad this clip ends just before the Four Tops "I'll Be There" kicks in. That very ending scene still gives chills with I'll Be There playing.
THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE SONGS OF ALL TIME. AND ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES I'VE SEEN. THIS IS ONE OF THE SADDEST SCENES FROM ANY MOVIE. AFTER READING SOME OF THE COMMENTS. I DON'T FEEL SO BAD LETTING PEOPLE KNOW THAT I TO CRIED WATCHING THIS MOVIE. TEARS FALLING NOW AS I'M WRITTING THESE WORDS. MAN! THE LOVED ONES THAT I HAVE LOST. MOTHER, BROTHER, SISTER, FAVORITE AUNT, GODMOTHER. WE LOST THEM ALL IN JUST AFEW YEARS APART. BUT GOD. THE GOOD LORD HELPED US GET THROUGH IT. HE EASED THE HURTFUL PAIN. IT STILL HURTS. BUT NOT AS BAD. THANK U FATHER GOD. I WANTED THIS SONG TO BE A MUCH BIGGER HIT THAN IT WAS. I LOVE THIS VISION BETTER THAN THAT OF BOYZ II MEN. THIS SONG, U FELT IT IN YOUR SOUL. THANKS FOR THE POST. IT WAS A VERY GOOD MOVIE. I LOVED IT.
We just lost our father on Jan. 19. 2013, and this song...is the fabric...of how we loved him so much...especially me because during the times that I washed him, took him on dinner dates...and just spent time with him....those moments I will never forget...him....
I grew up on the west and Southside of Chicago back in the sixties and seventies and this movie captures being a teenager in the hood back then. A gang fight breaking out at random was some real shit.
I think what make everyone cry is the song sound like an church song in the beginning ..it really a r&b song .the scene and the song fit like a glove .
DAM I just loss my friend today 3-1-2020😭😭😓😓😢🤧. Rest in peace Ms. Linda Fisher im missing you already, it's only been a few hours since you left us.. Kno more pain..😭😭😭😓😓😢😢
Eric Monte was the greatest black writer of all time that had his ideas stolen and was blacklisted for awhile. Coochise dying on the movie was brilliant even though I wished he would have lived and kicked those dude asses..lmao notice it took three guys to beat him
This is a so sad. I still cry today. Richard Morris is indeed buried at Burr Oak cemetery in Chicago. His cause of death was a severe concussion/brain bleed when he hit his head on the beam trying to get up.
This is a very, very underrated film. One of my favorites of all-time. This ending scene is exquisite, incredibly touching. Too bad this clip ends just before the Four Tops "I'll Be There" kicks in.
My family and I grew up in the Cabrini Green housing projects. We were living there at the time Cooley High was being filmed. We moved years later however, I always wished I could find a jacket like the one Chocise wore. Lol. And wished my family had kept the Cooley High yearbook. Rough times living there but Memories I will never forget!!!
This is the same way I went to see my childhood friend I couldn't bear to see him in a box and see his mom and kids there crying. I just sat in the car put down some e&j and watched from way behind the scenes until everyone left and the grave diggers were cool and gave me 45 mins to chill and talk to my boy rip and i was hurt but I felt better being there with him solo for the last time rip Larry b. 🙏🏿
When I first saw this scene and heard this song in the background I cried like a baby. I also cried when I saw Brian's song, Rod Tidwell in Jerry Maguire, Tears of the Sun, and this scene on Scandal when the Black Father stood over his son's dead body with a shotgun. I was very young and immature when I first saw Cooley High but that scene when Cochise died prepared me for all of the loved ones that I would lose over the years. I lost my father back in 2014 and during the funeral all I can hear was "It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday"!!!
There will never be another classic like this unbelievable acting & talent i truly will forever appreciate them for giving black ppl such a classic to be proud of this is my favorite movie of all time i don't care what they make it's Cooley High 1st everything else 2nd.
I was just telling my brother who died rite in front of me 2 years ago this was my favorite part & the song I'll be there playing while he running off & my brother use to play the song for me a lot when we ride around town & my aunt Mary Williams was going to Cooley high but drop out around the same time as the movie this movie will be forever apart of me & a classic & rip to my big brother smiley who died in front of me 2 year's ago he love Cooley high movie so much & would of been so proud of me for saying this for him & thanks for all of the good & fun memory's bro bro from ya Lil brother Reggie forever
I had just moved to Chicago in the summer of 1978 my nephew got killed the next year in may when this movie came out it touched home very closely they buried my nephew almost in the same spot and a young man who sang this song ril my nephew keep watching over us and we love you and miss you
This movie need to be played, at least once a month. In the Theater, Church, and The Homes. Our young Negro Boys, and their Queens, needs This. Respect yourself, Respect other people, and Respect other people property. The three R's will get you a long way in this Life🎉
Born and raised in Chicago, this has always been one of the truest and realest movie (& scene) for me. I was a young teen when it came out and we saw it at the Show. Had such a big impact on me cause it showed a lot of the neighborhoods and exactly how life was for us - catching the bus, the zoo, Downtown, school life, and going to parties. And most of all, seeing people who didn't live to get out of school or the hood.
I remember the first time I saw this scene in 1976 one year after this movie came out, It has stuck with me ever since, That's not the way you wanna say goodbye to your best friend especially when you were on bad terms.
this month makes 45 years this classic movie was made I was 6 going on 7 this song is the official send off to the person you lost who was near and dear to you for the brothers and sisters who ain't here
I had to watch this again, and glad someone posted it. This is one of the most touching moments in movie history. I grew up with this movie. Long live the spirit!
"I wrote a poem for ya...nigga I know you don't like poetry, but I'm gonna read it to you anyway!" Yeah mane, Preach was hurting over his partner, his main ace! Mourning and getting closure the best way he could. Chokes me up every time...
Absolute CLASSIC! This comes from a white, conservative, Male! Saw this when I was 8 years old, and love it til this day! When I heard the Boyz 2 Men version, people around me wondered how I knew the words. I just directed them to the original. Classic song, classic movie! BTW, this is what the sitcom "What's Happening?" is based on
