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TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL: "COOLEY HIGH" IS A CLASSIC FOR THE AGES
One of my all-time favorite coming-of-age movies is "Cooley High."
Directed by Michael Schultz ("Car Wash," "Greased Lightning") and written by Eric Monte ("All in the Family" and "What's Happening!!), the funny, dramatic film became a box-office success at a time when urban audiences were primarily flocking to see martial-arts and blaxploitation movies.
Released in 1975, "Cooley High" follows two Chicago high school students as they share a series of youthful, often mischievous adventures with their friends. Beneath the humor and carefree spirit, however, is a moving story about friendship, responsibility and the choices that shape our lives.
The film helped launch the careers of Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs ("Welcome Back, Kotter," "Claudine," "The Jacksons: An American Dream") and Glynn Turman ("Ma Rainey's Black Bottom", and "How Stella Got Her Groove Back"). Turman, a veteran actor with many films--and TV--shows to his credit, was honored in 2025 with his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Hilton-Jacobs is sensational as Larry "Cochise" Jackson, Cooley Vocational High School's promising young basketball player. Turman is equally captivating as Leroy "Preach" Jackson, Cochise's studious best friend and an aspiring writer. Morris delivers a stirring and memorable performance as Mr. Mason, the school's history teacher.
"I was 21 years old when I got the part in Cooley High," Hilton-Jacobs told N2Entertainment.net during a telephone interview from his Los Angeles home.
"When I first saw the script, I turned to Glynn (Turman) and laughed because it was like we both knew that all we had to do was learn the lines. We had lived this life growing up. The characters in the film were so real to us that it was just natural."
The movie also boasts a stellar supporting cast, including Cynthia Davis as Brenda, Preach's love interest; Corin Rogers as Pooter; Maurice Leon Havis as Willie; and Joseph Carter Wilson and Sherman Smith as neighborhood toughs Tyrone and Stone.
Then there is the music. Cooley High features what is arguably one of the most dynamic Motown soundtracks ever assembled, giving the film an irresistible rhythm that perfectly complements its humor, romance and heartbreak.
Although some critics have compared "Cooley High" to "American Graffiti," Hilton-Jacobs believes Schultz's film has considerably more soul. In his view, it connected so powerfully with audiences because of its honesty and innocence.
"Cooley High showcased a period that, for many teens growing up, was really like the last time of fun," Hilton-Jacobs said. "The film has everything. It's a movie about taking care of each other and making important life choices and decisions. There weren't a lot of Black movies at the time that presented this slice of Black life. It was so new and different that urban audiences embraced it wholeheartedly."
Just as moviegoers were discovering Hilton-Jacobs on the big screen, television audiences were getting to know him as Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington, one of the beloved Sweathogs on ABC's enormously popular sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter."
"It was an amazing string of timing for me," Hilton-Jacobs said. "I didn't take it lightly at all. I knew that I had something going that was good and exciting. I just wanted to savor and enjoy it."
Decades after its release, "Cooley High" continues to find new audiences, further cementing its place as an enduring American classic.
"There's no question that the movie is a classic," Hilton-Jacobs said. He chuckled when asked whether he would participate in some type of "Cooley High" reunion film.
"Most everybody is around to do it," he added. "But I just don't think you can go back and try to relive that. I think that is what makes the movie so special.
"I mean, even though this was a low-budget movie, it was honest. That's what people liked about it. To try to redo it now, you'd lose that honesty and innocence."
That honesty is precisely why "Cooley High" still resonates. It is funny without ignoring hardship, nostalgic without becoming sentimental and heartbreaking without losing its warmth. More than a coming-of-age movie, it is a vivid portrait of friendship, possibility and a fleeting moment when the future still seemed wide open.
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