
Cornbread, Earl and Me
He Had the Lightest Touch in a Heavy Town.
The unintentional shooting by police of a star basketball player has profound personal, political and community repercussions in this acclaimed adaptation of the novel Hog Butcher by Ronald Fair. This was one of the more thoughtful urban dramas produced at the height of the "blaxploitation" craze. Also released under the title Hit the Open Man, it features the screen debut of Laurence Fishburne, who was barely a teenager at the time.
Director Joseph Manduke
Trailer
Cast

Moses Gunn
Benjamin Blackwell

Laurence Fishburne
Wilford Robinson

J. Jay Saunders
Mr. Johnson

Bernie Casey
Officer Larry Atkins

Thalmus Rasulala
Charlie

Charles Lampkin
Fred Jenkins

Don McGovern
Det. Kelly

Sandy Ward
Store Manager

Logan Ramsey
Deputy Coroner

Beverly Hope Atkinson
Edna

Madge Sinclair
Leona Hamilton

Bill Henderson
Watkins

Erik Kilpatrick
Ace

Rosalind Cash
Sarah Robinson

Antonio Fargas
One-Eye

Jamaal Wilkes
Nathaniel 'Cornbread' Hamilton

Sarina C. Grant
Mrs. Parsons

Stefan Gierasch
Sgt. Danaher

Stack Pierce
Sam Hamilton

Hal Baylor
Mr. Wilson

Hank Rolike
Man