
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

Madge Sinclair
Leona Hamilton

Antonio Fargas
One-Eye

Hank Rolike
Man

Rosalind Cash
Sarah Robinson

Bernie Casey
Officer Larry Atkins

Thalmus Rasulala
Charlie

Sandy Ward
Store Manager

Stack Pierce
Sam Hamilton

Beverly Hope Atkinson
Edna

Stefan Gierasch
Sgt. Danaher

Don McGovern
Det. Kelly

Laurence Fishburne
Wilford Robinson

Logan Ramsey
Deputy Coroner

Jamaal Wilkes
Nathaniel 'Cornbread' Hamilton

Erik Kilpatrick
Ace

Hal Baylor
Mr. Wilson

Charles Lampkin
Fred Jenkins

Bill Henderson
Watkins

J. Jay Saunders
Mr. Johnson

Sarina C. Grant
Mrs. Parsons