I recently had the pleasure of catching the 4k remastered screening of the Black film classic, The Spook Who Sat By The Door which was presented by Philadelphia Film Society and ReelBlack. The new remastered print looked absolutely amazing to see on the big screen which I had only seen previously on VHS. The film was directed by Ivan Dixon with original novel / screenplay done by Sam Greenlee. After the screening, there was a Q&A with Nomathandé Dixon (daughter of Ivan Dixon) and Natiki Hope Presley (daughter of Sam Greenlee) who both gave great insight into the original novel, the film, production and other information.
Often times referred to as a Blaxploitation film, The Spook Who Sat By The Door is anything but that. Yes, it is a Black film but there is nothing exploitative about it. The film had an original budget of $757,000 with very little financial backing but gained support from everyday people who believed in the project. Black doctors, teachers, librarians etc all donated an initial $40k to help get the film off the ground. Very few Black millionaires at the time helped out but one name who seemed to always step in to help projects like this was Bill Cosby (who also helped to fund other Black films during that time). The 1973 film originally opened in 36 cities then pulled because of it’s political and pro-Black stances on uplifting of the people. The movie takes place in Chicago, yet was filmed in Wisconsin and Gary Indiana because of the then Chicago mayor, Richard J. Daley wouldn’t allow it.
The Spook Who Sat By The Door book has always been a must have in Black households but surprising (or not), Greenlee couldn’t get the book published in America so he took it to the UK where it was picked up and then later released in America. Greenlee would walk around the streets of Chicago giving the book away for free but would tell people it’s $20 for his signature.
In true Nostalgia King fashion, I had to bring along my rare original clamshell VHS copy of the film to be signed as well as the book. If you have a chance to see this amazing piece of film history, I highly recommend you doing so.