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A Review of ...
Mel "Big Ten" Groomes--
Then and Now
By Melvin H. Groomes
Mel "Big Ten" Groomes is 140 pages of
pure grit and determination. The Fore
word, written by his "cuzin," A. Leon
Higginbotham Jr., retired Third Circuit
Federal Court of Appeals Judge, de
scribed Mel as "tough, confident, and
seemingly unbeatable" even as a youth.
One of eleven children, Melvin H, Groomes
was born and grew up in Trenton, New
Jersey, which was primarily blue-collar
and segregated. He graduated from the
all-Black New Lincoln Junior High School
and Trenton Central High School, which
was integrated.
His athletic prowess in track, basketball,
baseball and football could have given
him an inflated ego [big head], but it did
not! His stardom continued at Indiana
University as a defensive half-back and
he was part of the 1945 Indiana University
Big Ten Championship Team. Mel was
one of the few Black Americans receiving
public plaudits and accolades for his ath
letic skills and character, when he played
for the Detroit Lions in the national Foot
ball League from 1948 to 1950.
As an aside, Mel was an excellent swim
mer although unpolished with his stroke
and kick. Most of the facts contained in
this review have been verified by one of
AOIP's resource persons and pro-bono
legal counsel, Attorney James Purdy, who
EDITORIAL NOTES
communities into our own “oases of hope"
for the good of all in America.
We encourage you to remember and be
particularly supportive (inyour buying hab
its) of the advertisers you see not only in
the National BLACK MONITOR, but also
in your local AOIP-cooperating newspa
pers wheneveryou are shopping for goods
and services. ,
attended the same segregated New Lin
coln Junior High School, the integrated
Trenton Central High School, the Boy's
Club, which was located at Reservoir and
Calhoun Streets, and who was also born
in 1927.
Mel's athietic career came to an end at
North Carolina A&T, where he taught,
coached, officiated at football, basketball
and baseball games and touched the life
of ayoung Jesse Jackson, now the good
"Reverend."
Today, Mel Groomes needs that grit,
determination and toughness more than
ever. He has suffered a stroke, heart at
tack, has diabetes, is visually impaired,
and is learning to walk on two artificial
legs!
Mel "Big Ten" Groomes--Then and Now
is a reading MUST! In the words of Judge
Higginbotham, "Mel's book must be read
as an important sociological document,
though written inthefirst person. ltteaches
us much, not only about the vagaries of
sports in the 1940's and 1950'5; it also
reveals the patent racial hostility and ra
cial denigration that existed within the
larger society.
Forsales information ofthis book, please
contact Atty. Purdy at (407) 333-3302.
All of our Black community-building or
ganizations and institutions are important
to our culture and economic growth. We
are particularly mindful of tithing to our
Black churches, as well as supporting
regularly the NAACP, NCNW, SCLC, Op
eration PUSH, our local Urban Leagues,
the United Black Fund of Anferica and Dr.
Leon Sullivan's International Foundation
for Education and Self-Help (IFESH).
Support Those Companies That Provide Jobs And Other Economic Benefits For Black Americans.
ooking Beyond The GODFATHER:
Two Other Classic Gangster Films
A SO SN
Carolyn's
CINEMA
NOTES
As Paramount Pictures celebrates
the 25th anniversary--and re-release
--of Francis Ford Coppola's Acad
emy Award winning masterpiece,
The Godfather*; and with the appar
ent resurgence of the gangster film
with the recent release of Tri-Star's
Donnie Brasco and the soon to be
released, Hoodlums (starring
Laurence Fishburne, Vanessa Will
iams and Andy Garcia) from MGM/
UA, this writer recommends youtake
a look at two films in the gangster
genre, which were not made in
America.
First up, is a gem from England
called The Long Good Friday. Directed
by John Mackenzie (The Fourth Pro
tocol), this 1981 drama centers on
crime boss Haroid Shand, whose
underworid empire violently deterio
rates one Easter weekend, not from
what he believes to be the work of
rival gangsters, but from an unseen
enemy whose final disclosure is all
too horrifying and ironically, human
izing. ,
The Long Good Friday introduced
American audiences to Bob Hoskins
(Mona Lisa; Who Framed Roger Rab
bit; Nixon). His galvanizing perfor
mance as the confident and self-as
sured mobster who plansto go *legit*
through an American connection, to
the desperate and cruel monster try
ing to salvage his operation, and then
finally, to the cornered and resigned
*The Godfather was honored, again,
in 1990 when it was selected by the
Library of Congress to be included in
the National Film Registry. More cov
erage about these particular Ameri
can films will be in future issues.
National BLACK MONITOR--April 1987
fatalist, is both spelibinding and heart
wrenching.
Backed by an intriguing supporting
cast that includes Helen Mirren
(Excaliber; The Mosquito Coast; PBS'
Masterpiece Theater's *Prime Sus
pect' series), Pierce Brosnan (Dante's
Peak; TV's "Remington Steele® and
the latest successor to the James
Bond film character franchise), Paul
Freeman (The Dogs of War, Raiders
of the Lost Ark; A World Apart), and
Eddie Constantine (S.O.S. Pacific;
Alphaville; Zentropa), The Long Good
Friday is a magnetic thriller one will
not soon forget.
The second is the 1989 cuilt classic
from Hong Kong, The Killer. Directed
by John Woo (Broken Arrow), this
Shakespearean-like tragedy dis
guised as an actionthriller isthe story
of an assassin who takes one last
assignment in order to pay for an
operation for alounge singer he acci
dentally blinded in a cross-fire. When
the job is not flawlessly carried out,
the devastating events which result
set the hitman against his gangster
employers and the police, his traitor
ous friend and a future ally; and a
race against time to get the singer
and himself out of the country before
it is too late.
The star of The Kiiler, Chow Yun-
Fat, is a charismatic actor, who re
portedly, is being groomed by Direc
tor Woo and others for American films.
After seeing this exceptional film, you
might wantto rent the 1992 film, Hard
Boiled, which s also directed by Woo
and stars Yun-Fat as a police inspec
tor out to avenge his partner's mur
der by the Triad. Aside from the pres
ence of Yun-Fat, the spectacular ele
ments of this film are the explosive
and hypnotic action sequences.
While the gangster film is usually
associated with the Hollywood ma
chine, viewing these motion pictures
certainly alerts one to the fact that
other countries can produce material
in this genre, and present it with a
fresh, original, and unique point of
view, and not dated.
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