In 1972, director-writer Perry Henzell released his Jamaican crime flick “The Harder They Come” with singer-songwriter Jimmy Cliff — then, a burgeoning reggae star — as its anti-hero le…
In 1972, director-writer Perry Henzell released his Jamaican crime flick “The Harder They Come” with singer-songwriter— then, a burgeoning reggae star — as its anti-hero lead actor. For his menacing cinematic debut, Cliff provided the lion’s share of the film’s riveting soundtrack, with lilting songs such as “You Can Get It If You Really Want” and the movie’s title tune.
“Justine Henzell, the daughter of director Perry Henzell, had seen my play ‘TOPDOG/UNDERDOG’ back in 2002 when we were on Broadway for the first time,” says Parks, the new musical’s book writer. “Justine tells me that she knew immediately I’d be the perfect writer to adapt her father’s film. Of course, I already knew the music, and when I watched the film, my first thought was ‘Oh, my people are so beautiful.
“What initially comes to mind when you say ‘50 years’, is having Perry, the director, come and interview me with the script in his hand,” Cliff tellsfrom his home in Miami. “After we were finished that first meeting, he was satisfied that I was the right person to do his movie.” Considering that the majority of Cliff’s music up to that time spoke of peace and love, how did acting and singing as Ivanhoe on the song “The Harder They Come” suit him?
When it came to his instantly anthemic title tune, Cliff wanted to convey the deepest recesses of his Ivanhoe character, a man who would rather die a free man than live as a slave. “The idea of having something come hard and fall harder – you know, that resonated with me, really stuck with me.”
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