Let’s Do It Again (1975)

Atlanta milkman Clyde Williams (Sidney Poitier) and his fast-talking factory worker friend Billy Foster (Bill Cosby) plan to take their wives to New Orleans on holiday.

At the same time, they are worried because their lodge, The Sons and Daughters of Shaka – of which Billy is the treasurer – is short of $50,000 for a new meeting place.

The resourceful pair conjures up a scheme to raise cash using Clyde’s skill as an amateur hypnotist to rig a boxing match.

Under hypnosis, they turn scrawny underdog Bootney Farnsworth (Jimmie Walker) – a pitiful prizefighter who has spent most of his professional career unconscious on the canvas – into a super-confident fighting machine and bet heavily on him, using the money they have accrued so far for the building fund.

He wins easily against the ferocious 40th Street Black (Rodolphus Lee Hayden) and they return to Atlanta with their money.

Unfortunately, the bookies and crooks who were conned figure out what happened and Biggie Smalls (Calvin Lockhart) and Kansas City Mack (John Amos) and their hoods show up in Atlanta with a grudge.

Denise Nicholas shines as Beth Foster (Cosby’s wife) and the always great Ossie Davis is Elder Johnson, the leader of the lodge.

This energetic comedy was the sequel to Uptown Saturday Night (1974). Cosby and Poitier would try it once more with A Piece Of The Action (1977), after which Poitier retired from acting and only made sporadic returns.

The soundtrack included music from Curtis Mayfield and vocal performances by the Staples Singers.

Clyde Williams
Sidney Poitier
Billy Foster
Bill Cosby
Biggie Smalls
Calvin Lockhart
Kansas City Mack
John Amos
Beth Foster
Denise Nicholas
Dee Dee Williams
Lee Chamberlin
Ellison
Mel Stewart
Jody Tipps
Paul Harris
Bootney Farnsworth
Jimmie Walker
Elder Johnson
Ossie Davis
Bubbletop Woodson
Julius Harris
Lt. Bottomley
Val Avery
Fish an’ Chips Freddie
Morgan Roberts
40th St. Black
Rodolphus Lee Hayden

Director
Sidney Poitier