It was the height of the Blaxploitation era—films like Shaft, Superfly and Cleopatra Jones had all paved the way for an unprecedented wave of films about the violent and corrupt vicissitudes of African American life. And then, in 1975, came Cooley High, a sweet coming-of-age film about the intimacies of four male friends growing up in Chicago’s notorious Cabrini Green projects in the 1960s. The film, riding a classic Motown soundtrack, turned the corner on sensationalizing stereotypes and dared to show life in the hood in its bittersweet complexity, with humor, friendship, solidarity and love balancing out the violence and dead ends. Drawn directly from writer Eric Monte’s own life, Cooley High brought a new kind of realism to the screen. Directed by Michael Schultz, who would go on to direct Car Wash, The Last Dragon and other iconic films, Cooley High was shot in the projects of Chicago, with a cast consisting mainly of local non-pros who rose to the moment and gave the film a special kind of truth. Meanwhile, a pair of aspiring Hollywood actors—Glynn Turman and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs— made star-turns that launched both of their careers. In this exciting, fun-filled episode of Unsung Hollywood, Turman and Hilton-Jacobs go back on-location in Chicago and share a behind-the-scenes glimpse into some of their favorite scenes. The episode also features extensive interviews with director Schultz and many other actors and crew-members who helped make this much-loved, ground-breaking film.