1974 was a landmark year for film, a convergence of exciting international cinema and the original voices of New Hollywood that still resonates 50 years later. In our new series we invite a different guest for each episode to choose a 1974 movie to talk about, ranging from giant blockbusters to minor cult curios and everything else in between.

One of the more neglected films of the year was The Education of Sonny Carson, the coming-of-age tale of an inner city kid who moves from life with a street gang to fighting for survival during a stretch in prison. Directed by The Mack's Michael Campus and adapted by civil rights activist Sonny Carson from his autobiography, the film packs a more brutal punch than any movie from its time yet barely gets mentioned these days.

Marcus Pinn returns to discuss the film's curiously underwhelming reputation despite its decades-long legacy through hip hop music and influence on the next 50 years of cinema. Even with a messy aesthetic and muddled narrative, Campus' film is an unquestionably powerful artwork that captures individual struggle and the cruel reality of life in Bedford-Stuyvesant with the use of real locations and real Brooklyn gangs.

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Intro music: Unleash the Bastards / “Tea for Two”Outro music: Marcus Pinn / “Vegas"