Across 110th Street is a 1972 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by Barry Shear and starring Yaphet Kotto, Anthony Quinn, Anthony Franciosa and Paul Benjamin. Adapted from the novel Across 110th by Wally Ferris, the film is set in Harlem, New York and takes its name from 110th Street, the traditional dividing line between Harlem and Central Park that functioned as an informal boundary of race and class in 1970s New York City. The film received negative critical reviews upon release for its violent content and perceived unoriginality, though modern critical and academic assessment of the film has been more positive. The film was the first to use an Arriflex 35BL camera, which enabled the extensive on-location shooting desired by Shear.

Plot

Ex-convict Jim Harris and his two accomplices attempt to rob a Harlem count house for the Mafia run by local black gangsters. The heist goes awry and Harris murders both the black gangsters and the white mobsters before fleeing and murdering two policemen as they escape. Word of the robbery reaches Don Gennarro, whose family holds territory in Harlem. Afraid that they will lose ground to the black gangsters, he sends his son-in-law and enforcer Nick to deal with the problem. Back in Harlem, Captain Frank Mattelli arrives at the scene and learns no one is willing to talk out of Omertà, distrust of police, bribery, or a combination of the three. Mattelli is a veteran of the Harlem area and prides himself on knowing it, but is prejudiced against blacks and violent with suspects. He meets the black Lt. Pope, a relatively inexperienced investigator, who informs him that the case is his. Mattelli protests before a superior pulls him and aside and informs him that Pope is leading the case for political reasons. Nick pays a visit to "Doc" Johnson, the head of the black mob in Harlem, to confront him over the lack of security during the robbery and declare his intentions to capture and torture the robbers. The two trade insults and Johnson tells Nick that it is unwise for Italians to come up to Harlem to murder black men. Johnson's henchman, Shevvy, makes rounds in the black community to solicit information from Jim's girlfriend Gloria (it is revealed later in the film that Jim formerly worked for Doc Johnson) and bribe bystanders into silence. Gloria confronts Jim about the money and demands he give it back, but Jim snaps at her that he is an ex-con with no education and that he would only be able to perform menial, servile jobs.