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The Harder They Come is a 1972 Jamaican crime film directed by Perry Henzell. The film stars reggae singer Jimmy Cliff, who plays Ivanhoe Martin, a character based on Rhyging, a real-life Jamaican criminal who achieved fame in the 1940s. Other major roles in the film were played by Janet Bartley (Elsa), Basil Keane (Preacher), the late Ras Daniel Hartman (Pedro), Beverly Anderson, who eventually married Michael Manley who became the Prime Minister of Jamaica (Upper St. Andrew Housewife), the late Bob Charlton (Hilton), Jamaican actor Volair Johnson (Pushcart Boy), and well known Jamaican... MORE

The Harder They Come is a 1972 Jamaican crime film directed by Perry Henzell. The film stars reggae singer Jimmy Cliff, who plays Ivanhoe Martin, a character based on Rhyging, a real-life Jamaican criminal who achieved fame in the 1940s. Other major roles in the film were played by Janet Bartley (Elsa), Basil Keane (Preacher), the late Ras Daniel Hartman (Pedro), Beverly Anderson, who eventually married Michael Manley who became the Prime Minister of Jamaica (Upper St. Andrew Housewife), the late Bob Charlton (Hilton), Jamaican actor Volair Johnson (Pushcart Boy), and well known Jamaican comedians Ed 'Bim' Lewis (Photographer), and Aston 'Bam' Winter (drunken husband). The Harder They Come was released in February 1973 in New York City by Roger Corman's New World Pictures to little attention. It became more popular when it was played to midnight audiences nationwide the following April. The film is referenced in the Clash songs "The Guns of Brixton" and "Safe European Home". In 2005, it was developed into a stage musical by the Theatre Royal Stratford East and UK Arts International in the UK. Written and adapted by Henzell, it opened on 25 March 2006 boasting not only the original LESS