William A. Graham's Together Brothers (1974) was shot on a shoestring budget in Galveston, Texas and populated almost exclusively by non-actors. It's a dark and uncompromising slice of inner-city drama framed by the murder of a well-liked police officer known by the locals as "Mr. Kool" (Ed Bernard). His death has only one witness: five year-old Tommy (Anthony Wilson), who manages to escape and spends the next few days in a trace-like state. One of the only people to get through to Tommy is H.J. (Ahmad Nurradin), a young man who runs with a gang of four other kids that, like most of the other locals, respected the fallen officer. Naturally, they want justice: the police, strangely enough, seem less than motivated to pursue a handful of suspects...so H.J. and company pick up the slack.

Not surprisingly, the mysterious cop killer isn't an outsider. He's somebody that the boys might even know personally, but several of the suspects are either dead-ends or refuse to cooperate. Nonetheless, it isn't long before the mystery unravels, additional blood is spilled, and Together Brothers manages to squeeze in plenty of suspense during its occasionally slowed down 93-minute lifespan. Grounded in realism despite occasional detours into absurdity, it's a well-acted but scruffy depiction of 1970s inner-city life with a few over-the-top thrills mixed in for good measure.

As a whole, Together Brothers' lead and supporting performances are strong for non-actors and/or general unknowns, while the film's lived-in appearance and natural dialogue make the viewing experience feel a great deal more realistic than expected. Things go a little off the rails on several brief occasions, however: from the villain's multiple corner-lurking pursuits to his final reveal (which, let's face it, is extremely insensitive but obviously made in a much different time), he almost operates on a different plane than everyone else. Still, he's ultimately portrayed in something of a sympathetic light, and Lincoln Kilpatrick's performance is committed and electric at times. The mystery and its resolution also falls a little too neatly into place near the end as well. But as a whole, Together Brothers delivers the goods, at least enough to make this relatively obscure slice of 1970s cinema worth revisiting 41 years later.

If you've seen Together Brothers before, it's probably been that long, too. I couldn't dig up any evidence of a home video release during the last few decades, which makes Fox's "Cinema Archives" DVD-R release all the more appealing to old and new fans alike. It comes equipped with a strong A/V presentation but only one extra, though films like this stand up fairly well on their own two feet. But I wonder what those young boys are up to now?

Fox serves up a perfectly good 1.85:1 transfer here, boasting a solid amount of image detail and very few items to complain about. Together Brothers' warm and natural color palette holds up with no bleeding, while contrast levels and subtle touches of film grain are consistent from start to finish. Dirt and debris are occasionally present but not distracting. This is a single-layer DVD-R but compression problems aren't an issue, especially since it's virtually a movie-only affair. Overall, a dependably good presentation that nostalgic fans will appreciate; even more so since this appears to be the film's home video debut and it probably won't earn another physical media release.

The audio is presented in its original Dolby Digital mono format and defaults to a two-channel spread; there's a decent amount of depth at times, but it sounds pretty much like you'd expect for a drama from the mid-1970s. Dialogue and background effects are well-balanced and don't fight for attention, while Barry White's excellent soundtrack offers a few touches of subtle (and not-so-subtle) ambiance along the way. Defects are minimal and likely related to the source material, including a few small sync issues and very slight hissing at times. Unfortunately, optional English subtitles are not included, which makes some of the conversations tough to decipher if you don't speak jive.

William A. Graham's Together Brothers remains a watchable slice of mid-1970s drama; it feels like a blaxploitation film on the surface (and is usually categorized as such), but this production was definitely made with a broader audience appeal in mind. The film's over-the-top thrills and larger-than-life villain don't always mesh well with its lived-in depiction of unsentimental inner-city life, but this is still a valuable time capsule stacked with solid performances. At the very least, it's an accessible entry point if you're new to the genre. Fox's "Cinema Archives" release grants Together Brothers its long-overdue home video debut...and though the bonus features are limited to a trailer, its rock-solid A/V presentation will delight those who haven't seen this in decades. Mildly Recommended.