The Harder They Come

Ivan Martin (Jimmy Cliff), a young Jamaican from the countryside, arrives in Kingston where he hopes to get away from the extreme poverty in his small town, enjoy a better life, make money, and become a recording star. Things do not come easily as he hopes when his belongings are stolen. Ivan finds it impossible to find work in the capital city and has no better luck begging for money on the streets. He ends up living in an wrecked car and working as a handyman for a local church preacher (Basil Keane). The preacher fires Ivan when he discovers that Ivan has been seeing his ward Elsa (Janet Bartley) behind his back. When Ivan goes to claim his bicycle, he finds that the other church handyman is claiming it for himself. They get into a fight and Ivan slashes him with a knife. Ivan is arrested, taken to a local prison, and whipped. Sometime later, Ivan gets out of prison and goes to live with Elsa. Ivan goes to see Hilton (Bobby Charlton), Jamaica's top record producer, to let him record a song that he wrote during his imprisonment titled 'The Harder They Come'. Hilton likes what he hears, but only gives Ivan $20 for all the rights. Believing Ivan to be a troublemaker because he complained about the low fee, Hilton releases the record but doesn't promote it. Because Ivan needs money, he agrees to work for local drug dealer Jose Smith (Carl Bradshaw) in the island's great ganja (marijuana) trade. The local police let ganja business continue because they get a small share of the profits. Ivan resents having to pay $15 each week to Jose, who acts as a middle man. When Ivan refuses to pay one day, Jose arranges for him to be set up. Against his Rastafarian friend Pedro's (Ras Daniel Hartman) objections, Ivan had brought a gun, and when a policeman tries to arrest him while he is making his drug run, Ivan kills the cop. Ivan then goes after Jose, aware that he double-crossed him. Ivan kills several more policemen and even shoots and kills Jose's girlfriend. At this point, Ivan has become famous. His record single 'The Harder They Come' has become a local smash hit and he is a local folk hero, battling the corrupt police and drug dealers. Detective Ray Jones (Winston Stona), the police detective in charge of his case, closes down the drug trade, hoping the dealers will help him find and arrest Ivan. Pedro arranges a boat passage for Ivan to travel to Cuba to hide out. Ivan waits for two days on a beach for the boat to come. Meanwhile, Detective Jones and the police arrest and beat Pedro to get him to tell them were Ivan is, but he will not talk. Elsa, who is upset that Ivan was mueling and selling drugs in the first place when he lied to her by telling her that he was making money by fishing, returns to the preacher and he calls the police. Back on the beach, Ivan falls asleep and misses the boat. The police arrive en masse on the beach. Ivan remembers a bloody western film that he saw some time ago during which the audience cheered a local hero who gunned down many foes. He steps out of hiding and challenges the police and soldiers to a gunfight. Ivan is shot down and killed by the authorities.