Critic’s Pick: ‘The Harder They Come’

Can it really be 40 years since “The Harder They Come” made its American debut? It can be so, and it’s a pleasure to have an anniversary reissue of this Jamaican epic playing at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. Directed by Perry Henzell and starring Jimmy Cliff as a country boy who gets into trouble in the big city, “The Harder They Come” is the film that introduced reggae to a wider world. Featured artists on the soundtrack include Cliff, the Maytals, the Slickers and Desmond Dekker singing soon-to-be classics such as “You Can Get It If You Really Want,” “Rivers of Babylon,” “Sweet and Dandy,” “Johnny Too Bad” and the title song. A great destination for a hot summer night.