In an interview with the 26 Aug 1962 NYT, independent filmmaker Shirley Clarke mentioned that her next project would be The Cool World, based on the 1955 novel by Warren Miller. She was currently scouting locations in the New York City village of Harlem. A news item in the 6 Mar 1963 Var reported that editing was underway, and that principal photography had been completed over a three-month period despite “difficulties” with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) over Clarke’s hiring of a non-union crew. It was also noted that the $200,000 project was the first cinematic venture for attorney-producer Frederick Wiseman. The 3 Sep 1963 NYT later estimated the budget at $250,000.
       The Cool World debuted 2 Sep 1963 at the Venice Film Festival with a running time of 125 minutes. It received a standing ovation and was nominated for the festival’s Golden Lion award, as noted in the 4 Sep 1963 NYT. Following its loss to the Italian film, Hands Over the City (1963), the 18 Sep 1963 Var reported that at least one Italian publication, Il Messaggero, decried the judges’ decision.
       Frederick Wiseman complained to the 16 Oct 1963 Var that many distributors were fearful of acquiring African-American themed films, believing they would not play in the Southern U.S. He disputed the preconception, saying that “a southern drive-in operator” was anxious to exhibit the picture. His own Wiseman Film Productions released the picture on 20 Apr 1964 at Cinema II in New York City, five days after it opened in Paris, France. Openings in the Los Angeles, CA, area followed on 26 Aug 1964 at the Los Feliz Theatre, and at the Esquire Theater in nearby Pasadena, CA. The 20 Aug 1964 Los Angeles Sentinel reported that jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie, who performed the musical score with Yusef Lateef, Aaron Bell, and Arthur Taylor, would make a speech at the Los Feliz debut, opposing California Proposition 14, a ballot measure that legalized housing discrimination. Proceeds benefitted the committee against the proposition. Although the measure won a majority of votes, it was deemed unconstitutional in 1966.
       Reviews were mixed: While the 11 Sep 1963 Var commended Clarke for her achievement, the 27 Aug 1964 LAT expressed disappointment, adding that African Americans were better qualified to make films about their people. In a 26 Apr 1964 NYT article about African American cinema, critic Bosley Crowther asserted that the picture did not “condemn the whites for the evident condition of the Negroes.” His opinion was disputed by Judith Crist in the 24 May 1964 LAT, who described the production as “a single-track indictment of the white world and a grimly bitter tale of tragedy.” The 20 May 1964 Var reported that the National Legion of Decency gave the film an “A-IV” rating, explaining that it could “not be indiscriminately recommended” due to its “stark realism in language and situations.”
       On 26 Oct 1965, DV revealed that the three “racial-themed” independent films of 1964, The Cool World, One Potato, Two Potato, and Nothing But a Man (see entries), had proven to be commercially successful.