Orion Pictures/American Zoetrope Pictures, 1984
Starring Richard Gere, Gregory Hines, Diane Lane, and Lonette McKee
Directed by Frances Ford Coppola
Music and Lyrics by various
Undaunted by his difficulties directing Finian's Rainbow in 1968, Frances Ford Coppola returned to musicals in the 1980's. His One from the Heart was a massive flop in 1982, and this did only slightly better. Production continued for the better part of five years. The movie went way over-budget well before Coppola picked the production up from its original producer Robert Evans, whose extravagant tastes ballooned costs to anywhere from 47 to 65 million, a record at the time. The movie went through at least 12 scripts before finally settling on one filmed during rehearsals. Coppola recut the film in 2015, and it's that version I'm basing this review on. Let's start onstage at The Cotton Club and find out why this movie ran into so much trouble...
The Story: Michael "Dixie" Dwyer (Gere) is a coronet musician drifting through life and jobs in the late 1920's. He finally gets a permanent position playing at the world-famous Cotton Club in Harlem, where blacks perform onstage but, at least initially, can't watch in the audience. Mobster Owney Madden (Bob Hoskins) is the owner who courts the rich, famous, and infamous, like fellow racketeer Dutch Schultz (James Renar). Dwyer falls for Renar's moll Vera (Lane), while his brother Vincent (Nicholas Cage) joins his mob. Madden eventually bankrolls Dwyer's career as a Hollywood star. Jealous, Schultz gives Vera her own club.
Meanwhile, Delbert "Sandman" Williams (Hines) and his brother Clayton (Maurice Hines) have joined the Cotton Club's revue as their newest dance act. Williams falls for singer Lila Rose Oliver (McKee), but the manager treats his performers badly and keeps interfering in their romance. There's also Lila's passing for white to perform in whites-only clubs. Sandman and Dixie become friends when Sandman's fast feet save Dixie from being shot...but Schultz may not survive the night of their big number together.
The Song and Dance: It's not hard to tell where those millions of dollars went. This is a lavish, if unsettling, look at a place and time where blacks and immigrants were just starting to be allowed into "polite" white society...and were tired of being told to keep their place. Along with amazing, period-accurate costumes and Oscar-winning sets, the stand-out here is the supporting cast. Look for Fred Gwynne of The Munsters as Owney's second in command, Broadway star Gwen Verdon as the Dwyers' mother, Jennifer Gray as their sister, Larry Fishburne as a black gangster who does not appreciate that racist Cotton Club manager's behavior, and Tom Waits as one of the mobsters.
If nothing else, I appreciate the restored numbers. Some of these are downright amazing, with some of the best tap dancing seen anywhere on film in the 1980's.
Favorite Number: The Hines Brothers get two great numbers in the beginning and end of the film as they show how they start off dancing perfectly together...and eventually realize they can still cut a fine rug as a pair. McKee is shown to great advantage in gorgeous versions of the ballads "Stormy Weather" and "Ill Wind" at the Cotton Club, both with dramatic interpretations against lit street lamps and dancers in flowing costumes. Hines gets a chance to show off his dexterous solo moves towards the end of the film with "Copper Colored Gal." Even Lane gets in on it, singing "Am I Blue?" at Vera's Club in a rather attractive voice; Gere joins her for a coronet solo. Larry Marshall, as a nifty Cab Calloway, scores with a dynamic "Minnie the Moocher" and "Lady With the Fan."
Trivia: Richard Gere did indeed do his own coronet playing.
Richard Pryor was originally cast as Sandman, but the already-inflated budget couldn't accommodate his salary.
Ironically, the movie did lead to a real-life murder. The vaudeville promoter Evans hired to do promotion for the movie was killed in 1983 by a drug dealer who resented being cut out of the profits from the movie. It also lead to lawsuits galore by investors who never saw their money back.
What I Don't Like: It's pretty obvious the movie was constantly re-written as it went along. The plot is confusing and annoying. I lost track of who everyone was and what was going on after a while. No wonder audiences in 1984 couldn't figure it out. It's also overlong, especially in the Encore recut. This did not need to be almost two and a half hours, even with the restored numbers. He may be able to burn up the coronet, but Gere is deadly dull as the musician whose career is buoyed by his association with organized crime, and Lane is even less interesting.
Even in the longer cut, there still isn't enough of the black side of the story. I'd love to see more of Lila's feelings on having to pretend to be white to sing in major clubs, how the black mobs finally pushed for racially-mixed audiences at The Cotton Club, and the relationship between Sandman, Clay, and Dwyer. The happy ending feels forced, too bright and cheerful for this relentlessly dark film. And note that "dark." There's a lot of blood, violence, gunplay, some mild sexual situations, and tons of swear words (including era-appropriate ethnic slurs). This movie really earns its R rating and is absolutely not for children.
The Big Finale: In the end, the dynamic numbers, colorful supporting cast, and elegant production more than made up for major script problems and the bland leads. Adults with time on their hands and who have any interest in the history of the 20's and 30's or the cast and can handle the violence level will find a great deal to enjoy here.
Home Media: The original cut is out of print on solo DVD, but the Encore Director's Cut is easily available on all formats. It's currently streaming for free on Pluto TV.
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