Movies / The Cotton Club (1984)
Runtime: 127 min
Countries: USA
Combining electric song and dance performances with drama (both on and off screen), Francis Ford Coppola's The Cotton Club (1984) looks back to the 1920s-1930s peak of the legendary Harlem nightclub where only blacks performed and only whites could sit in the audience. Mixing historical figures with characters loosely based on actual people, Coppola and co-writers William Kennedy and The Godfather's Mario Puzo create a panorama of love, crime, and entertainment centered on the Club. Among them are cornet player Dixie Dwyer (Richard Gere, playing his own solos), who escapes psycho gangster "benefactor" Dutch Schultz (James Remar) for a George Raft-type Hollywood career as a gangster film star; Schultz's nubile mistress Vera Cicero (Diane Lane), who loves Dixie against her mercenary instincts; Cotton Club Mob owner Owney Madden (Bob Hoskins) and close associate Frenchy Demarge (Fred Gwynne); Vincent (Nicolas Cage), Dixie's no-good Mad Dog Coll-esque brother; Club tap star Sandman Williams (Gregory Hines), who woos ambitious light-skinned Club singer Lila Rose Oliver (Lonette McKee); and cameos by Charles "Honi" Coles and Cab Calloway impersonator Larry Marshall. Complementing the period story, Coppola evokes the style of '30s gangster movies and musicals through an array of old-fashioned devices like montages of headlines, songs and shoot-outs. Conceived by producer Robert Evans as his crowning achievement and directorial debut, Evans had to hand over the troubled production to Coppola, but the budget spiraled out of control as the script was repeatedly re-written throughout the chaotic shoot. By the time it was released, The Cotton Club's epic production story of power struggles, financial bloat, and even a murder overshadowed the "reunion" of The Godfather's creative team. Neither a Heaven's Gate-sized failure nor a wallet-saving hit like Coppola's Apocalypse Now, The Cotton Club got some favorable critical notices (although it drew fire for subordinating the African American stories). It did not, however, find a large enough audience to justify its expense and controversy, becoming another mark against 1970s "auteur" cinema in increasingly blockbuster-driven 1980s Hollywood. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
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Directors (1) | Credit |
---|---|
Francis Ford Coppola | (as Francis Coppola) |
Writers (4) | Credit |
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Francis Ford Coppola | (story) (as Francis Coppola) and |
Jim Haskins | (pictorial history "The Cotton Club") (as James Haskins) (suggestion) |
Mario Puzo | (story) |
William Kennedy | (story) & |
Composers (1) | Credit |
---|---|
John Barry | ... |
Editors (2) | Credit |
---|---|
Barry Malkin | ... |
Robert Q. Lovett | ... |
Cinematographers (1) | Credit |
---|---|
Stephen Goldblatt | director of photography |
Actors (148) | Credit |
---|---|
Alde Lewis | Dancer |
Alexis Wilson | Dancer |
Alice Anne Oates | Dancer (as Alice Anne Oakes) |
Allen Garfield | Abbadabba Berman |
Ann Duquesnay | Dancer |
Anne Palmer | Dancer |
Antonia Pettiford | Dancer |
Bella Jarrett | ... |
Benny Clorey | Dancer (as Benny Clory) |
Bernard Manners | Dancer |
Bernard Marsh | Dancer |
Bill Cobbs | Big Joe Ison |
Bill Graham | J.W. |
Bob Hoskins | Owney Madden |
Brian Tarantina | Vince Hood |
Bruce Hubbard | Bumpy Hood |
Bruce MacVittie | Vince Hood |
Bubba Gaines | Hoofer |
Carla Earle | Dancer |
Charles 'Honi' Coles | Suger Coates |
Charles Young | Hoofer |
Christina Kumi Kimball | Dancer |
Christopher Lewis | Child in Street |
Cisco Drayton | Dancer |
Damien Leake | Bub Jewett |
Danielle Osborne | Child in Street |
Daria Hines | Child in Street |
Dave Jackson | Dancer |
David McHarris | Dancer |
Dayton Allen | Solly |
Debbie Fitts | Dancer |
Delores McHarris | Dancer |
Demetrius Pena | Child in Street |
Diane Lane | Vera Cicero |
Diane Venora | Gloria Swanson |
Donald Williams | Dancer |
Ed O'Ross | Monk |
Ed Rowan | Messiah |
Ed Zang | Hotel Clerk (as Edward Zang) |
Ethel Beatty | Bandana Babies Lead Vocal / Dancer |
Frederick Downs Jr. | Sullen Man |
Fred Gwynne | Frenchy Demange |
Gail Kendricks | Dancer |
Gary Thomas | Dancer |
George Cantero | Vince Hood |
George Coutoupis | Gangster (uncredited) |
George Hillman | Hoofer |
Giancarlo Esposito | Bumpy Hood |
Glenn Withrow | Ed Popke |
Gregory Hines | Sandman Williams |
Gregory Rozakis | Charlie Chaplin |
Gwen Verdon | Tish Dwyer |
Harold Cromer | Hoofer |
Henry LeTang | Hoofer |
Henry Phace Roberts | Hoofer (as Henry 'Phace' Roberts) |
Howard 'Sandman' Sims | Hoofer |
Ivery Wheeler | Dancer |
Jackée Harry | Dancer |
Jacquelyn Bird | Dancer |
James 'Buster' Brown | Hoofer |
James Remar | Dutch Schultz |
James Russo | Vince Hood |
Janet Powell | Dancer |
Jan Mickens | Tip, Tap & Toe |
Jason Papalardo | Child in Street |
Jennifer Grey | Patsy Dwyer |
Jhoe Breedlove | Dancer |
Jimmy Slyde | Hoofer (as Jimmy Slide) |
Joe Dallesandro | Charles 'Lucky' Luciano |
Joe Lynn | Marcial Flores |
John Cafiso | Child in Street |
John P. Ryan | Joe Flynn (as John Ryan) |
Julian Beck | Sol Weinstein |
Julie Pars | Dancer |
Karen DiBianco | Dancer |
Karen Wadkins | Dancer |
Kiki Shepard | Dancer |
Kimberly Dorsey | Joan Blondell (uncredited) |
Kim Chan | Ling |
Kirk Taylor | Cotton Club Waiter (uncredited) |
Larry Marshall | Cab Calloway |
Laurence Fishburne | Bumpy Rhodes (as Larry Fishburne) |
Leonard Termo | Danny |
Leslie Caldwell | Dancer |
Linda Gillen | (voice) |
Lisa Jane Persky | Frances Flegenheimer |
Lonette McKee | Lila Rose Oliver |
Luther Fontaine | Tip, Tap & Toe |
Lydia Abarca | Dancer |
Marc Coppola | Ted Husing |
Mario Van Peebles | Dancer |
Mark Margolis | Charlie Workman (uncredited) |
Mary Beth Kurdock | Dancer |
Maurice Hines | Clay Williams |
Melanie Caldwell | Dancer |
Naylon Mitchell | Busboy (uncredited) |
Nicholas J. Giangiulio | Screen Test Thug (uncredited) |
Nicolas Cage | Vincent Dwyer |
Ninon Digiorgio | Child in Street |
Norma Jean Darden | Elda Webb |
Novella Nelson | Madame St. Clair |
Oscar Barnes | Spanish Henry |
Patricia LeTang | Child in Street |
Paula Lynn | Dancer |
Paul Herman | Policeman #1 |
Priscilla Baskerville | 'Creole Love Call' sung by |
Ralph Brown | Hoofer |
Randle Mell | Policeman #2 |
Renee Rodriguez | Dancer |
Richard Gere | Dixie Dwyer |
Rick Washburn | Hitman (uncredited) |
Rima Vetter | Dancer |
Robert Earl Jones | Stage Door Joe |
Robin Harmon | Dancer |
Ron Karabatsos | Mike Best |
Rony Clanton | Caspar Holstein |
Rosalind Harris | Fanny Brice |
Ruddy L. Garner | Dancer (as Ruddy Garner) |
Ruthanna Graves | Dancer |
Sandra Beall | Myrtle Fay |
Sarita Allen | Dancer |
Scott Crawford | Gangster (uncredited) |
Sheri Cowart | Dancer (as Sherri Cowart) |
Shirley Black-Brown | Dancer |
Skip Cunningham | Tip, Tap & Toe |
Sofia Coppola | Child in Street (as Domino) |
Sonya Hensley | Dancer |
Stan Tracy | Legs Diamond's Bodyguard (uncredited) |
Steve Cafiso | Child in Street |
Steve Vignari | Trigger Mike Coppola |
Susan Mechsner | Gypsie |
Suzanne Kaaren | The Duchess of Park Avenue (uncredited) |
Sydney Goldsmith | Barbecue Bess sung by |
Terri Griffin | Dancer |
Thelma Carpenter | Norma Williams |
Tom Signorelli | Butch Murdock |
Tom Waits | Irving Stark |
Tracey Bass | Dancer |
Tracey Ross | Dancer |
Tucker Smallwood | Kid Griffin |
Valarie Pettiford | Dancer |
Vincent Jerosa | James Cagney (as Vincent Jerosa) |
Vody Najac | Dancer |
Vya Negromonte | Dancer (as Viewma Negromonte) |
Wendy Edmead | Dancer |
Woody Strode | Holmes |
Wynonna Smith | Winnie Williams |
Zane Mark | Duke Ellington |