Cotton Club [WS] DVD

The Cotton Club
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, All Movie Guide

Cast Richard Gere as Dixie Dwyer Gregory Hines as Sandman Williams Diane Lane as Vera Cicero Lonette McKee as Lila Rose Oliver Bob Hoskins as Owney Madden James Remar as Dutch Schultz Nicolas Cage as Vincent Dwyer Allen Garfield as Abbadabba Berman Fred Gwynne as Frenchy Demange Lisa Jane Persky as Frances Flegenheimer Maurice Hines as Clay Williams Julian Beck as Sol Weinstein Novella Nelson as Madame St. Clair Tom Waits as Irving Stark Wynonna Smith as Winnie Williams Charles "Honi" Coles as Sugar Coates Larry Marshall as Cab Calloway Woody Strode as Holmes

Crew David Chapman - Art Director Gregory W.M. Bolton - Art Director Melissa Prophet - Associate Producer Gretchen Rennell - Casting Gregory Hines - Choreography Henry Le Tang - Choreography Michael Meacham - Choreography Michael Smuin - Choreography Arthur Mitchell - Choreography Fred Roos - Co-producer Sylvio Tabet - Co-producer Milena Canonero - Costume Designer Judianna Makovsky - Costume Designer Francis Ford Coppola - Director Barry Malkin - Editor Robert Q. Lovett - Editor Dyson Lovell - Executive Producer Barrie M. Osborne - Line Producer John Barry - Composer (Music Score) Richard Dean - Makeup Michael Stone - Camera Operator Richard Sylbert - Production Designer Stephen Goldblatt - Cinematographer Robert Evans - Producer George P. Gaines - Set Designer Les Bloom - Set Designer Connie Brink - Special Effects William Kennedy - Screen Story Mario Puzo - Screen Story Francis Ford Coppola - Screenwriter William Kennedy - Screenwriter Mario Puzo - Screenwriter Richard Shissler - Assistant Costumer Designer Elizabeth Shelton - Assistant Costumer Designer

The Cotton Club
(not reviewed)
 

Barry Malkin: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Editing (nominated) Francis Ford Coppola: Golden Globe, Best Director (nominated) George P. Gaines: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Art Direction (nominated) Les Bloom: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Art Direction (nominated) Richard Sylbert: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Art Direction (nominated) Robert Q. Lovett: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Editing (nominated)

Golden Globe, Best Picture - Drama (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: English, French Subtitle Options: French, Spanish Sound Processing: 5.1: 5 full-range channels. Includes 3 for the front speakers, 2 surround channels for rear speakers, & 1 low-frequency effects (LFE) channel to carry deep bass effects 1: PCM mono Additional Features: New Digital Transfer Deleted scenes Original theatrical trailer DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1: Theatre Wide-Screen MPAA Rating: R DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 129 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 0. Scene Selections 1. Title/Dancing Girls [3:05] 2. Jam At Bamville [6:40] 3. Big Plans Afoot [6:15] 4. Music And Murder [11:51] 5. "Cotton" ing On [14:24] 6. Their Master's Voice [2:49] 7. Hot Hoofing [4:21] 8. Making Whopee [8:11] 9. Ill Winds [9:31] 10. Sandman's Plan [2:22] 11. No Passing Fancy [1:41] 12. Don't Madden Madden [9:09] 13. Deep-Six Dutch? [14:19] 14. Hard-Boiled Truth [10:39] 15. "For Your Fantasy!" [7:43] 16. End Credits [9:58]