reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (12/28/84)
"The Cotton Club" is one of the most enjoyable films of the
year, and it's just
a pity that it won't make any money. At around $40 million in
production costs, "The Cotton Club" had to get out of the gate
fast and keep going that way for a long time. It's made some mo-
ney, but prospects don't look too good. All of you folks bitch-
ing about "Dune" and "2010" and "Starman" should do Francis Ford
Coppola a favor and spend $2.50 or so to see his movie. I think
you'll like it.
The Cotton Club was one of America's most famous nightclubs
in the 20s and 30s. Most of the greatest black entertainers of
the day played there, to all white audiences who came down to
Harlem to slum. Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway were frequent
performers there, as were some of the best dancers and singers of
the era. "The Cotton Club" uses the nightclub as a backdrop for
a tale of gangsters and entertainers. Dixie Dwyer (Richard Gere)
is a white cornet player who makes the unintentional mistake of
saving Dutch Schulz's life. Schulz takes a liking to him, in his
psychopathic way, and recruits Gere's brother (Nicholas Cage) as
a stooge. Gere himself is put on the payroll to escort Schulz's
newest floozie (Diane Lane) and perform odd jobs. He quickly
finds himself embroiled in Schulz's violent and crazy world, with
no way out. To make matters worse, he and Lane fall in love.
Meanwhile, tap dancer Gregory Hines and his brother are hired by
Owney Madden (Bob Hoskins), a more amiable and reasonable gang-
ster who runs the Cotton Club. Hines quickly sheds his brother
to pursue a solo career, and takes up with a beautiful singer
(Lonetta McKee) who is trying to pass for white so that she can
make it to Broadway. There is a great deal more plot, mostly
presented in the manner of a tapestry. The various plot strands
may be only peripherally related, but Coppola and his co-
screenwriter, novelist William Kennedy, make each strand so in-
teresting that I didn't mind an early lack of cohesion. By the
end of the film, they manage to wrap things up quite nicely.
Plot isn't what's important to "The Cotton Club", though it
is handled well enough. Character and atmosphere carry the film.
The Cotton Club itself is practically the main character in the
film. Coppola returns to it again and again, each time showing
us a classic instrumental number, or a sizzling tap dance, or a
jazz or blues standard. In fact, by number of songs performed
and their quality, "The Cotton Club" qualifies as a musical, and
a very good one, in the modern style.
The lavish sums of money spent on "The Cotton Club" have ob-
viously gone in large part to achieve meticulous and beautiful
period detail. The Roaring Twenties in New York are convincingly
recreated. My only criticism of the physical presentation is that
I am beginning to get the impression that, prior to World War
Two, all of life occurred in soft focus, warm lighting, and sub-
dued earth tones. This stereotypical way of photographing the
past is getting a bit shopworn for me, even if it is Coppola's
forte. Didn't they ever have bright, clear, sunny days back
then? Of its type, the photography is lovely, and there are some
very nicely lit scenes, particularly a love scene between Gere
and Lane in which light streaming through a wire mesh onto their
naked bodies not only creates a beautiful effect, but appropri-
ately symbolizes their characters' plights. Few directors are
capable of even thinking up such a shot, much less effectively
executing it.
The second major strength of "The Cotton Club" lies in its
characters and the performances of the actors. One of a show biz
team dumping the other is a real Hollywood chestnut, but Gregory
Hines really did it to his brother Maurice, and their recollec-
tions of the experience bring new life to the cliche. Coppola has
found a good way to make use of Richard Gere's basic passivity,
and Gere brings just enough fire to the role to convince us that
circumstances hold him down, not character flaws. James Remar is
chilling as Dutch Schulz. His sudden outbursts of rage and
violence are a counterpoint to the more stable mobsters Coppola
displayed in his Godfather films. Here, crime is a disease, not
a family business. On the other hand, Bob Hoskins' Owney Madden
and Fred Gwynne's Frenchie (Owney's partner) give us the gangster
as vaudevillean. Their banter and cameraderie conceal ruthless-
ness which Coppola and Kennedy only reveal indirectly. They're
fine fellows if you don't make trouble for them, but they'll kill
you if you get too much in their way. Julian Beck, one of the
fathers of American experimental theater, is very fine in a small
role as Schulz's bodyguard. Gwen Verdon, Nicholas Cage, Lonetta
McKee, and Diane Lane are all good in their supporting roles, as
is the rest of the very large cast. Coppola's films rarely
suffer from poor acting, and "The Cotton Club" is no exception.
"The Cotton Club" is definitely a Coppola film, and a good
one. Most of what is good about it is at least partially his do-
ing, and all of its few flaws can be traced back to Coppola.
Seeing some of the other Christmas films, which were apparently
made by men who have little sense of how a camera can be used to
tell a story and create a mood, makes me appreciate Coppola all
the more. The film's somewhat scattershot approach is also
characteristic of Coppola's reluctance to part with any of the
good stuff he has come up with. Two or three less subplots would
probably have made for a better film. The expense of the film is
also classic Coppola. You can always see where the money went on
a Coppola film, and it's hard to say that he should have cut this
or done without that to save on costs, but his frequently astro-
nomical budgets usually hurt him in the end, by making him too
expensive for studios to hire. Coppola was interested in direct-
ing the forthcoming "Agnes of God", but after seeing him flood
"The Cotton Club" with money, the studio decided to entrust it to
the less talented but more disciplined Norman Jewison. Coppola
is also a walking controversy machine, and the gossip and
lawsuits which surrounded "The Cotton Club" must have had a nega-
tive impact.
Finally, though, all other difficulties aside, Coppola's
talent can make him worth the bother. This is certainly the case
with "The Cotton Club". There is a sequence towards the end of
the film which is probably the finest piece of editing I've seen
in the last ten years. The editor deserves much credit, but I
have no doubt at all that it is Coppola's montage, Coppola's
idea. Coppola's gifts as a writer and director make "The Cotton
Club" one of the high points of this year in film. It isn't
quite a masterpiece, but it is a lot of fun.
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiherjpexg@mit-hermes.ARPA (John Purbrick) (12/31/84)
> All of you folks bitching > about "Dune" and "2010" and "Starman" should do Francis Ford > Coppola a favor and spend $2.50 or so to see his movie. I think > you'll like it. I saw "The Cotton Club" last Friday, and enjoyed it in spite of its violent nature (great dancing!) but it wasn't $2.50, it was $4.75. At that rate, 10,526,316 people will have to see the film before breakeven point.
reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (01/02/85)
When you see as many films as I do, you can't afford to spend $4-$5 per film.
Over the past 5 years or so, I can't recall more than half a dozen occasions when
I spent more than $3. Almost everywhere I've lived, you can see first run
movies in good theaters cheaply if you
go at the right times or if you buy discount tickets (sold by most universities
and large companies, as a fringe benefit). I advise all movie lovers to do a
little research locally to find out how
to save money on movies.
As far as "The Cotton Club" making profits goes, Robert Evans and Coppola only
wish they just needed 10 million or so people to make a profit. As I think I've
mentioned before, common wisdom says that a film must make 2-3 times its negative
cost to show a profit, due to the theater owners' cut, advertising and print costs, interest on borrowed money, and all
the other mysterious and dubious vagaries of Hollywood financing. Things don't
look good for "The Cotton Club".
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiherphaedrus@eneevax.UUCP (The Sophist) (01/02/85)
Did anyone notice in the movie "The Brother From Outer Space" has a scene in
the begining in which they show the/a Cotton Club? It is the scene in which
The Brother first enters Harlem.
BTW, if anyone hasn't seen this movie yet, GO SEE IT. It is a superb example
of small can be beautiful. Compared to trash like DUNE, this is a gem.
--
Pravin Kumar
Don't bother me! I'm on an emergency third rail power trip.
ARPA: phaedrus!eneevax@maryland
UUCP: {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!eneevax!phaedrusecl@ahuta.UUCP (e.leeper) (01/03/85)
REFERENCES: <2977@ucla-cs.ARPA>, <215@eneevax.UUCP> > BTW, if anyone hasn't seen this movie yet, GO SEE IT. It is a superb example > of small can be beautiful. Compared to trash like DUNE, this is a gem. > > Pravin Kumar > Small?!? This film (THE COTTON CLUB) cost $40 million! (Which, by the way, is just about what the final figure on DUNE was.) I liked THE COTTON CLUB, but small it ain't. Coppola stands to lose a bundle on this film--one reviewer even went so far as to compare it to HEAVEN'S GATE (which I haven't seen). But it sure beats DUNE for quality. Evelyn C. Leeper ...{ihnp4, houxm, hocsj}!ahuta!ecl
ecl@ahuta.UUCP (e.leeper) (01/03/85)
REFERENCES: <2977@ucla-cs.ARPA>, <215@eneevax.UUCP>, <307@ahuta.UUCP>
Oops! On re-reading the original, I see that the author probably meant that
THE BROTHER FROM OUTER SPACE was small, not THE COTTON CLUB. This is probably
true.
I got confused by the "Subject:" line, which said "The Cotton Club."
Folks, have pity on those of us who read this stuff when we're not awake, and
change the "Subject:" line if appropriate and avoid ambiguous antecedents for
pronouns. Thanks. (This is not a grammar flame.)
Evelyn C. Leeper
...{ihnp4, houxm, hocsj}!ahuta!eclnancy@enms2.UUCP (Nancy Werlin) (01/03/85)
In article <> phaedrus@eneevax.UUCP (The Sophist) writes: >Did anyone notice in the movie "The Brother From Outer Space" has a scene in >the begining in which they show the/a Cotton Club? It is the scene in which >The Brother first enters Harlem. > >BTW, if anyone hasn't seen this movie yet, GO SEE IT. It is a superb example >of small can be beautiful. Compared to trash like DUNE, this is a gem. > >-- > Pravin Kumar > Slight correction: I believe the movie to which you refer is actually called "The Brother From Another Planet"; it is directed by (and even features, in a small role) John Sayles ("Return of the Secacus Seven"). I entirely agree: SEE IT! --Nancy Werlin EnMasse Computer
phaedrus@eneevax.UUCP (The Sophist) (01/07/85)
OOPS! sorry folks, I meant Brother From Another Planet NOT Brother
From Outer Space. (Outer Space?).
--
Pravin Kumar
Don't bother me! I'm on an emergency third rail power trip.
ARPA: phaedrus!eneevax@maryland
UUCP: {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!eneevax!phaedrus