Sparkle (1976)

A girl group experiences turmoil after one of their members turns to drugs and another achieves their desired fame all by herself.

Director:

Sam O'Steen

Writers:

Howard Rosenman (story), Joel Schumacher

Stars:

Philip Michael Thomas, Irene Cara, Lonette McKee

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Philip Michael Thomas	...	Stix
Irene Cara	...	Sparkle
Lonette McKee	...	Sister
Dwan Smith	...	Delores
Mary Alice	...	Effie
Dorian Harewood	...	Levi
Tony King	...	Satin
Beatrice Winde	...	Mrs. Waters
Paul Lambert	...	Moe
Joyce Easton	...	Lee
Otis Day	...	Ham
Norma Miller	...	Doreen
Talya Ferro	...	Miss Taylor
Bob Delegall	...	Mr. Daniels
Armelia McQueen	...	Tune Ann

Storyline

Three sisters (Sister and the Sisters) from Harlem become singers. Sister (Lonette McKee) becomes involved with drugs, while Sparkle (Irene Cara) ends up being the one who gets famous. This film tells of how drugs ruin Sister's relationships and eventually end her life. It is also about the relationship between Sparkle and Stix (Philip Michael Thomas).

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Plot Keywords:

drugs | singer | girl group | fame | alcoholism | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 April 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blysk

Filming Locations:

Stage 24, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Robert Stigwood Organization (RSO), Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Stix is working in the record store, the year is 1958, but there is a 1960 Coasters LP, "One On One" that is clearly present in the front of the store.

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Quotes

Effie: [Effie comes in and hears a hallway door close] Delores? Is that you?
Delores: Yeah, Mama.
[coming in the front room with a suitcase]
Effie: Where you going?
Delores: I'm leaving, Mama.
Effie: You're leaving for where?
Delores: I'm leaving and I'm going away.
Effie: What do you mean?
Delores: I mean... I can't live like this anymore, Mama. I gotta find another way.
Effie: Well, whatever troubles you got here
[...]

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Connections

Edited into Afro Promo (1997)

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Soundtracks

"Giving Up"
Written by Van McCoy
Performed by Lonette McKee

User Reviews

Low-Budget, Pre-"Dreamgirls" Curio Has Some Good Moments and Mayfield's Music...But It's Not Nearly Enough

Just in time to capitalize on the long-awaited movie version of "Dreamgirls" is the DVD release of this semi-forgotten 1976 musical melodrama that also takes the rise of the Supremes as its inspiration. Released five years before the Broadway opening of "Dreamgirls" and partially set in the same period, it has a predominantly black cast and a story revolving around an up-and-coming girl group, and that's where the resemblance basically ends. Written by Joel Schumacher well before he became a big-league director of mainstream studio product ("Batman Forever", "The Phantom of the Opera"), this movie seems grittier on the surface. True to form, however, Schumacher weakens the storyline and character development by injecting an abundance of clichés and eye-rolling one-liners. With little affinity for staging musical numbers, Sam O'Steen, a highly regarded film editor but neophyte director, helms the production like a low-budget TV-movie with a frustratingly episodic structure.

The story follows three Harlem sisters - sexy Sister, self-righteous Delores and sweet Sparkle - as they sing in the church choir, meet smooth-talking but well-intentioned boys Stix and Levi, and then find their first taste of success as a singing group - first as a sweater-wearing quintet called the Hearts and then as a glitzy trio known as Sister and the Sisters. But naturally there are problems beyond the silly name for the group - Sister gets involved with nasty drug dealer Satin Struthers who beats her and turns her into a cocaine junkie; Levi goes to prison for getting caught in a drug pick-up for Satin; Stix gets frustrated by failure and unwisely turns to some Jewish mobsters for financial help; Delores just gets plain fed up; and poor little Sparkle has to decide what kind of future she wants. A big plus is that R&B great Curtis Mayfield wrote the atmospheric songs, some catchy and one, "Look Into Your Heart", a real winner.

The solid cast does its best under the contrived circumstances. Lonette McKee's valiant attempt to make Sister a tragic figure is undercut by some of the ham-fisted plot turns, including a sad Billie Holliday-like turn at the mike. Before they hit it big on primetime TV, Philip Michael Thomas and Dorian Harewood portray Stix and Levi with boyish vitality if not much credibility. The best work comes from Mary Alice in a relatively silent turn as the girls' patient mother and a pre-"Fame" Irene Cara who effortlessly exudes sincerity in the title role (though her costumer and hair stylist should be shot for the hideous look she achieves in the final scene). The DVD just comes with the original theatrical trailer complete with an unctuous voice-over by DJ Casey Kasem and a bonus CD of five of the film's songs performed not by the original cast but by Aretha Franklin off her 1976 recording of the soundtrack. It's not a terrible movie, just an interesting if lacking curio that happens to cover the same ground as "Dreamgirls".