The Cotton Club (1984)

The Cotton Club was a famous night club in Harlem. The story follows the people that visited the club, those that ran it, and is peppered with the Jazz music that made it so famous.

Director:

Francis Ford Coppola

Writers:

William Kennedy (screenplay), Francis Ford Coppola (screenplay),

Stars:

Richard Gere, Gregory Hines, Diane Lane

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Gere	...	Dixie Dwyer
Gregory Hines	...	Sandman Williams
Diane Lane	...	Vera Cicero
Lonette McKee	...	Lila Rose Oliver
Bob Hoskins	...	Owney Madden
James Remar	...	Dutch Schultz
Nicolas Cage	...	Vincent Dwyer
Allen Garfield	...	Abbadabba Berman
Fred Gwynne	...	Frenchy Demange
Gwen Verdon	...	Tish Dwyer
Lisa Jane Persky	...	Frances Flegenheimer
Maurice Hines	...	Clay Williams
Julian Beck	...	Sol Weinstein
Novella Nelson	...	Madame St. Clair
Laurence Fishburne	...	Bumpy Rhodes (as Larry Fishburne)

Storyline

The Cotton Club was a famous night club in Harlem. The story follows the people that visited the club, those that ran it, and is peppered with the Jazz music that made it so famous.

---

Plot Keywords:

jazz | orchestra | ethnic hatred | flapper | drive by shooting | 

---

Taglines:

Where crime lords rub elbows with the rich and famous!

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Music

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

14 December 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cotton Club

Filming Locations:

5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$58,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$25,900,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zoetrope Studios, PSO International, Totally Independent

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min 123 min (video)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to producer Robert Evans, Richard Pryor originally cast as Sandman Williams but the budget could not accommodate his salary.

---

Goofs

When Dixie goes to ransom Frenchy there is a different amount of shaving cream on Mad Dog's face in every shot.

---

Quotes

Dixie: What do they call you?
Sol Weinstein: Nobody calls me nothin'.
Dixie: Not even your mother?
Sol Weinstein: I didn't have a mother. They found me in a garbage pail.

---

Connections

Referenced in The Great Gatsby (2013)

---

Soundtracks

"Mood Indigo"
Words and Music by Duke Ellington / Irving Mills and Albany Bigard
Piano Solos: Mark Shane
Trumpet Solo: Dave Brown
Clarinet Solo: Bob Wilber

User Reviews

The most underrated movie of all-time!!

Forget all the behind the scene's politics; Francis Ford Coppola's dazzlingly stylish, THE COTTON CLUB is certainly one of his best efforts. A movie that deserves it's place alongside other Coppola masterpieces such as, THE GODFATHER and APOCALYPSE NOW.

But the legacy of this film is very strange: The behind the scenes shenanigans is legendary, it was unjustly panned when it was first released, and box-office was slight; however, watching this film you can't help but wonder why?

Everything from the performances to the look of the film is first-rate; with James Remar particularly good as Dutch Schultz, and the ending of this film is nicely reminiscent of THE GODFATHER.

So if your looking for what might be considered a buried Coppola classic, check out THE COTTON CLUB.