Crossroads (1986)

Ralph Macchio is Lightning Boy. A kid who can make a slide guitar sing. Blind Dog is an old pro who knows it. Together, they're headed to a place where deals are made. And legends are born.

Director:

Walter Hill

Writer:

John Fusco

Stars:

Ralph Macchio, Joe Seneca, Jami Gertz

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ralph Macchio	...	Eugene Martone
Joe Seneca	...	Willie Brown
Jami Gertz	...	Frances
Joe Morton	...	Scratch's Assistant
Robert Judd	...	Scratch
Steve Vai	...	Jack Butler
Dennis Lipscomb	...	Lloyd
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Bartender
John Hancock	...	Sheriff Tilford
Allan Arbus	...	Dr. Santis
Gretchen Palmer	...	Beautiful Girl / Dancer
Al Fann	...	Pawnbroker
Wally Taylor	...	O.Z
Tim Russ	...	Robert Johnson
Tex Donaldson	...	John McGraw

Storyline

Eugene is an extraordinary talent in classic guitar, but he dreams of being a famous Blues guitarist. So he investigates to find a storied lost song. He asks the legendary Blues musician Willie Brown to help him, but Willie demands to free him from the old-people's prison first and to really learn the blues on the way to its origin: Mississippi Delta. Eugene doesn't know yet about Willie's deal with the devil, that he now wants to revoke.

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Plot Keywords:

guitar | mississippi | song | legend | deal with the devil | 

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Taglines:

'The Kid' keeps the legend alive....

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Mystery | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 March 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Encruzilhada

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$5,839,031 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Black and White (partial) Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Fender Telecaster Ralph Macchio carries along his hobo trek in the second half of the film is a 1970s CBS Fender with block lettering on the headstock. Very realistic for the film because not only were they affordable and easy to acquire (in the 1980s, that is), their heavy polyurethane finish made them near impervious to the tests of the road, as seen when Macchio and Seneca are walking through the rain, sleeping in barns, abandoned shacks and the outdoors. You could take a CBS Telecaster covered with snow, plug it in and it would play perfectly.

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Goofs

When Eugene is walking up to the stage for the guitar duel at the end, we hear the sound of hard-soled shoes on the wooden floor. But in wide shots we see that he is wearing the same Nike tennis shoes that he's had on for the whole movie.

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Quotes

Frances: Blind Dog and Lightning Boy? Who the hell are you guys supposed to be?
Eugene Martone: We're bluesmen...
Willie Brown: *I'm* the bluesman, he's from Long Island!

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Connections

Referenced in On the Waterfront: Episode #1.6 (1988)

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Soundtracks

"HEAD CUTTIN' DUEL"
Written and Performed by Steve Vai and Ry Cooder

User Reviews

Macchio, music and the blues

I feel something for Ralph Macchio, and it is not love. The first time I ever saw his face, I can swear it inspired greatness. Then he talked, he act, he spread his talents all around, and no person can deny he was a natural. The character he created and developed in the first three "Karate Kids" (the first one is one of my favorite films) was sing of commitment and skill.

I was experiencing the hilarious "My cousin Vinny" the other day and he played another original character, being that one of his last important roles. Maybe what I feel is compassion because he couldn't make it as an elder man, and I really wanted to watch him grow. Maybe I miss his first and few big breaks, where he literally knocked me down; one of those being "Crossroads".

He was 25 at that time, but still had that 17-year old look, where you would have said: "Wow, he's 17 and in main role"…Well, I'd have said that. "Crossroads" is an inspiring tale about life and music; blues. It was not the first time that a filmmaker tried to relate music with life. I have personally never had doubts about it, because music is life for me; but in this film, for writer John Fusco it was about growing up, understanding the gift and use it for good.

Macchio portrayed Eugene Martone, a naive guy, gifted guitar player, crazy driven by the magic of blues. The love for music makes our mind think unconsciously about getting far, being big; and Eugene wants to go to Mississippi to get his chance, but needs someone who knows Robert Johnson's lost melody, knows the way, and has even lived it, if you know what I mean. In this story, that character is blues master Willie Brown (a tremendous Joe Seneca), now forgotten in an asylum, probably crazy (although he says he isn't but some brilliant sequences show him out of place) and without his car. But Eugene will get him out of there and they'll both start that journey together.

What happens next, including the various stops, problems, Ralph Macchio's wonderful guitar playing abilities and encounter with beautiful girl Frances (radiant and talented Jami Gertz) is for the viewer to discover. Now, how the title relates it's touching and interesting, but where director Walter Hill triumphs (and this is something that should never be forgotten for music movies nowadays) is in knowing that the story is there. The heart of his film lies in the development of the kid's and the old man's relationship.

When we now see movies about music that sometimes don't even have a clue "musically" and most of the times there is music to promote an artist in the film, because he/she sings; in Hill's "Crossroads" and in the relationship I was talking about, the discussions, conversations, walks and even music playing, hide some of life's deepest interrogations. And I regret saying blues is always the same, because even when it is, it is one of those musical styles, like jazz, that not many listen but when they do discover their power. It's in the eyes of the musicians when they play where you can see it; they love being in that scenario, and that's just magical.