The Five Heartbeats (1991)

Director:

Robert Townsend

Writers (WGA):

Robert Townsend (written by) &
Keenen Ivory Wayans (written by)

Release Date:

29 March 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Plot:

The story of the rise and fall of an African American vocal group.

Plot Keywords:

African American | Rise And Fall | 1960s | Brother | Drugs

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Robert Townsend	...	Duck
Michael Wright	...	Eddie
Leon	...	J.T.
Harry Lennix	...	Dresser
Tico Wells	...	Choirboy
Diahann Carroll	...	Eleanor Potter
Harold Nicholas	...	Sarge
Tressa Thomas	...	Duck's Baby Sister
John Canada Terrell	...	Michael 'Flash' Turner
Chuck Patterson	...	Jimmy Potter
Hawthorne James	...	Big Red
Roy Fegan	...	Bird
Troy Byer	...	Baby Doll (as Troy Beyer)
Carla Brothers	...	Tanya Sawyer
Deborah Lacey	...	Rose
Theresa Randle	...	Brenda
John Witherspoon	...	Wild Rudy
Anne-Marie Johnson	...	Sydney Todd
Lisa Mende	...	Marcia Sayles
Bobby McGee	...	Leon
Don Barnes	...	Lester
O.L. Duke	...	Monroe
Lamont Johnson	...	Bobby Cassanova
Arnold Johnson	...	Mr. Matthews
Veronica Redd	...	Mrs. Matthews
David McKnight	...	Pastor Stone
Phyllis Applegate	...	Myra Stone
Paul Benjamin	...	Mr. King
Marilyn Coleman	...	Mrs. King
Norma Donaldson	...	Mrs. Sawyer
Harris Peet	...	Phil Shumway
Kasi Lemmons	...	Cookie
Monique Mannen	...	Sandra Tillman
Suzanne Suter	...	The Crystals
Gigi Bolden	...	The Crystals
Kathleen Mitchell	...	The Crystals
Ron Jaxon	...	The Ebony Sparks (as Ron Jaxson)
Recoe Walker	...	The Ebony Sparks
Wayne 'Crescendo' Ward	...	The Ebony Sparks
Gregory 'Popeye' Alexander	...	The Midnight Falcons
Bobby Mardis	...	The Midnight Falcons (as Bob Mardis)
Jimmy Woodard	...	The Midnight Falcons
Brian Bradley	...	The Five Horsemen
Michael Conn	...	The Five Horsemen (as Mike Conn)
Barry Diamond	...	The Five Horsemen
Carl Edwards	...	The Five Horsemen
Joey Gaynor	...	The Five Horsemen
Roger Rose	...	The Five Horsemen
James Anderson	...	Big Red's Guys
Fred Asparagus	...	Big Red's Guys (as Freddie Asparagus)
Randy Harris	...	Big Red's Guys (as Randy 'Roughhouse' Harris)
Al Simon	...	Big Red's Guys
Tammy Townsend	...	Matthew's Kids
Shannon Chambers	...	Matthew's Kids
Devin C. Huff	...	Matthew's Kids
Lakisha Luke	...	Matthew's Kids
Jeannel Phillips White	...	Matthew's Kids
Kamar Phillips White	...	Matthew's Kids
Brandon Wright	...	Matthew's Kids
Christopher Bradley	...	Theater Security
Aaron J. Galang	...	Theater Security
Harry Stanback	...	Speakeasy Guy
Tiffanique Webb	...	Speakeasy Girl
Eugene Robert Glazer	...	David Green (as Eugene Glazer)
Timmie Rogers	...	Buddy Lewis
Craig Eisner	...	Jimmy's Doorman
Tommy Redmond Hicks	...	Pastor Blake
David Drummond	...	Policeman
Griff Ruggles	...	Policeman
Joel Weiss	...	St. George Hotel Doorman
Regina McLeod	...	Jackie
Shanel Cason	...	J.T.'s Little Girl
Jimmy Jackson	...	Little Duck
Alexis Johnson	...	Little Girl
John Pittman	...	Hitman
Vincent J. Isaac	...	Hitman (as Vince Isaac)
Ron Smith	...	Poker Player
Frank Fontaine	...	Poker Player
Donnie Simpson	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sam Dobbins	...	Jimmy potters doorman (as Craig Eisner)
Robin Ray Eller	...	Heartbeat Dancer (uncredited)
Eddie Griffin	...	Ventriloquist (uncredited)
Michael Peters	...	(uncredited)
Gina Ravera	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Townsend

Writing credits (WGA)
Robert Townsend		(written by) &
Keenen Ivory Wayans		(written by)

Produced by
Kokayi Ampah	....	associate producer
Loretha C. Jones	....	producer
Christina Schmidlin	....	associate producer
Robert Townsend	....	producer

Original Music by
Stanley Clarke

Cinematography by
Bill Dill

Film Editing by
John Carter

Production Design by
Wynn Thomas

Art Direction by
Don Diers

Set Decoration by
Susan Raney
Samara Schaffer

Costume Design by
Ruth E. Carter

Makeup Department
Susan A. Cabral	....	makeup artist: Diahann Carroll
Frank Fontaine	....	assistant hair stylist
Arthur Johns	....	hair stylist for Diahann Carroll
June Josef	....	assistant makeup artist
LaLette Littlejohn	....	assistant makeup artist
Edna Sheen	....	makeup artist (as Edna Mae Sheen)
Ronald W. Smith	....	key hair stylist (as Ron Smith)
Laini Thompson	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Nancy Israel	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sandra M. Middleton	....	second assistant director
Joel Wang	....	dga trainee
Richard A. Wells	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Carl Aldana	....	storyboard artist
Kai Blomberg	....	set dresser (as Kai Blumberg)
Will Blount	....	property master
Christopher Carlson	....	key set dresser
Carol Lee Davis	....	scenic artist
Jennifer Dawson	....	on-set dresser
Leslie Sue Dicker	....	scenic artist (as Leslie Dicker)
Robert Eviangelisto	....	set dresser: swing
Pat Garling	....	assistant art director
Wendy Gayner	....	scenic artist
Michael Gooch	....	carpenter
James Hurd	....	set dresser
Tim James	....	set dresser: swing
Cindy Johnson	....	buyer
Cindy Johnson	....	set dresser
Anton Karprow	....	carpenter
Erik Knight	....	art department coordinator
Jeffrey Kushon	....	lead person (as Jeff Kushon)
Stacy Lande	....	scenic artist (as Stacey Lande)
Glenn Matayoshi	....	property assistant
Roger Nall	....	scenic artist
Brian Polk	....	set dresser: extra swing
Michael Reinhart	....	construction coordinator
Chris Santini	....	carpenter
Karen Sorum	....	scenic artist
Michael P. Sweeney	....	set dresser (as Michael Sweeney)
Judith Wyle	....	draftsperson
Kevin Taylor	....	scenic painter (uncredited)

Sound Department
Sara Bolder	....	dialogue editor
Lynn Bopeley	....	boom operator
David Brownlow	....	production sound mixer
Tom Caton	....	boom operator (as Huckleberry Caton)
Dan Engstrom	....	assistant sound editor
Frank E. Eulner	....	assistant sound editor
Ken Fischer	....	sound effects editor
Rob Fruchtman	....	dialogue editor
J.R. Grubbs	....	assistant sound editor
Jane Hudson	....	adr typist
Richard Hymns	....	supervising sound editor
Donna Jaffe	....	assistant sound editor
Tom Johnson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Mary Helen Leasman	....	foley editor
Brad Marshall	....	sound: video crew
Marnie Moore	....	foley artist
Tom Myers	....	foley recordist
Michael Silvers	....	dialogue editor
Gary Summers	....	sound re-recording mixer
Dennie Thorpe	....	foley artist (as Dennis Thorpe)
Christina Tucker	....	adr mixer (as Chris Tucker)
James Allen	....	sound re-recordist (uncredited)

Stunts
John Branagan	....	stunts
Alonzo Brown Jr.	....	stunts
Harold Burns	....	stunts
Bob K. Cummings	....	stunts
Gregg Dandridge	....	stunts
Mike De Luna	....	stunts
Greg Wayne Elam	....	additional stunt coordinator
Ousaun Elam	....	stunts
Jimmy Lewis Jr.	....	stunts
Irving E. Lewis	....	stunts
Rusty McClennon	....	stunts
Mark Orrison	....	stunts
Rick Seaman	....	stunts
John Sherrod	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Art Adams	....	additional second assistant camera
Brian Adams	....	additional second assistant camera
Dasal Banks	....	camera operator: video crew
Brian Bernstein	....	additional first assistant camera
Findlay Bunting	....	additional first assistant camera
Joseph W. Calloway	....	camera operator
Philippe Carr-Forster	....	additional camera operator
Richard Clarkson	....	first assistant camera
Michelle Colbert	....	electrician
Ken Fisher	....	assistant Steadicam operator
Warren Fox	....	electrician
Aaron J. Galang	....	grip
Vincent Galindez	....	additional first assistant camera
Kirk R. Gardner	....	Steadicam operator
Alan Gitlin	....	additional first assistant camera
Mark Gutterud	....	additional first assistant camera
Emil Hampton	....	assistant Steadicam operator
Elisha Harris	....	gaffer
Wendell Harris	....	swing electrician
Chris Hayes	....	additional camera operator
Frank James	....	electrician
Frank James	....	rigging gaffer
Stephanie F. Johnson	....	electrician
Stan Keitt	....	second assistant camera
Bob Leitelt	....	grip
Cliff Lipson	....	additional still photographer
Willie Mann	....	best boy grip
Mike Moad	....	dolly grip
Donald O'Hare	....	video assist operator
Marie Pedersen	....	first assistant camera
Les Percy	....	key grip
Brian T. Pitts	....	additional second assistant camera
Mark Rappaport	....	grip
Eli Reed	....	unit photographer
John Simmons	....	additional camera operator
Adam Milo Smalley	....	playback operator (as Adam Smalley)
Charles Smith	....	grip
Kathina Szeto	....	additional second assistant camera
Suzanne Tenner	....	additional still photographer
Anthony Troy	....	swing electrician
Joe Viles	....	additional still photographer
O'Shana Walker	....	best boy electric (as Oshanna Walker)
Riccardo Walker	....	swing electrician
Philip Alan Waters	....	additional camera operator (as Phil Waters)
Bob Witkowski	....	additional still photographer
Tom Yatsko	....	additional first assistant camera
Elizabeth Ziegler	....	Steadicam operator

Casting Department
Michael G. Abrams	....	casting associate: New York
Chemin Sylvia Bernard	....	casting associate
Darin D. Brown	....	casting assistant
Victor David	....	extras casting assistant
C. Josetta Evans	....	extras casting assistant
Sarah Hyde Hamlet	....	additional casting associate: New York (as Sarah Hyde-Hamlet)
Dwayne Hargray	....	extras casting assistant
Barbara Harris	....	adr voice casting
Robyn M. Mitchell	....	casting assistant
Marti Reese	....	extras casting assistant
Ima Sumac Rosario	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Darlene Jackson	....	wardrobe supervisor
Darryle Johnson	....	costumer
John Lemons	....	costumer (as John K. Lemons)
Sharlene Williams	....	costumer
Ceci	....	assistant costume designer (uncredited)
April Hunter	....	costumer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Glenn Bell	....	post-production assistant
Mia Farrell	....	post-production assistant
Joanne Higgins	....	post-production assistant
Kevin Lindstrom	....	assistant editor
Donald Rounds	....	editorial production assistant
Rex Stewart	....	assistant editor
Darrell Upshaw	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Terry Coffey	....	composer: additional music
Jeff Marsh	....	orchestrator
David Slusser	....	music editor
Adam Milo Smalley	....	music editor (as Adam Smalley)
Brad Gilderman	....	music mixer (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Ted Basso	....	production van driver
Greg Bauer	....	driver
Louise Del Araujo	....	driver
D.J. Gardiner	....	driver
Krister C. Johnson	....	driver
Chaz Merriam	....	driver
Griff Ruggles	....	transportation coordinator
Danny Westerberg	....	driver
Craig Williams	....	driver
Terry York	....	driver: honeywagon
Jason Belsky	....	transportation captain (uncredited)

Other crew
David L. Aaron	....	title designer
Matthew R. Altman	....	production assistant
Kokayi Ampah	....	location manager
Chris Bradley	....	stand-in
Benita Brazier	....	script supervisor
Effie Brown	....	intern
Yule Caise	....	betacam director
Frank Claridge	....	police
Marsha Cole	....	production assistant
Cleo Conder-Smith	....	executive assistant to Ms. Jones
The Dells	....	technical advisors
Rodney Dennis	....	craft service
Wanda Earl	....	executive assistant to Mr. Townsend
Antonio Franchi	....	fueler
Antonio Franchi	....	mechanic
Beverlyn Fray	....	production assistant
Edgar Godineaux	....	assistant choreographer
Diane Gutterud	....	production office coordinator
Lota Hairston-Hadley	....	production assistant
Robert Heine	....	stand-in
Cliff Howard	....	stand-in
Carol Hunt	....	production assistant
Graig Hutchison	....	production auditor
Terry Jackson	....	intern
Judy Johnson	....	craft service
Neil Kundworth	....	production assistant
Lucy Kwak	....	intern
Kojo Lewis	....	co-location manager
Jonas C. Matz	....	medic
Regina McLeod	....	production assistant
Sharon Park	....	intern
Mathew Pearson	....	intern
Brian Peterson	....	graphics assistant
John Pitman	....	stand-in
Pamela Poitier	....	assistant location manager
Carlos Ramírez	....	location assistant
Harry Stanback	....	security officer
Allison Stovall	....	intern
Suzanne Suter	....	director: vhs video
Dennis E. Tindall	....	police
Lili Ungar	....	publicist
Robert Wayne Vaupel	....	assistant production office coordinator
Recoe Walker	....	production assistant
Dee Watkins	....	stand-in
Earl West	....	assistant location manager
Martine White	....	assistant location manager

Thanks
Solomon J. LeFlore	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1991) (USA) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD) (15th Anniversary Edition)
• Abril Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for language

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The scene where Big Red beats up and dangles a singer out of a window over royalties is alleged to have actually happened to Jackie Wilson.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Duck and his sister are singing "We Haven't Finished Yet", she sings "We can't let go", but her mouth doesn't follow the "Oh no, no" on the track.

Quotes:

Eddie:Can't nobody sang like Eddie King Jr!

Movie Connections:

References "New American Bandstand 1965" (1952)

Soundtrack:

Ready or Not, Here I Come

Answer About Racism

The movie was not intended to create an atmosphere of racism, but rather keep the movie in prospective given the era of it's setting. Many artist in those days were subjected to unfair treatment by the mainstream record labels in those days. Here are a few examples:

1. Frankie Lyman and The Teenagers were a group that was comprised of numerous ethnicities. One member of the group who Chris Montes (who was latino), was cut from the group by the label's producer because he was too ethnic. Chris Montes did later go on to record a few hits of his own such "Do You Want To Dance".

2. American Bandstand which first in 1952 played mostly Rock and Roll which, was pioneered and played by mostly black artist. However, it wasn't until 1957 that Johnny Nash, Jackie Wilson, and other African American singers performed on the show.

3. The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Dells, and many other such groups were restricted to playing all black venues during the 50's and early 60's in the south. This gave rise to would later become know as "The Chitterling Circuit", as the venues were mostly nightclubs, and juke-joints. These artist received harrassment from local law enforcement agencies, and townspeople on a regular basis whenever they came to the highly segregated south.

As far the scene where the record company brings a white group called The Four Horsemen, that's not really a stretch. Most of the time what would happen is that a black group would write or even release a song to the black audience, while the record company would have that same song "covered" by a white group to be released to the "mainstream" audience. The covered version of these songs were the ones that normally got air play from disc jockeys. The best example I can give of that is the 1955 hit by The Platters "Only You (And You Alone)". This song was released on Mercury Records, while one of their subsidiary labels Dot Records released a covered version of the same song by a group called The Hilltopper's who hailed from Western Kentucky College (all white school...segregation you know.) The Hilltopper's version of Only You hit number eight on the pop charts six weeks after the release of the Platters version. The Platters version however reached number on the R&B charts, and crossed over to the pop charts were it number five. A few months later in 1956 The Platters hit #1 on the pop charts with The Great Pretender, which was covered by Stan Freberg in the same year without the same success.

All of that is to say that the movie has its facts straight about what black artist went through in those days, but it's about much more than that. It's about the rise, fall, and resurrection of a talented group, and the proof that love and friendship can withstand all of life's ups and downs.