Hoodlum (1997)

Black gangsters in 1930 Harlem fights Dutch Schultz who is trying to horn in on their numbers racket.

Director:

Bill Duke

Writer:

Chris Brancato

Stars:

Laurence Fishburne, Tim Roth, Vanessa Williams

7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Laurence Fishburne	...	Bumpy Johnson
Tim Roth	...	Dutch Schultz
Vanessa Williams	...	Francine Hughes
Andy Garcia	...	Lucky Luciano
Cicely Tyson	...	Stephanie St. Clair
Chi McBride	...	Illinois Gordon
Clarence Williams III	...	Bub Hewlett
Richard Bradford	...	Captain Foley
William Atherton	...	Thomas Dewey
Loretta Devine	...	Pigfoot Mary
Queen Latifah	...	Sulie
Mike Starr	...	Albert Salke
Beau Starr	...	Jules Salke
Paul Benjamin	...	Whispers
Joe Guzaldo	...	Bo Weinberg

Storyline

The film focuses on the war of two gangs in 1930s Harlem for the control of illegal gaming - one headed by black strategic godfather Bumpy Johnson and another by white ruthless hothead Dutch Schultz. Negotiations proposed by white syndicate boss Lucky Luciano never get under way, blood flows and Johnson gets jailed. When Johnson is paroled, he gets the work of enforcer for mighty Stephanie "The Queen" St. Clair. She is also jailed for racketeering and when she leaves she makes him promise "no violence".

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Plot Keywords:

1930s | gangster | great depression | street shootout | irish american | 

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Taglines:

Power is measured in enemies.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for graphic ganster violence, strong language, a scene of sexuality and some nudity

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 August 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gangster

Filming Locations:

Between Cermak Road & 23rd Street, Michigan Avenue, Near South Side, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,162,768, 1 September 1997, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$23,461,013, 9 November 1997

Company Credits

Production Co:

United Artists

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

DTS DTS-Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In this film, actor David Darlow portrays Lucky Luciano's accountant, Johnny. Darlow played Lucky Luciano in The Untouchables: Attack on New York (1993).

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Goofs

Charles Lucky Luciano pronounced his name: Lucy-ano. And that's how everyone pronounced it. It is not pronounced Luchi-ano (closer to the correct Italian pronunciation) as in this film.

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Quotes

Dutch Schultz: I remember the days when you could get a guy hit for 40 bucks.
Mike Salke: We live in inflationary times

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Movie Portrayals of Real Life Gangsters (2014)

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Soundtracks

Torna A Surriento
Written by Giambattista De Curtis (as G.B. DeCurtis) and Ernesto De Curtis (as E. DeCurtis)

User Reviews

"New Jack City" meets "The Untouchables"

A solid, well-to-do flick, "Hoodlum" is a good film trying to

live up the dying genre of the 1930's gangster flick. Laurence

Fishburne is in top form as Bumpy, an ex-con from Sing Sing who

becomes a big time ganglord in Harlem. While not tackling

enemies such as Dutch Schultz (Tim Roth) and Lucky Luchiano

(Andy Garcia), Bumpy romances his girl Francine (the fine

Vanessa Williams). Packed with machine gun-toting violence,

"Hoodlum" has the cool style of modern day crime thrillers such

as "New Jack City" and the sneering Al Caponeish look of the old

style