Hoodlum (film)
| Hoodlum | |
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 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Bill Duke |
| Produced by | Frank Mancuso, Jr. |
| Written by | Chris Brancato |
| Starring | Laurence Fishburne Tim Roth Vanessa Williams Andy García |
| Music by | Elmer Bernstein |
| Cinematography | Frank Tidy |
| Editing by | Harry Keramidas |
| Distributed by | MGM |
| Release date(s) | August 27, 1997 |
| Running time | 130 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $23,461,013 (USA) |
Hoodlum is a 1997 crime film that gives a fictionalized account of the gang war between the Italian/Jewish mafia alliance and the black gangsters of Harlem that took place in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The film concentrated on Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson (Laurence Fishburne), Dutch Schultz (Tim Roth), and Lucky Luciano (Andy García).[1]
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[edit] Plot
Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson is paroled from Sing Sing by the warden, who is impressed by Johnson's conduct while incarcerated, but believes Johnson does not regret committing the murder that sent him to prison. Johnson returns to Harlem and reunites with friends, most notably Illinois Gordon. Johnson is quickly established as a highly respected member of the community, and his friends include Stephanie "Madam Queen" St. Clair, who runs the numbers racket in Harlem despite competition from the Italian Mafia.
Dutch Schultz, a Mafia associate who reports to Lucky Luciano, asks to partner with the Queen, who declines the offer, as she disapproves of the violent tactics Schultz has taken to terrorize her customers. Friends with the chief of police, Schultz arranges for the Queen to be arrested, and the Queen asks Johnson to take charge of the business during her incarceration. The Queen instructs that Johnson avoid bloodshed, but Schultz's men grow increasingly violent.
Most of the film divides its attention between the mob war that results, and Johnson's relationships with other Harlem residents, most notably a romance with Red Cross nurse Francine Hughes. A key subplot centers around the increasingly antagonistic relationship between Schultz, who wants to become a boss in his own right, and Luciano, who is pressured by prosecutor Thomas Dewey to keep Schultz in check.
[edit] Cast
- Laurence Fishburne as Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson
- Tim Roth as Dutch Schultz
- Vanessa L. Williams as Francine Hughes
- Andy Garcia as Charles "Lucky" Luciano
- Cicely Tyson as Stephanie St. Clair/Madam Queen
- Chi McBride as Illinois Gordon
- Clarence Williams III as Bub Hewlett
- Richard Bradford as Captain Foley
- William Atherton as Thomas E. Dewey
- Loretta Devine as Pigfoot Mary
- Queen Latifah as Sulie
- Ed O'Ross as Lulu Rosenkrantz
- Mike Starr as Albert Salke
- Beau Starr as Jules Salke
- Paul Benjamin as Whispers
- Tony Rich as Duke Ellington
[edit] Historical Inaccuracies
At the beginning of a scene at Dutch's office, an onscreen title card reads "December, 1934." At the same time, a Yankees game is on the radio. A baseball game would have put the timeframe between April 1934-October 1934.
In reality, Bumpy Johnson did not beat Dutch Schultz for the numbers. He entered into a truce with Schultz. It involved he and Stephanie St. Clair paying the "tax" to Dutch and the Italian families, in order to continue to operate independently. The only sense of winning came from the murder of Schultz in 1935. The murder was arranged by Lucky Luciano and the Italian families. The reason for Dutch's killing had nothing to do with Johnson, "Madam Queen" or the Harlem numbers rackets. Ironically, Johnson ended up becoming a Genovese crime family enforcer for the Bronx and Harlem territories.
[edit] Soundtrack
A soundtrack containing hip hop and R&B music was released on August 12, 1997 by Interscope Records. It peaked at #94 on the Billboard 200 and #23 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
[edit] Reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 45 % of critics gave the film a positive review. Top critic Roger Ebert noted that "the film is being marketed as a violent action picture, and in a sense, it is"[2] and that director Bill Duke having made "a historical drama as much as a thriller, and his characters reflect a time when Harlem seemed poised on the brink of better things, and the despair of the postwar years was not easily seen on its prosperous streets."
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Hoodlum at the Internet Movie Database
- Hoodlum film trailer
- Hoodlum at Box Office Mojo
- Hoodlum (film) at Rotten Tomatoes
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