Summary
Harlem's legendary Cotton Club becomes a hotbed of passion and violence as the lives and loves of entertainers and gangsters collide.
Cast
Richard Gere
Richard 'Dixie' Dwyer
Gregory Hines
Delbert '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
Otto '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
John P. Ryan
Joe Flynn
Tom Waits
Irving Stark
Ron Karabatsos
Mike Best
Glenn Withrow
Ed Popke
Jennifer Grey
Patsy Dwyer
Wynonna Smith
Winnie Williams
Thelma Carpenter
Norma Williams
Charles 'Honi' Coles
Suger Coates
Larry Marshall
Cab Calloway
Joe Dallesandro
Charles 'Lucky' Luciano
Diane Venora
Gloria Swanson
Tucker Smallwood
Kid Griffin
Marc Coppola
Ted Husing
Robert Earl Jones
Stage Door Joe
Sofia Coppola
Child in Street
Tracey Ross
Dancer
Mario Van Peebles
Dancer
Ed O'Ross
Monk
Frederick Downs Jr.
Sullen Man
Woody Strode
Holmes
Bill Graham
J.W.
Dayton Allen
Solly
Kim Chan
Ling
Ed Rowan
Messiah
Leonard Termo
Danny
Brian Tarantina
Vince Hood
Bruce MacVittie
Vince Hood
James Russo
Vince Hood
Giancarlo Esposito
Bumpy Hood
Rony Clanton
Caspar Holstein
Damien Leake
Bub Jewett
Bill Cobbs
Big Joe Ison
Joe Lynn
Marcial Flores
Oscar Barnes
Spanish Henry
Ed Zang
Hotel Clerk
Sandra Beall
Myrtle Fay
Zane Mark
Duke Ellington
Paul Herman
Policeman #1
Randle Mell
Policeman #2
Gregory Rozakis
Charlie Chaplin
Vincent Jerman-Jerosa
James Cagney
Rosalind Harris
Fanny Brice
Jackée Harry
Dancer
Sonya Hensley
Dancer
Valarie Pettiford
Dancer
Kimberly Dorsey
Joan Blondell (uncredited)
Anton Evangelista
Ownie Hood (uncredited)
Nicholas J. Giangiulio
Screen Test Thug (uncredited)
Suzanne Kaaren
The Duchess of Park Avenue (uncredited)
Robin Karfo
Vera's Sidekick / Banville Club (uncredited)
Mark Margolis
Charlie Workman (uncredited)
Naylon Mitchell
Busboy (uncredited)
Ray Negron
Waiter (uncredited)
Kirk Taylor
Cotton Club Waiter (uncredited)
Rick Washburn
Hitman (uncredited)
Linda Gillen
voice (uncredited)
Crew
Director, Screenplay, Story
Francis Ford Coppola
Author
Jim Haskins
Screenplay, Story
William Kennedy
Story
Mario Puzo
Reviews
John Chard
April 27, 2015
8
And all - that - jazz!
Far better than its iffy reputation suggests, The Cotton Club is guilty of being stuffed to the gills, but it also contains mighty fine film making that shows craft both behind and in front of the camera.
Set in late 1920s Harlem, the pitch is an area of New York rife with swinging jazz, racism, crooks and gangsters. Prohibition and the depression fill the air just as the talkie movie bursts out of the silver screen. The Cotton Club of the title is the focal point for many of the key character's lives, so Francis Coppola, who stepped in at the eleventh hour of the troubled production, has many threads to juggle. He drops the odd one, but never to the detriment of the verve and swagger of the pic. Violence comes and goes, song and dance often dazzles the eyes and ears, and a cast of hundreds induces that good old game of spot the stars - past, present and future.
The narrative has strength via the observations of a major part of America in great transition, with the art design ops and tech crew beavers aiding him considerably via some superb period flavourings There is no getting away from the slightness of some character strands, the director and co choosing to insert another, all be it delightful, dance or song number to fill the void, but the core of the story remains strong throughout. The underworld always looms large, the seedy side of the era pulses away continuously, while the cast enjoy the dressage and frontage of a key time in America's history.
Flaws for sure but made with skill and passion and it never bores. Bravo! 7.5/10
Media
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$58,000,000.00
Revenue:
$25,928,721.00
