Search - The Cotton Club [Widescreen] on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Violence, Nudity, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Sexual Situations Movie Release: 1984 DVD Release: 07/10/2001 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 9 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 6 Genres: Drama, Period Film, Musical Drama, Gangster Film See Also: Cotton Club

Combining electric song and dance performances with drama (both on and off screen), Francis Ford Coppola's The Cotton Club (1984) looks back to the 1920s-1930s peak of the legendary Harlem nightclub where only blacks performed and only whites could sit in the audience. Mixing historical figures with characters loosely based on actual people, Coppola and co-writers William Kennedy and The Godfather's Mario Puzo create a panorama of love, crime, and entertainment centered on the Club. Among them are cornet player Dixie Dwyer (Richard Gere, playing his own solos), who escapes psycho gangster "benefactor" Dutch Schultz (James Remar) for a George Raft-type Hollywood career as a gangster film star; Schultz's nubile mistress Vera Cicero (Diane Lane), who loves Dixie against her mercenary instincts; Cotton Club Mob owner Owney Madden (Bob Hoskins) and close associate Frenchy Demarge (Fred Gwynne); Vincent (Nicolas Cage), Dixie's no-good Mad Dog Coll-esque brother; Club tap star Sandman Williams (Gregory Hines), who woos ambitious light-skinned Club singer Lila Rose Oliver (Lonette McKee); and cameos by Charles "Honi" Coles and Cab Calloway impersonator Larry Marshall. Complementing the period story, Coppola evokes the style of '30s gangster movies and musicals through an array of old-fashioned devices like montages of headlines, songs and shoot-outs. Conceived by producer Robert Evans as his crowning achievement and directorial debut, Evans had to hand over the troubled production to Coppola, but the budget spiraled out of control as the script was repeatedly re-written throughout the chaotic shoot. By the time it was released, The Cotton Club's epic production story of power struggles, financial bloat, and even a murder overshadowed the "reunion" of The Godfather's creative team. Neither a Heaven's Gate-sized failure nor a wallet-saving hit like Coppola's Apocalypse Now, The Cotton Club got some favorable critical notices (although it drew fire for subordinating the African American stories). It did not, however, find a large enough audience to justify its expense and controversy, becoming another mark against 1970s "auteur" cinema in increasingly blockbuster-driven 1980s Hollywood. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Richard Gere - Dixie Dwyer
Gregory Hines - Sandman Williams
Diane Lane - Vera Cicero
Lonette McKee - Lila Rose Oliver
Bob Hoskins - Owney Madden

Another of director Francis Ford Coppola's noble failures, this MGM DVD release of The Cotton Club shows that Coppola's misfires often contain more entertainment value than other people's successes. While the movie contains way too many subplots and characters, it contains first-rate production values, great music, and wonderful sequences. Originally released in 70 mm, the DVD's widescreen anamorphic transfer finally restores the visual luster to the movie and shows off Richard Sylbert's sumptuous production design. The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track is flawless and really showcases the movie's crackerjack jazz score. The case says that deleted scenes are included on the disc but unless they are purposefully hidden on the DVD as "Easter eggs," they are not on the disc. This is a shame because Coppola reportedly had to cut out many of the movie's best musical numbers and they should be restored to a future DVD for the movie that revolves around a famous jazz club. ~ Nick Dedina, All Movie Guide