The Cotton Club
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Francis Ford Coppola
Produced by	Robert Evans Dyson Lovell
Written by	Francis Ford Coppola Mario Puzo William Kennedy
Starring	Richard Gere Gregory Hines Diane Lane Lonette McKee Bob Hoskins James Remar Nicolas Cage
Music by	John Barry
Cinematography	Stephen Goldblatt
Editing by	Robert Q. Lovett
Distributed by	Orion Pictures American Zoetrope
Release date(s)	December 14, 1984
Running time	127 min.
Country
Language	English
Budget	$47 million
Gross revenue	$25,928,721
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Cotton Club is a 1984 crime-drama, centered on a popular real-life Harlem jazz club in the 1930s, the Cotton Club.

The movie was co-written (with William Kennedy) and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, choreographed by Henry LeTang, and starred Richard Gere, Diane Lane, and Gregory Hines. Other actors that appeared included Nicolas Cage, Bob Hoskins, Laurence Fishburne, Fred Gwynne, Maurice Hines, James Remar and Gwen Verdon as Tish Dwyer. Despite performing poorly at the box office, the film was nominated for several awards, including Golden Globes for Best Director and Best Picture (Drama) and the Oscar for best Film Editing.

Synopsis

Gere plays a musician named Dixie Dwyer who begins working with mobsters to advance his career but falls in love with the girlfriend (Lane) of gangland kingpin Dutch Schultz. Hines and Lonette McKee play dancers at the Cotton Club in a sub-plot of the movie. The movie features many song and dance numbers including fictional performances by Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington. Nicolas Cage plays Dixie's brother Vincent, who also becomes a gangster. Cage's character is based on real-life gangster Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll. Gregory Hines's real-life brother Maurice plays his brother in the film.

Laurence Fishburne would reprise his role as the Harlem gangster, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson, in 1997's Hoodlum. In this film, he is named "Bumpy" Rhodes.

The character of Dixie Dwyer is loosely based on the famous 1920s hot jazz cornetist, Bix Beiderbecke, right down to the alliterative name, and everyone simply calling him "Dix." The character "Lila" is loosely based on Lena Horne.

Cast

• Richard Gere as Dixie Dwyer
• Gregory Hines as Sandman Williams
• Diane Lane as Vera Cicero
• Lonette McKee as Lila Rose Oliver
• Bob Hoskins as Owney Madden
• James Remar as Dutch Schultz
• Nicolas Cage as Vincent Dwyer
• Allen Garfield as Abbadabba Berman
• Fred Gwynne as Frenchy Demange
• Gwen Verdon as Tish Dwyer
• Lisa Jane Persky as Frances Flegenheimer
• Maurice Hines as Clay Williams
• Julian Beck as Sol Weinstein
• Laurence Fishburne as Bumpy Rhodes
• Tom Waits as Irving Stock
• Glenn Withrow as Ed Popke
• Jennifer Grey as Patsy Dwyer
• Diane Venora as Gloria Swanson
• Tucker Smallwood as Kid Griffin
• Bill Cobbs as Big Joe Ison
• Rosalind Harris as Fanny Brice
• Sofia Coppola as Kid in Street
• Mario Van Peebles as Dancer

Financing

The Cotton Club was the first privately financed major motion picture, paid for almost entirely by brothers Fred and Ed Doumani of Las Vegas.

Reception

The movie was not as successful as anticipated, making only $25,928,721 on a budget estimated to be roughly $50 million.

External links

• The Cotton Club at the Internet Movie Database
• The Cotton Club at Allmovie