Hoodlum

Director: Bill Duke Bill Duke

Overview

The white-run Mafia and the black-run numbers game meet head on with explosive impact in this period crime thriller. Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson (Laurence Fishburne) is an African-American ex-con who, after a stay in prison, returns to Harlem at the height of its renaissance before World War II. Looking for work, Bumpy becomes a lieutenant for Stephanie St. Clair (Cicely Tyson), the queen of Harlem's numbers racket. Bumpy's old friend Illinois Gordon (Chi McBride) gently expresses his concern about Bumpy's life of crime, and social worker Francine Hughes (Vanessa L. Williams), who is attracted to Bumpy (and vice versa), suggests he should be doing something more positive with his life. But Bumpy contends that the numbers game is the only business in the community that blacks are able to control themselves. The numbers game is very profitable -- enough so that mob boss "Lucky" Luciano (Andy Garcia) wants in on the action. He assigns one of his key men, "Dutch" Schultz (Tim Roth), to try to strike a deal with Stephanie, but negotiation isn't Dutch's strong suit -- he finds that murder is a far more effective tactic in taking control of a business, and Dutch is not the sort of person who's bothered by violence. Hoodlum was director Bill Duke's second film set in the milieu of the Gangster days of the 1920s and 1930s, after his breakthrough picture A Rage in Harlem.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/14/1998
UPC:	0027616689337
Original Release:	1997
Rating:	R
Source:	Mgm (Video & Dvd)

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Laurence Fishburne	Ellsworth (Bumpy) Johnson
Tim Roth	Dutch Schultz
Vanessa Williams	Francine Hughes
Andy Garcia	Lucky Luciano
Cicely Tyson	(Queen) Stephanie St. Clair
Chi McBride	Illinois Gordon
Clarence Williams	Bub Hewlett
Richard Bradford	Capt. Jerrod Foley
William Atherton	Thomas Dewey
Loretta Devine	Pigfoot Mary
Queen Latifah	Sulie
Paul Benjamin	Whispers
Mike Starr	Albert Salke
Beau Starr	Jules Salke
Joe Guzaldo	Bo Weinberg
Ed O'Ross	Lulu Rosenkrantz
J.W. Smith	Calvin
Eddie Bo Smith	Tee-Ninchy
John Toles-Bey	Vallie

Technical Credits

Chris Brancato

Bill Duke	Director,Executive Producer
Gary Baugh	Art Director
Charles C. Bennett	Production Designer
Elmer Bernstein	Score Composer
Chris Brancato	Co-producer,Screenwriter
Richard Bruno	Costumes/Costume Designer
Kelsee Devoreaux	Stunts
Paul Eckstein	Co-producer
Curt Frisk	Sound/Sound Designer
Mike Johnson	Stunts
Harry Keramidas	Editor
Laurence Fishburne	Executive Producer
Amanda Mackey-Johnson	Casting
Frank Mancuso	Producer
Tyrone Mason	Asst. Director
Otis Sallid	Choreography
Cathy Sandrich	Casting
Helen Sugland	Executive Producer
Frank Tidy	Cinematographer

Editorial Reviews

Bill Duke, after breaking Hollywood race barriers by directing Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (the first sequel to a Hollywood blockbuster entrusted to an African-American director) returned to familiar ground with Hoodlum. Hoodlum, like Duke's entertaining adaptation of Chester Himes' A Rage in Harlem, takes place in the underworld of Harlem in the 1930s. But here, Duke is working on a much larger scale. The film is a moderately successful effort to make a film with the sweep and scope of the Godfather films, greatly aided by its able cast. It offers a powerfully assured performance from Laurence Fishburne as crime lord Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson. Tim Roth is hilariously over-the-top as psychopath Dutch Schultz, the Jewish gangster determined to muscle in on the Harlem numbers racket. His performance enlivens the film. He plays Schultz as pure id, totally unable to control his lust, greed, and anger. He cannot even eat an apple without it seeming like an obscene act. This stands in fascinating contrast to the coiled-snake calm of Andy Garcia's Lucky Luciano. Duke clearly knows his actors' strengths and brings out their best. One weak spot in the script is the characterization of Bumpy's love interest, Francine (Vanessa L. Williams), who somewhat unconvincingly becomes completely enraptured with Bumpy, discarding her own strong political views as a follower of Marcus Garvey. The film also received a good deal of negative press attention for its portrayal of the venerated prosecutor Thomas Dewey (William Atherton) as a corrupt opportunist. But for the most part, Hoodlum is a good solid film, offering strong performances, humor, and action, and a compelling metaphor of black empowerment and resistance to white co-optation of the culture.

All Movie Guide - Josh Ralske