Hoodlum (1997)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Bill Duke

Writer (WGA):

Chris Brancato (written by)

Release Date:

27 August 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Power is measured in enemies.

Plot:

Black gangsters in 1930 Harlem fights Dutch Schultz who is trying to horn in on their numbers racket.

Plot Keywords:

Dutch | 1930s | New York | Blood | Gangster

Awards:

7 nominations

Cast

Laurence Fishburne	...	Bumpy Johnson
Tim Roth	...	Dutch Schultz
Vanessa Williams	...	Francine Hughes
Andy Garcia	...	Lucky Luciano
Cicely Tyson	...	Stephanie St. Clair
Chi McBride	...	Illinois Gordon
Clarence Williams III	...	Bub Hewlett
Richard Bradford	...	Captain Foley
William Atherton	...	Thomas Dewey
Loretta Devine	...	Pigfoot Mary
Queen Latifah	...	Sulie
Mike Starr	...	Albert Salke
Beau Starr	...	Jules Salke
Paul Benjamin	...	Whispers
Joe Guzaldo	...	Bo Weinberg

Also Known As:

Gangster (USA) (working title)
Hoods (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for graphic ganster violence, strong language, a scene of sexuality and some nudity.

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Singapore:M18 | USA:R (certificate #34777) | Canada:R (Ontario) | South Korea:18 | Australia:M | France:U | Germany:16 | Portugal:M/16 (video premiere) | Spain:18 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Between Cermak Road & 23rd Street, Michigan Avenue, Near South Side, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

United Artists Pictures

Trivia:

This is the second film in which Laurence Fishburne has played Harlem gangster Elsworth "Bumpy" Johnson. He first played him in Francis Ford Coppola's The Cotton Club (1984) as "Bumpy" Jackson in a small role.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: While Bumpy and Madame St. Claire are listening to opera on the Victrola, the record playing displays the Okeh label. Okeh Records, founded in 1918 recorded mainly middle-of-the road popular music, standards, light classical and blues, but not opera.

Quotes:

Dutch Schultz: I remember the days when you could get a guy hit for 40 bucks.
Mike Salke: We live in inflationary times

Movie Connections:

References Bambi (1942)

Soundtrack:

Amazing Grace

Ghetto Lotto

The 1997 movie `Hoodlum' takes place during the depression. A black man named Ellsworth `Bumpy' Johnson (Lawrence Fishburne) was released from prison and went back to Harlem. Then he joins his cousin, Illinois Gordon, and gets back into an illegal lottery racket ran by Madame Queen. They call the game `numbers.' They say that numbers is the only business in Harlem which provides them with work. A white man from uptown named Dutch Shultz (Tim Roth) is also trying to run the numbers downtown in Harlem, and there ends up being a battle between Shultz and the Queen. Madame goes to jail and leaves Bumpy in charge. Bumpy meets a fine woman, Francine (Vanessa Williams), who sees good in him and wants him to stop messing around with `numbers.' But she stays by his side while things get chaotic. Will he realize what he should do in time or will he lose everything?

The director Bill Duke has a message in this movie. It says when people are left limited options, they are going to find a way to get by. In one scene, Bumpy is telling Illinois because of the depression there isn't very many jobs and white men didn't leave them any jobs, so they had no options for making money other than through the numbers racket.

This movie had fast paced action. I liked the part where Dutch Shultz wants Madame Queen's organization out of the numbers racket in Harlem, so he can make all the money from it. Bumpy, who works for Madame Queen, comes up with a plan for eliminating the problem of Dutch, by getting Lucky Luciano (Andy Garcia), another gangster, and Dutch in a fight. This movie is a `classic gangster movie.'