They say you Can’t Go Home Again, but Francis Coppola has pulled a real magic trick — his 1984 gangland musical ended up heavily compromised by outright racism producers that didn’t like the half of the story that favored a black show-biz drama. All the gangster action has been retained in this impressive Encore recut, but with twenty new minutes of performances and backstage intrigues. Gregory and Maurice Hines’ tap dances are extended, and musical numbers have been restored, with the terrific Lonette McKee getting special emphasis. The show was always good, and now it’s much better.
The Cotton Club Encore
Blu-ray + DVD + Digital
Lionsgate
1984-2019 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 139 min. (originally 119) / Street Date December 10, 2019 / 14.99
Starring: Richard Gere, Diane Lane, Gregory Hines, Lonette McKee, Bob Hoskins, Maurice Hines, James Remar, Nicolas Cage, Allen Garfield, Fred Gwynne, Gwen Verdon, Julian Beck, John P. Ryan.
Cinematography: Stephen Goldblatt
Production Designer: Richard Sylbert
Film Editors: Robert Q. Lovett,...
The Cotton Club Encore
Blu-ray + DVD + Digital
Lionsgate
1984-2019 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 139 min. (originally 119) / Street Date December 10, 2019 / 14.99
Starring: Richard Gere, Diane Lane, Gregory Hines, Lonette McKee, Bob Hoskins, Maurice Hines, James Remar, Nicolas Cage, Allen Garfield, Fred Gwynne, Gwen Verdon, Julian Beck, John P. Ryan.
Cinematography: Stephen Goldblatt
Production Designer: Richard Sylbert
Film Editors: Robert Q. Lovett,...
- 12/24/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Francis Ford Coppola wished his old frenemy Robert Evans could have made the trip to a screening of The Cotton Club Encore, the new version of the 1984 film that Coppola spent half a million dollars of his own money to re-edit, expand and re-release.
Coppola directed and Evans produced the original film about the famed Harlem nightclub operated by New York gangster Owney Madden, where black entertainers from Duke Ellington to Cab Calloway performed to white-only audiences.
Despite a star-studded cast, the production as he described it was a messy stew of editorial conflict, shady financing, lawsuits and too many scenes on the cutting room floor.
Thirty-five years later, Coppola has reinserted 35 minutes of footage he said distributors weren’t comfortable with at the time.
“They said. ‘It’s too long, there’s too much tap dancing, too many black people,...
Coppola directed and Evans produced the original film about the famed Harlem nightclub operated by New York gangster Owney Madden, where black entertainers from Duke Ellington to Cab Calloway performed to white-only audiences.
Despite a star-studded cast, the production as he described it was a messy stew of editorial conflict, shady financing, lawsuits and too many scenes on the cutting room floor.
Thirty-five years later, Coppola has reinserted 35 minutes of footage he said distributors weren’t comfortable with at the time.
“They said. ‘It’s too long, there’s too much tap dancing, too many black people,...
- 10/6/2019
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
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