Harlem Nights is a 1989
comedy-dramaComedy-drama, also called dramedy or seriocomedy, is a style of television, theatre and film in which there is an equal or nearly equal balance of humor and serious content.-Theatre:...
crime filmA crime film, in the most general sense, is a film that involves various aspects crime and the criminal justice system. Stylistically, it can fall under many different genres, most commonly drama, thriller, Mystery film and film noir...
starring
Eddie MurphyEdward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American actor, voice actor, film director, producer, comedian and singer. He is the second-highest grossing actor in motion picture history. He was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984, and has worked as a stand-up comedian...
and
Richard PryorRichard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III was an American comedian, actor, and writer. Pryor was known for his unflinching examinations of racism and customs in modern life, and was renowned for his frequent use of colorful, vulgar, and profane language and racial epithets...
. The film also featured
Michael Lerner-Biography:Lerner was born in Brooklyn, New York of Romanian Jewish descent, the son of Blanche and George Lerner, who was a fisherman and antiques dealer. He was raised in Bensonhurst and Red Hook. His brother, Ken Lerner, is also an actor...
,
Danny AielloDaniel Louis "Danny" Aiello, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in numerous motion pictures, including Once Upon a Time in America, Ruby, The Godfather: Part II, Hudson Hawk, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Moonstruck, Léon: The Professional, Two Days in the Valley, and Dinner Rush...
,
Redd FoxxRedd Foxx , born John Elroy Sanford, was an American comedian and actor, best known for his starring role on the sitcom Sanford and Son.-Early life and career:...
,
Della ReeseDella Reese is an American actress and singer. She started her career in the 1950s as a gospel, pop and jazz singer and her career really took off with her 1959 hit single "Don't You Know". She subsequently became an actress, best known as playing Tess, the leading role on the television show...
and Murphy's brother
Charlie MurphyCharles Quinton "Charlie" Murphy is an American actor, comedian, and writer, best known for his role on the sketch-comedy series, Chappelle's Show. He is the older brother of actor and comedian Eddie Murphy. -Early life:...
. Murphy and Pryor star as a father-and-son team running a nightclub in late-1930s
Harlem, New YorkHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, long known as a major African-American residential, cultural, and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands.Harlem has been defined by a series...
while contending with gangsters and corrupt police officials.
Murphy wrote, and directed the film (Murphy was nominated for Worst Director at the 10th Golden Raspberry Awards, his first and only directorial effort; the film won Worst Screenplay) and served as an executive producer.
Harlem Nights is a 1989
comedy-dramaComedy-drama, also called dramedy or seriocomedy, is a style of television, theatre and film in which there is an equal or nearly equal balance of humor and serious content.-Theatre:...
crime filmA crime film, in the most general sense, is a film that involves various aspects crime and the criminal justice system. Stylistically, it can fall under many different genres, most commonly drama, thriller, Mystery film and film noir...
starring
Eddie MurphyEdward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American actor, voice actor, film director, producer, comedian and singer. He is the second-highest grossing actor in motion picture history. He was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984, and has worked as a stand-up comedian...
and
Richard PryorRichard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III was an American comedian, actor, and writer. Pryor was known for his unflinching examinations of racism and customs in modern life, and was renowned for his frequent use of colorful, vulgar, and profane language and racial epithets...
. The film also featured
Michael Lerner-Biography:Lerner was born in Brooklyn, New York of Romanian Jewish descent, the son of Blanche and George Lerner, who was a fisherman and antiques dealer. He was raised in Bensonhurst and Red Hook. His brother, Ken Lerner, is also an actor...
,
Danny AielloDaniel Louis "Danny" Aiello, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in numerous motion pictures, including Once Upon a Time in America, Ruby, The Godfather: Part II, Hudson Hawk, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Moonstruck, Léon: The Professional, Two Days in the Valley, and Dinner Rush...
,
Redd FoxxRedd Foxx , born John Elroy Sanford, was an American comedian and actor, best known for his starring role on the sitcom Sanford and Son.-Early life and career:...
,
Della ReeseDella Reese is an American actress and singer. She started her career in the 1950s as a gospel, pop and jazz singer and her career really took off with her 1959 hit single "Don't You Know". She subsequently became an actress, best known as playing Tess, the leading role on the television show...
and Murphy's brother
Charlie MurphyCharles Quinton "Charlie" Murphy is an American actor, comedian, and writer, best known for his role on the sketch-comedy series, Chappelle's Show. He is the older brother of actor and comedian Eddie Murphy. -Early life:...
. Murphy and Pryor star as a father-and-son team running a nightclub in late-1930s
Harlem, New YorkHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, long known as a major African-American residential, cultural, and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands.Harlem has been defined by a series...
while contending with gangsters and corrupt police officials.
Murphy wrote, and directed the film (Murphy was nominated for Worst Director at the 10th Golden Raspberry Awards, his first and only directorial effort; the film won Worst Screenplay) and served as an executive producer. He had always wanted to direct and star in a
period piece"Period piece" is phrase that is used to describe creative works.-Setting:In the performing arts, a period piece is a work set in a particular era. This informal term covers all countries, all periods and all genres. It may be as long and general as the medieval era or as limited as one...
, as well as work with Pryor, whom he considered his greatest influence in
stand-up comedyStand-up comedy is a style of comedy where a comedian performs for a live audience, usually speaking directly to them. It is usually performed by a single comedian with the aid of a microphone, either hand-held or mounted on a stand...
.
Harlem Nights was a critical failure, but a financial success, grossing 3 1/2 times the amount it cost to make it (worldwide) and is well known for starring three generations of black comedians (Foxx, Pryor, and Murphy).
Plot
In Harlem, New York, 1918, Sugar Ray (
Richard PryorRichard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III was an American comedian, actor, and writer. Pryor was known for his unflinching examinations of racism and customs in modern life, and was renowned for his frequent use of colorful, vulgar, and profane language and racial epithets...
) has a small-time dice game going in the back of his candy store. After nearly being killed by an angry man who lost to Ray, he's saved when an 8-year old errand boy shoots the man in the head. The orphan, who goes by the name 'Quick', becomes the 'good luck charm' for Ray and grows up with him. 20 years later (1938), Sugar Ray and a grown-up Quick (
Eddie MurphyEdward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American actor, voice actor, film director, producer, comedian and singer. He is the second-highest grossing actor in motion picture history. He was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984, and has worked as a stand-up comedian...
) now run a highly successful club called "Club Sugar Ray" in 1930s Harlem. The club is a
speakeasyA speakeasy was an establishment which illegally sold alcoholic beverages during the period of United States history known as Prohibition...
, with a
brothelA brothel, also known as a bordello, cathouse, whorehouse, sporting house and various other euphemisms, is an establishment specifically dedicated to prostitution, providing the prostitutes a place to meet and to have sexual intercourse with clients.-Legality:Today, brothels are illegal in the vast...
in the back run by tough talking madam Vera (
Della ReeseDella Reese is an American actress and singer. She started her career in the 1950s as a gospel, pop and jazz singer and her career really took off with her 1959 hit single "Don't You Know". She subsequently became an actress, best known as playing Tess, the leading role on the television show...
).
Into the club walks Tommy Smalls (
Thomas Mikal FordThomas Mikal Ford is an American actor who is best remembered for his character "Tommy Strawn" in the sitcom Martin for which he received an NAACP Image Awards nomination in 1996 in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.*Martin: Tommy was, at times, the...
), who works for the notorious gangster Bugsy Calhoun (
Michael Lerner-Biography:Lerner was born in Brooklyn, New York of Romanian Jewish descent, the son of Blanche and George Lerner, who was a fisherman and antiques dealer. He was raised in Bensonhurst and Red Hook. His brother, Ken Lerner, is also an actor...
) at the Pitty Pat Club, and Calhoun's mistress, Miss Dominique LaRue (
Jasmine GuyJasmine Guy is an American actress, singer and dancer. She is best known for her starring role as Southern belle Whitley Gilbert in the television series A Different World.-Biography:...
). Smalls and LaRue are 'visiting' the club to check it out and report back to Calhoun, who has received word that Club Sugar Ray is outgrossing him on a nightly basis. Ray tells Quick to check them out, but not to mess with Miss LaRue as she's Calhoun's mistress. Calhoun plans to muscle Ray and Quick out of the profits generated by their club. He sends corrupt police detective Phil Cantone (
Danny AielloDaniel Louis "Danny" Aiello, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in numerous motion pictures, including Once Upon a Time in America, Ruby, The Godfather: Part II, Hudson Hawk, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Moonstruck, Léon: The Professional, Two Days in the Valley, and Dinner Rush...
) to check Ray out. He visits Ray at his home and initially asks if Ray is the owner of the club, which he denies (Ray's front for the club was that he owned a candy store for 20 years). The next night, Cantone shows up at the club, threatening to shut them down unless Calhoun gets a cut of their action or else.
Knowing he's been all but forced out of business, Ray decides to shut down, but acknowledges that many of his employees have families and refuses to close without making sure they're provided for. He calls a meeting of all his workers to formulate a plan. An upcoming heavyweight championship fight taking place in a few days between challenger Mickey Kirkpatrick and defending champion (and loyal Club Sugar Ray patron)
Jack JenkinsJack Jenkins may refer to:* Jack Jenkins , American player* Jack Jenkins , player* Jack Jenkins , Wales international rugby union player-See also:...
(
Stan ShawStan Shaw is an American actor. He started acting in the Chicago production of the Broadway musical Hair as well as the Broadway production of The Me Nobody Knows. His last Broadway show, Via Galactica was directed by Sir Peter Hall...
) intends to command a lot of money. The plan is for them to place a bet on Kirkpatrick to make Calhoun think that they had talked Jenkins into throwing the fight, thereby fixing it. The plan also calls for the robbery of all of Calhoun's booking houses (he owns all of them in the city) to generate even more revenue by hijacking Richie Vinto, the pick-up man they use every year. This part of the plan calls for Vera to use a girl that could turn him out. Vera replies, "I got a girl whose pussy is so good, if you threw it up in the air it would turn into sunshine."
Ray sends Quick to check out Tommy Smalls, and tells everyone else to be ready to move as they're in no position to fight Calhoun. Quick visits Smalls' apartment, but finds that Smalls has been executed, having been accused by Calhoun (and killed by Cantone) of coming up short with the nightly receipts at the Pitty Pat Club. As he's leaving Smalls' apartment building, Smalls' brother (played by
Arsenio HallArsenio Hall is an American actor, comedian, and former talk show host. He is best known for his talk show, The Arsenio Hall Show, which ran between 1989 and 1994. He is also well known for his roles in the films Coming to America and Harlem Nights. Hall is single and has never been married...
) sees him and goes to check on his brother. Earlier in the day, Quick had received an invitation to dinner from Dominique LaRue. The invitation turned out to be a recruiting pitch from Bugsy Calhoun to manage the Pitty Pat Club with Miss LaRue. Quick refuses the offer, but Calhoun doesn't give up so easily. He sends Miss LaRue to seduce Quick, even to go so far as to kill him. When her attempt to kill him fails, Quick turns the tables and kills her. To complicate matters even more, Smalls' brother has discovered that Tommy is dead and wants revenge on Quick, since he was the last person seen leaving Smalls' apartment building. A car chase (with Smalls' brother's henchman Junior being accidentally killed by him in the process) and gunfight ensues. Quick tries to tell his pursuers that he had nothing to do with killing Tommy Smalls, but they don't believe him. In three effortless shots, Quick kills Smalls' brother and his two remaining thugs with ease and disappears into the night.
Quick arrives at Ray's house later to report on the night's happenings. He explains that he has killed Dominique LaRue, killed Smalls' people, and Bugsy Calhoun's attempt to recruit him. Ray tells Quick to calm down (Quick is furious that someone has been trying to kill him all night and claims that he's no punk - even goes so far as to say "It's not where you shoot, but who you shoot.") Ray explains that Quick needs to be patient, let the plan work, and to lie low (once Calhoun finds out that Quick has killed his mistress he's going to want revenge).
The following night, Cantone arrives at Club Sugar Ray to shut them down. Everyone is arrested and sent to jail. The next morning, Ray visits Club Sugar Ray, which has been gutted by a fire (intentionally set by Calhoun's people), one last time. Knowing it's time to leave at this point, he decides to execute his plan. Later that morning, Ray walks into the police station and asks what the bail amount is to release everyone arrested. He's told by the desk sergeant that it's $7500. Ray flips a large sum of money to the desk seargeant and requests a receipt. Everyone is released and picked up in limos, much to the surprise of the arresting officers and the desk seargeant.
Throughout all of this is the smaller subplot of the relationship between Vera and Quick. Earlier in the movie, Quick had accused Vera and her 'girls' of coming up short, thereby accusing her of stealing. Vera challenged Quick to a fight, to which she was beating him until he hit her with a garbage can. She replies by pulling a razor on him. He in turn pulls his gun and threatens to shoot her toe off. After Vera dares him, (and with several witnesses present) Quick shoots Vera's pinky toe off, forcing her to walk with a cane for the rest of the movie.
While the plan is working, Sugar Ray, Quick, Bennie Wilson (
Redd FoxxRedd Foxx , born John Elroy Sanford, was an American comedian and actor, best known for his starring role on the sitcom Sanford and Son.-Early life and career:...
) & Vera are all at Bennie's house outside the city, while Calhoun's henchman are looking for him.Ray asks if Quick had apologized to Vera for shooting her in the foot. Though Quick defends his actions and assumes that the matter was simply forgotten about, Ray reminds him that he owes her at least that. It's revealed in the following scene that Vera, like Ray, was a surrogate parent to him as a child. She dismisses his apology and sends him from the room, but quick doesn't exit before telling her he loves her too, acknowledging her forgiveness.
Vera's girl (Sunshine, played by
Lela RochonLela Rochon is an American actress who is best known for her role as Robin Stokes in the movie Waiting to Exhale....
) successfully seduces Richie Vinto. She convinces him that she also had a pickup to make and she was going to be stuck out in the cold with all her 'stuff'. Richie agrees to pick her up on the way as he's picking up the money from the booking houses.
As he's picking Sunshine up, Richie gets into an accident with a car driven by Bennie (who is myopic and wears very thick glasses) and Vera (as Ray's henchman Jimmy (
Charlie MurphyCharles Quinton "Charlie" Murphy is an American actor, comedian, and writer, best known for his role on the sketch-comedy series, Chappelle's Show. He is the older brother of actor and comedian Eddie Murphy. -Early life:...
) has the switch to the traffic light and secretly changes the light from green to red). Ray and Quick, disguised as policemen, arrive on the scene and attempt to arrest Richie. They tell him that he's riding around with the notorious heroin dealer known as Lady Heroin and they were going to take both of them in. Quick attempts to switch the bag that held Calhoun's money with the bag of 'stuff' that Sunshine had placed in the car, but before he can two white policemen arrive. Richie pulls one of them aside and explains that he's on a run for Bugsy Calhoun and they eventually let him go. Around the corner, Cantone had been following Richie in case someone tried anything.
In the meantime, the fight had already started. At first it seemed like it was going to be evenly matched, but that turned out to not be the case. At the Pitty Pat Club, Freddy and Willie, two of Ray's men walk into the crowded club and begin shooting in the air, advising everyone to get out. Freddy lays a bomb and the two hastily exit the club and leave before it blows up. Calhoun finally realizes that the fight was not fixed as he originally thought, and receives word that his club has been destroyed. Quick and Ray arrive at a closed bank and go inside, followed closely by Cantone. Cantone attempts to catch Ray and Quick in a burglary, but then realizes that he's been set up as one of Ray's men is pointing a gun at his head. The men seal Cantone in an old bank vault and warn him that there's enough air to last until the next day, give or take a couple of hours. (They also advise him to take sips of air instead of deep breaths because he may run out sooner if he does.)
Calhoun returns to his home, furious that his club has been firebombed and that he was tricked into betting against the champ. When Richie arrives to deliver Calhoun's money, he realizes that the bags had been switched, and he has to explain the incident with 'Lady Heroin'. Bugsy tastes one of the bags and notices that its powdered sugar, then realizes who has duped him. He then receives a visit from Vera, who tells them how she did not want to be mixed up in the whole idea of robbing him and tells Bugsy where to find Ray and Quick. Believing her story, Bugsy gives her his phone number and tells her to call him if she has any problems with Ray.
Bugsy and his men arrive at Ray's house and walk in, expecting the house to be full. When they find an empty house, Calhoun suspects a trap, but one of his men gets anxious and trips the bomb wired into the door. Bugsy and his men are killed. Later, near the waterfront, Ray and Quick are talking to the two men who were also disguised as policemen earlier that night. They had anticipated that Cantone would follow the money and set it up so that it looked like they were being reprimanded by two white officers. They paid the men for their service, then get into their car and head for parts unknown - alive to see what life outside Harlem has to offer them.
Cast
- Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American actor, voice actor, film director, producer, comedian and singer. He is the second-highest grossing actor in motion picture history. He was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984, and has worked as a stand-up comedian...
... Quick
- Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III was an American comedian, actor, and writer. Pryor was known for his unflinching examinations of racism and customs in modern life, and was renowned for his frequent use of colorful, vulgar, and profane language and racial epithets...
... Sugar Ray
- Redd Foxx
Redd Foxx , born John Elroy Sanford, was an American comedian and actor, best known for his starring role on the sitcom Sanford and Son.-Early life and career:...
... Bennie Wilson
- Danny Aiello
Daniel Louis "Danny" Aiello, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in numerous motion pictures, including Once Upon a Time in America, Ruby, The Godfather: Part II, Hudson Hawk, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Moonstruck, Léon: The Professional, Two Days in the Valley, and Dinner Rush...
... Phil Cantone
- Michael Lerner
-Biography:Lerner was born in Brooklyn, New York of Romanian Jewish descent, the son of Blanche and George Lerner, who was a fisherman and antiques dealer. He was raised in Bensonhurst and Red Hook. His brother, Ken Lerner, is also an actor...
... Bugsy Calhoune
- Della Reese
Della Reese is an American actress and singer. She started her career in the 1950s as a gospel, pop and jazz singer and her career really took off with her 1959 hit single "Don't You Know". She subsequently became an actress, best known as playing Tess, the leading role on the television show...
... Vera
- Berlinda Tolbert
Berlinda Tolbert is an American actress best known as Jenny Willis Jefferson on The Jeffersons. She also appeared in the film Harlem Nights. She was born one day after actor Mike Evans, the man who played her boyfriend/husband in The Jeffersons . They were both born in North Carolina....
... Annie
- Stan Shaw
Stan Shaw is an American actor. He started acting in the Chicago production of the Broadway musical Hair as well as the Broadway production of The Me Nobody Knows. His last Broadway show, Via Galactica was directed by Sir Peter Hall...
... Jack Jenkins
- Jasmine Guy
Jasmine Guy is an American actress, singer and dancer. She is best known for her starring role as Southern belle Whitley Gilbert in the television series A Different World.-Biography:...
... Dominique La Rue
- Vic Polizos ... Richie Vento
- Lela Rochon
Lela Rochon is an American actress who is best known for her role as Robin Stokes in the movie Waiting to Exhale....
... Sunshine
- David Marciano
David Marciano is an American actor who appeared as Detective Raymond Vecchio in the television series Due South...
... Tony
- Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall is an American actor, comedian, and former talk show host. He is best known for his talk show, The Arsenio Hall Show, which ran between 1989 and 1994. He is also well known for his roles in the films Coming to America and Harlem Nights. Hall is single and has never been married...
... Crying Man
- Thomas Mikal Ford
Thomas Mikal Ford is an American actor who is best remembered for his character "Tommy Strawn" in the sitcom Martin for which he received an NAACP Image Awards nomination in 1996 in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.*Martin: Tommy was, at times, the...
... Tommy Smalls
- Charlie Murphy
Charles Quinton "Charlie" Murphy is an American actor, comedian, and writer, best known for his role on the sketch-comedy series, Chappelle's Show. He is the older brother of actor and comedian Eddie Murphy. -Early life:...
... Jimmy
- Robin Harris
Robin Hughes Harris was an American comedian and actor, best known for his recurring comic sketch about Bébé's Kids.-Childhood:...
... Romeo
- Desi Arnez Hines II
Desi Arnez Hines II is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as the 10-year old Tre Styles in the 1991 hit John Singleton-produced motion picture Boyz N the Hood...
... Young Quick
Nominated
- Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is...
:
- Academy Award for Best Costume Design (Joe I. Tompkins)
- 10th Golden Raspberry Awards
- Worst Director (Eddie Murphy)