Hoodlum (film)
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''Hoodlum'' is a 1997 American
crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...
that gives a fictionalized account of the gang war between the Italian/ Jewish mafia alliance and the black gangsters of
Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...
that took place in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The film concentrates on Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson ( Laurence Fishburne), Dutch Schultz ( Tim Roth), and Lucky Luciano ( Andy García).


Plot

In 1934, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson is released from
Sing Sing Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum-security prison for men operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining (village), New York, Ossining, New York, United States. It is abou ...
and returns to
Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...
, where mobster Dutch Schultz asserts his control of the lucrative numbers game. Schultz begrudgingly reports to
Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...
boss Charles "Lucky" Luciano, who pays bribes to special prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey to protect his business. Reuniting with his cousin "Illinois" Gordon, Bumpy returns to the employ of Harlem crime boss Madame Queen, whose business is threatened by Schultz. Bumpy is introduced to Francine, a friend of Illinois' girlfriend Mary. Schultz’s meeting with the Queen ends in a standoff when he presents her with a rival’s
testicle A testicle or testis ( testes) is the gonad in all male bilaterians, including humans, and is Homology (biology), homologous to the ovary in females. Its primary functions are the production of sperm and the secretion of Androgen, androgens, p ...
s. Walking Francine home from a club, Bumpy charms her with his poetry. Madame Queen is attacked by Schultz’s men, led by black enforcer Bub Hewlett, but Bumpy and fellow mobster Whispers repel the assassins and rescue her. At a meeting of the
Commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...
, Schultz states his determination to take over Harlem. After robbing Schultz’s operation with Illinois, Bumpy is chastised by Madame Queen for making his own decisions. Schultz then hires two hitmen, the Salke brothers, to kill Bumpy, and has his police contact, NYPD Captain Foley, arrange for Madame Queen's arrest. At a party, a 17-year-old named Tyrone asks Bumpy for a job, and Francine struggles to reconcile her feelings for Bumpy with his criminal ways. The Salkes break into Bumpy’s home, killing his guards, but Bumpy ambushes them and kills one while a terrified Francine shoots the other dead. Illinois is beaten and robbed by Foley and his officers, while Madame Queen is arrested for illegal gambling. Taking over her operation, Bumpy enlists Tyrone as a runner, and ignores the Queen’s orders to avoid violence. By May 1935, he is locked in an all-out war with Schultz. His wealth and power grow, as does the body count, including Tyrone. Bumpy’s attempt to comfort Tyrone’s mother at his funeral is rejected. At an ice cream parlor with Francine, Bumpy realizes his banana split has been poisoned. When the shop owner reveals that Bumpy’s associate Vallie ordered him to hire the new teenage employee responsible, Bumpy forces the boy to eat the poisoned ice cream despite his attempts to apologize. Whispers then kills Vallie with a razor. Bumpy confronts Schultz at the Cotton Club with Vallie’s severed finger, demanding he cease his Harlem operations, but Schultz refuses. Disguised as truck drivers, Bumpy and Illinois deliver a bomb to one of Schultz’s illicit breweries, narrowly escaping before the warehouse explodes. Illinois returns home to find Schultz had Mary killed in retaliation. Threatened by Dewey to end the bloodshed in Harlem, Luciano invites Bumpy and Schultz to a meeting, against both their wills. Visiting Madame Queen in prison, Bumpy is rebuked for inciting a gang war. Finding she can no longer accept who he is, Francine leaves him, and Illinois drunkenly confronts him over the innocent lives lost. Illinois is abducted and tortured by Foley, to Hewlett’s disgust, but refuses to betray his cousin. At Luciano’s meeting, Bumpy and Schultz refuse to settle their dispute. After finding Illinois’ corpse left as a message, Bumpy slits Foley’s throat while he's with a black prostitute, but spares Hewlett’s life and offers him a partnership. Bumpy accepts an alliance with Luciano, and Luciano’s driver – on Bumpy’s orders – informs Schultz that Bumpy will be meeting with Luciano’s accountant. Schultz and his men burst in; when the accountant pleads innocence, Dutch shoots him dead. At a restaurant, Schultz’s long-suffering bodyguard Lulu shoots him in the bathroom, and Schultz calmly returns to his table before dying. Meeting Luciano outside for payment, Lulu is shot dead. With Dutch eliminated and the gang war settled, Dewey – having received an enormous bribe from Bumpy, delivered by Hewlett – warns Luciano to stay away from Harlem. Hewlett and Bumpy part ways, and Bumpy arrives at Illinois’ funeral. After exchanging looks with Francine and Madame Queen, Bumpy walks out into the rain alone.


Cast


Production

Although set in 1930s Harlem, the film was shot in Chicago.


Soundtrack

A soundtrack containing hip hop and R&B music was released on August 12, 1997 by
Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...
. It peaked at #94 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and #23 on the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...
.


Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
gives the film a score of 43% based on 21 reviews. Audiences surveyed by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...
gave the film a grade B on scale of A to F. Critic Roger Ebert noted that "the film is being marketed as a violent action picture, and in a sense, it is" and that director
Bill Duke William Henry Duke Jr. (born February 26, 1943) is an American actor, director, and producer. Known for his physically imposing frame, Duke works primarily in the action and crime drama genres often as a character related to law enforcement. As a ...
having made "a historical drama as much as a thriller, and his characters reflect a time when Harlem seemed poised on the brink of better things, and the despair of the postwar years was not easily seen on its prosperous streets." It was also criticized for many historical inaccuracies including the claim that Thomas E. Dewey took bribes.


See also

* '' American Gangster (film)'' * '' Godfather of Harlem'': a 2019 Epix television series, starring Forest Whitaker as Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson.


References


External links

* * {{Authority control 1997 films 1997 crime drama films American crime thriller films Biographical films about gangsters Films scored by Elmer Bernstein Films about race and ethnicity Films set in Harlem Films shot in New York City Films shot in Chicago Films directed by Bill Duke Films about African-American organized crime 1990s hood films Films about the American Mafia Films about the Genovese crime family Films about Jewish-American organized crime Films set in 1934 Films set in 1935 United Artists films Cultural depictions of Lucky Luciano Cultural depictions of Duke Ellington Cultural depictions of Dutch Schultz 1990s English-language films 1990s American films Films produced by Frank Mancuso Jr. English-language crime drama films