''Mahogany'' is a 1975 American

romantic drama film Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...

directed by

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), also known as Berry Gordy Jr., is an American retired record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record label and i ...

and produced by Motown Productions. The Motown founder Gordy took over the film direction after British filmmaker

Tony Richardson Cecil Antonio Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director, producer and screenwriter, whose career spanned five decades. He was identified with the "angry young men" group of British directors and play ...

was dismissed from the film. ''Mahogany'' stars

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

as Tracy Chambers, a struggling fashion design student who rises to become a popular

fashion designer Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...

in Rome. It was released on October 8, 1975. The soundtrack included the single " Theme from ''Mahogany'' (Do You Know Where You're Going To)", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 1976.

Plot

Tracy Chambers dreams of becoming a fashion designer and has worked her way up to assistant to the head buyer at a luxury department store (modeled after and filmed at Marshall Fields on State Street) in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

.Mahogany and Marshall Field's
/ref> Her supervisor, Miss Evans, believes that Tracy's night school courses will interfere with her responsibilities at the store. Her aunt, however, encourages her and visits prospective buyers, who tell Tracy her designs are good for Paris but not for Chicago. One evening, she gets into a shouting match with Brian Walker, a local activist fighting against

gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...

in their community. Sean McAvoy, a fashion photographer, comes to the department store to photograph models, with whom he is dissatisfied. He mistakes Tracy for a new model and creates an impromptu shoot with her, featuring a rainbow-colored gown made by her aunt. As Sean prepares to leave Chicago, he invites Tracy to Rome. Tracy again encounters Brian during her walk to work and surreptitiously pours milk into his bullhorn's mouthpiece. Brian assumes that one of the construction workers has played a prank on him and a fight begins. Brian is arrested, and Tracy bails him out. Brian becomes her boyfriend, but the relationship does not last long as he does not support Tracy's aspirations. Sean reinvents Tracy as "Mahogany," and she becomes an in-demand fashion model. An uneasy relationship develops with Sean, who is possessive and jealous of anyone vying for Tracy's attention. Tracy, feeling she owes Sean for her new career, reluctantly agrees to sleep with him. Sean's implied latent homosexuality makes the union a failure. Brian fails to persuade Tracy to return home with him to support him in his political aspirations. During their next photo shoot, Sean causes an accident in which he's killed and Tracy sustains severe injuries. A new benefactor, Count Christian Rosetti, lends Tracy his villa for her recovery and a studio space in which she may create her own fashion label. Because of the tremendous job pressures, Tracy becomes demanding and cruel to her employees. She is unwilling to express her appreciation to her new benefactor by becoming his mistress. She finds her career emotionally empty and not what she dreamed it would be without Brian's love and support. Following the tremendous success of her first collection, Tracy must decide whether to continue with her empty life in Rome or return to the man she loves in Chicago and use her talents to boost his political prospects. She returns to Chicago and reunites with Brian as he decides to run for Congress.

Cast

as Tracy Chambers * Billy Dee Williams as Brian Walker * Anthony Perkins as Sean McAvoy * Jean-Pierre Aumont as Count Christian Rosetti *

Beah Richards Beulah Elizabeth Richardson (July 12, 1920 – September 14, 2000), known professionally as Beah Richards and Bea Richards, was an American actress of stage, screen, and television. She was also a poet, playwright, author and activist. Rich ...

as Florence * Nina Foch as Miss Evans * Marisa Mell as Carlotta Gavina * Lenard Norris as Wil * Jerome Arnold as Campaign Worker * Pemon Rami as Campaign Worker * Obelo as Campaign Worker * Ira Rogers as Stalker * Kristine Cameron as Instructress * Ted Liss as Sweatshop Foreman *

Bruce Vilanch Bruce Gerald Vilanch (born November 23, 1947) is an American comedy writer, songwriter, and actor. He is a two-time Emmy Award-winner. Vilanch is best known to the public for his four-year stint on ''Hollywood Squares'', as a celebrity participa ...

as Dress Manufacturer * Don Howard as Dress Manufacturer * Albert Rosenberg as Dress Manufacturer * Marvin Corman as Cab Driver * E. Rodney Jones as Radio Announcer (voice) * Dan Daniel as Giuseppe (as Daniel Daniele) * Princess Irene Galitzine as herself * Jacques Stany as Auctioneer – Fashion Show

Soundtrack

''Mahogany'' was the second original motion picture soundtrack by Diana Ross, following her 1972 release '' Lady Sings the Blues''. The soundtrack included the single " Theme from ''Mahogany'' (Do You Know Where You're Going To)", which peaked at number-one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in January 1976. The single's B-side, "No One's Gonna Be a Fool Forever", was taken from Ross's '' Last Time I Saw Him'' album of 1973. The soundtrack reached #19 in the USA and sold over a million copies worldwide.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Michael Masser, except where indicated:

Side one

#" Theme from ''Mahogany'' (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" (lyrics:

Gerry Goffin Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the US No.1 hits " Will You L ...

) – 3:25 #"Feeling Again" – 3:22 #"You Don't Ever Have to Be Alone" – 2:40 #"Can You Hear It in My Music" – 3:38 #"Christian's Theme" – 1:46 #"After You" – 2:17 #"Theme from ''Mahogany''" (Instrumental) – 3:52

Side two

#"My Hero Is a Gun" – 3:18 #"Cat Fight" (

Gil Askey Gilbert Askey (March 9, 1925 – April 9, 2014) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, producer and musical director who was born in Austin, Texas, and emigrated to Australia in 1988. Early and personal life Askey was born in Austin, Texas, ...

) – 1:31 #"Erucu" (Don Daniels,

Jermaine Jackson Jermaine LaJuane Jacksun (né Jackson; born December 11, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter and bassist. He is known for being a member of the Jackson family. From 1964 to 1975, Jermaine was second vocalist after his brother Michael of the ...

) – 3:34 #"Let's Go Back to Day One" (Gil Askey,

Gloria Jones Gloria Richetta Jones (born October 19, 1945) is an American singer and songwriter who first found success in the United Kingdom, being recognized there as "The Queen of Northern Soul". She recorded the 1965 hit song "Tainted Love" and has wo ...

, Patrice Holloway) – 1:42 #"Tracy" (Gil Askey) – 2:14 #"She's the Ideal Girl" (Don Daniels, Jermaine Jackson) – 2:46 #"Sweets (And Other Things)" – 2:01 #"Mahogany Suite" – 5:31

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release and reception

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 ...

the film has an approval rating of 29% based on reviews from 21 critics. ''Mahogany'' was released on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

home video Home video is recorded media sold or Video rental shop, rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD and Blu-ray. ...

in the 1990s, and was issued on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

on May 1, 2007.

Awards and nominations

The film is recognized by the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

in this list: * 2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs: ** " Theme from ''Mahogany'' (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" – Nominated

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mahogany (Film) 1975 films 1975 LGBTQ-related films 1975 romantic drama films 1970s English-language films African-American drama films African-American LGBTQ-related films African-American romance films American romantic drama films Films about fashion Films set in Chicago Films set in Rome Films shot in Chicago Films shot in Rome LGBTQ-related romantic drama films Motown Productions films Paramount Pictures films 1970s American films English-language romantic drama films