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A Rage in Harlem - DVD

SKU: 5752919 | Release Date: 9/2/2003

Rating: R for Violence, Graphic Violence, Nudity, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language, Profanity

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Rating: R for Violence, Graphic Violence, Nudity, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language, Profanity
Format: DVD
Theatrical Release: 1991
Length: 108 minutes
Screen Formats: Enhanced Widescreen for 16x9 TV
Genre: Action & Adventure
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Synopsis

Bill Duke directs this quirky film adaptation of Chester Himes' crime novel -- a heavily plotted gangster tale with a sweet love story hidden underneath. The film begins in Natchez, Mississippi in 1956. During a police shoot-out with the mob leader Slim's (Badja Djola) gang, Slim's moll Imabelle (Robin Givens) takes off with a cadre of stolen gold. As a result, Imabelle is chased by Slim's mob from Mississippi to New York. By the time she reaches Harlem, she is broke and has to figure out a way to ditch the trunk full of gold. She finds herself at the annual Undertaker's Ball, where she sees the big and dumb Jackson (Forest Whitaker), a bumbling undertaker's assistant. She spots Jackson as a mark that she can use as a cover and latches onto him immediately. She moves in with him to hide out, but Imabelle becomes taken with his innocence. For his part, Jackson falls head over heels in love with her. But the Mississippi mob catches up with her and takes her away. Jackson calls in his street-wise brother Goldy (Gregory Hines) to help him rescue Imabelle. Jackson fears that Imabelle has been kidnapped. But Goldy knows better -- he still agrees to help him but Goldy wants the gold for himself. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Version Details

Languages/Sound

Eng

Screen Formats

Enhanced Widescreen for 16x9 TV

Additional Features

cc Dolby Digital Surround Sound Widescreen (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 televisions

Chapters

Side #1 --
1. Take It or Leave It [5:41]
2. Opening Credits [1:44]
3. "Manners to Spare" [6:08]
4. No Place to Stay [5:40]
5. The Undertakers' Ball [6:44]
6. Gold in Harlem [8:01]
7. Just a Dream? [8:38]
8. Played Like a Chump [5:26]
9. A Deal With a Demon [7:18]
10. Keep Them Talking [5:07]
11. "Don't Drink" [9:13]
12. Imabelle! [6:01]
13. "Pop Go the Weasel" [8:52]
14. "Don't Shoot My Dog" [8:20]
15. "A Long Ride to Mississippi" [9:55]
16. End Credits [5:02]

Cast

John Toles-Bey - Jodie
Jack Beatty - Sheriff
Arthur Burghardt - Bo
Helen Martin - Mrs. Canfield
Olivette Miller-Briggs - 2nd Domestic
Hajna O. Moss - Chorus Dancer
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Himself
Zakes Mokae - Big Kathy
Tasha O'Bryant - Minna
Ernest Perry, Jr. - Jackie
Stack Pierce - Coffin Ed
John Parks - Chorus Dancer
Joni Palmer - Chorus Dancer
Willard E. Pugh - Claude X
Wendell Pierce - Louis
Eugene Robinson, Jr. - Henchman
Reynaldo Rey - Blind Man
Romelle Reaux - Chorus Dancer
Herbert Rawlins - Chorus Dancer
Kevin Ruthven - Bus Driver
Mike Roscoe - Chorus Dancer
Kiki Sheppard
William L. Schwarber - Goon
John Seitz - Lester Bunton
Forest Whitaker - Jackson
Aleta Helena Chappelle
John W. Hardy - Reverend Gaines
T.K. Carter - Smitty
James Copeland - Jailer
Tyler Collins - Teena
Anthonia Dotson - 1st Female Mourner
Badja Djola - Slim
Leslie Dockery - Chorus Dancer
Clebert Ford - Porter
Cornelius Stafford - Weasel
James Spinks - Bartender
Wynonna Smith - Chorus Dancer
Ron Taylor - Hank
Tracy A. Taylor - Skanky Whore
George Wallace - Grave Digger
Beatrice Winde - Clerk
Sam Williams - Gus Parsons
Edgar Godineaux, Jr. - Chorus Dancer
Danny Glover - Easy-Money
Robin Givens - Imabelle
Birdie M. Hale - 1st Domestic
Gregory Hines - Goldy
Kimberly Hester - Chorus Dancer
Leonard Jackson - Mr. Clay
George D. Wallace - Grave Digger
John Toles-Bay - Jodie

Crew

Screenwriter: John Toles-Bey
Stunts: Julius Le Flore
Producer: William Horberg
Production Designer: Steven G. Legler
Cinematographer: Toyomichi Kurita
Co-producer: John Nicolella
Producer: Nik Powell
Costume Designer: Nile H. Samples
Choreography: Otis Sallid
Art Director: Nina Ruscio
Co-producer: Forest Whitaker
Producer: Bob Weinstein ,Harvey Weinstein ,Stephen Woolley
Production Designer: Thomas A. Razzano
Screenwriter: Bobby Crawford
Director: Bill Duke
Screenwriter: John Toles-Bay
Producer: Kerry Boyle
Composer (Music Score): Elmer Bernstein
Editor: Curtiss Clayton
Screenwriter: Robert Crawford
Set Designer: K.C. Fox
Producer: Terry Glinwood
Book Author: Chester Himes

A Rage in Harlem: AMG Review
Josh Ralske , AMG

From its tense but amusing opening scene, in which a vicious black gangster has his henchman cut a huge mole off the nose of a double-crossing racist crime lord, director Bill Duke's A Rage in Harlem forgoes good taste in the name of exuberant entertainment. Forest Whitaker, who had worked primarily in more dramatic roles at the time, gives a genuinely hilarious performance as Jackson, the shy, na�ve mortuary worker. Robin Givens vamps impressively as the pragmatic Imabelle, who flees Natchez and her boyfriend, Slim (the impressively menacing Badja Djola), with a trunk full of stolen gold. Danny Glover is also impressive as the soft-spoken but ruthless kingpin Easy Money. Duke elicits pitch-perfect performances from his cast. Jackson, Imabelle, and the rest of the characters teeter on the brink of cartoonishness, but these actors make them believable enough to lend their story surprising emotional weight. Author Chester Himes' work had previously been brought to the screen in Ossie Davis' Cotton Comes to Harlem, an enjoyable film from the blaxploitation era. Eddie Murphy had mined similar territory in his Harlem Nights, a creative and financial failure. But Duke's noteworthy feature debut, which competed for the Palme d'Or at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival, succeeds at capturing the irreverent tone of Himes' novel, and creates a memorable vision of Harlem in the 1950s. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

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A Rage in Harlem - DVD

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A Rage in Harlem - DVD

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Synopsis

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Cast

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Related Movies

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Corporate Info

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