Harlem Nights (1989)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Eddie Murphy

Writer (WGA):

Eddie Murphy (written by)

Release Date:

17 November 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

They're up to something big.

Plot:

"Sugar" Ray is the owner of an illegal casino, who contend with the pressures of vicious gangster and...

Plot Keywords:

Organized Crime | Police | Gangster | Nightclub | Cult Favorite

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Eddie Murphy	...	Quick
Richard Pryor	...	Sugar Ray
Redd Foxx	...	Bennie Wilson
Danny Aiello	...	Phil Cantone
Michael Lerner	...	Bugsy Calhoune
Della Reese	...	Vera
Berlinda Tolbert	...	Annie
Stan Shaw	...	Jack Jenkins
Jasmine Guy	...	Dominique La Rue
Vic Polizos	...	Richie Vento
Lela Rochon	...	Sunshine
David Marciano	...	Tony
Arsenio Hall	...	Crying Man
Thomas Mikal Ford	...	Tommy Smalls (as Tommy Ford)
Uncle Ray Murphy	...	Willie (as Uncle Ray)

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A | Chile:18 | Finland:K-14 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R (Certificate #29895) | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Eddie Murphy Productions

Trivia:

This film was made because Eddie Murphy always wanted to direct and act in a period piece.

Quotes:

Vera: Kiss my ENTIRE ass!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Life (1999/I)

Soundtrack:

The Gal From Joe's

The BEST Eddie Murphy comedy of all time....

...Thats right the best. This movie was a hallmark for standup comedy. For the first time you had all the greats in one movie, Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx, Robin Harris. Especially since the last 2 have passed away and Richard Pryor is too ill to do a movie again. When he made Nights he had to sit in his wheelchair when he wasn't filming, hence you never see him do anything physical in the movie. I first saw this movie one I was 10 with my dad, uncles and my grandmother. Of course she was turned off by the profanity but we all were laughing untill our sides hurt. I also remember all the things the great voices of cinema said about this movie. And to that i say how can you look down at this movie for profanity and praise movies like Goodfellas and Pulp Fiction (great movies by the way) when they have twice the vulgar langauge. And to those that say, well why did they portray the white mobsters as the bad guys? Well its Harlem in the 30's and ask any black person who owned a place of buisness then how hard it was. To me this wasn't just about Eddie, Eddie, Eddie, this was an epic for comedy and I hate to use the clinche but "Black" movies as well. The only other Murphy movie that comes close is Nutty Professer. I hope the sequel to that is half as funny as Nights. One last point that I think why critics panned this movie is, we all now Eddie is a comic genuis, but people were so use to seeing him play to a white partner or sidekick (i.e. Trading Places, All the Beverly Hill Cops and 48 Hours) But to a comedy standup fan like me, Murphy, Pryor, Foxx, Hall, Harris in one movie was like giving a Star Wars fan (as I am) premire tickets to Ep. 2 & 3. If you haven't seen this I recommend it just for the fact that half the cast had passed on and this was their last work, but its also a fun take on the mobster movie craze of the 30's and 40's.