- Title: USA: LAURENCE FISHBOURNE STARS WITH ANDY GARCIA IN BILL DUKE'S NEW FILM "HOODLUM"
- Date: 10th August 1997
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 10, 1997 ) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) ANDY GARCIA (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) SAYING OF HIS CHARACTER, "WELL, HE'S A FASCINATING GUY. HE HAS SUCH A COMPLEX AND INTERESTING TRAJECTORY IN HIS OWN LIFE. SO TO ME IT WAS JUST A FASCINATING SORT OF PERIOD OF STUDY. I HAD ABOUT 10 DAYS BEFORE I STARTED THE MOVIE TO RESEARCH HIM" LAURENCE FISHBUR
- Embargoed: 25th August 1997 13:00
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- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK AND LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND FILM lOCATINOS
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA4JR0SFBVD6CWN59GBC7VZTT50
- Story Text: Following his brief stint in outer space in the thriller "Event Horizon," Oscar-nominee Laurence Fishburne goes back in time to the 1930's to play a real-life gangster in the new drama "Hoodlum." Fishburne plays oppposite fellow Oscar-nominees Andy Garcia and Tim Roth.
The film's world premiere was held at the Magic Johnson Theatres in the Crenshaw neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles.
Now open for three years and owned by former basketball great Earvin "Magic" Johnson, it's one of the only movie theatres serving the primarily black minority neighborhood.
"Hoodlum" is based on the real-life story of Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson, a man who rose through the ranks of organized crime in the minority New York neighborhood of Harlem to become the king of the numbers racket in 1934.
As played by Fishburne, "Bumpy" Johnson is a neighborhood hero, a man who allies himself with the powerful crime lord Lucky Luciano (played by Garcia) to take control of the lucrative gambling market in his own neighborhood.
But his biggest obstacle is the brutal gangster Dutch Schultz, played by Tim Roth.
Schultz is a vicious killer who is the first to see that the penny bets of Harlem's poor add up to thousands of dollars a day.
He fights Johnson's attempts to take control of that source of income.
Also in the cast are Cicely Tyson as Bumpy's mentor, Madame Stephanie St. Clair, actor and recording artist Vanessa Williams as his love interest and comic actor Chi McBride as his closet ally, Illinois Gordon.
"Hoodlum" was directed by Bill Duke, whose previous work includes "A Rage in Harlem" with Danny Glover, "Sister Act 2" with Whoopi Goldberg and the thriller "Deep Cover," his first collaboration with Laurence Fishburne.
The film is based on Johnson's true-life story. Born in South Carolina in 1906, Johnson was sent to live with his older sister in New York at age 13.
He hit the streets at the height of the roaring 20's when Harlem was in the midst of a cultural renaissance. He began his criminal career by robbing homes and at of 17, was arrested and sentenced to six months in a juvenile reformatory.
After his release, he emerged as a "Robin Hood" of sorts to his people. He was said to have no fear of the white establishment and his bravado eventually led to an all-out war with mobster Dutch Schultz.
To this day, long-time residents of Harlem remember "Bumpy" Johnson as both a criminal and a hero to his people.
For his part, Garcia spent almost a month reading books on the Sicilian gangster Lucky Luciano.
Garcia also uncovered a former employee of Luciano, now living in Miami, who offered him insight into the real man and gave him a sapphire pinky ring, once worn by the mobster himslef, to wear during his work on the film.
The biggest part of preparation for Tim Roth was to work on Dutch Schultz's heavy New York accent. The British actor, nominated for an Oscar for his work in "Rob Roy," worked with his longtime dialect coach Suzanne Celeste to erase his British accent while capturing the distinctive and flavorful dialect native to the Bronx.
"Hoodlum" opens in Britain in November. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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