Ragtime (1981)

Director:

Milos Forman

Writers:

E.L. Doctorow (novel) and
Michael Weller (writer)

Release Date:

6 January 1982 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was Ragtime

Plot:

A young black pianist becomes embroiled in the lives of an upper-class white family set among the racial tensions, infidelity, violence, and other nostalgic events in early 1900s New York City.

Plot Keywords:

Pianist | Car | 1900s | Piano | 1910s

Awards:

Nominated for 8 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

James Cagney	...	Police Commissioner Rhinelander Waldo
Brad Dourif	...	Younger Brother
Moses Gunn	...	Booker T. Washington
Elizabeth McGovern	...	Evelyn Nesbit
Kenneth McMillan	...	Willie Conklin
Pat O'Brien	...	Mr. Delphin Delmas
Donald O'Connor	...	Evelyn's Dance Instructor
James Olson	...	Father
Mandy Patinkin	...	Tateh
Howard E. Rollins Jr.	...	Coalhouse Walker Jr.
Mary Steenburgen	...	Mother
Debbie Allen	...	Sarah
Jeffrey DeMunn	...	Harry Houdini (as Jeff Demunn)
Robert Joy	...	Henry 'Harry' Kendall Thaw
Norman Mailer	...	Stanford White

Also Known As:

Love and Glory (Philippines: English title)
Ragtime (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Ragtime (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Na Época do Ragtime (Brazil) [pt]
Ragtime (France) [fr]
Ragtime (Poland) [pl]
Ragtime (Greece) [el]
Ragtime (Italy) [it]
Ragtime - toivon ja vihan aika (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

155 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Germany:12 (DVD rating) | West Germany:12 (f) | Argentina:16 | Australia:PG | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

81 West Main Street, Mt. Kisco, New York, USA

Company:

Dino De Laurentiis Company

Trivia:

Mandy Patinkin's daughter is played by Jenny Nichols while Mary Steenburgen's son is enacted by Max Nichols. Both young performers are the real-life children of director Mike Nichols.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Charles W. Fairbanks was not the Vice President of the United States when he was running with Theodore Roosevelt in 1904. He was a Senator from Indiana and was chosen as Roosevelt's running mate that year. Roosevelt was Vice President when he succeeded to the presidency upon William McKinley's assassination and he had no Vice President for his first term of office.

Quotes:

Rheinlander Waldo: Where is J. P. Morgan?
Vernon Elliott: Oh, he's on an expedition down the Nile... in Egypt.
Rheinlander Waldo: Hmmm... Lucky him!
[Looks at the Captain]
Police Captain #1: Yes, sir!
Rheinlander Waldo: And contact some colored big shots to talk to us in case we need to negotiate.
Police Captain #1: Very good, sir. Anything else?
Rheinlander Waldo: Yeah, he said something about a car and a fire chief.
Police Captain #1: Conklin. Willie Conklin.
Rheinlander Waldo: Get him. I want to meet him.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Forty Deuce (1982)

Soundtrack:

ONE MORE HOUR

Great To See Cagney But Don't Overlook Olson

I never saw this film until 2005 and after I had become a big James Cagney fan and wanted to see the movies of his I had missed. Thus, I had to check this out, especially since it was his first film he had made in over 20 years.

En route to getting a glimpse at the 80-year-old star, I found out (1) he wasn't on screen until 45 minutes were left in this 155-minute movie; (2) his absence didn't upset me that much because I was absorbed in this interesting story (plus, to be fair, I was told in advance he didn't appear until the last part!), (3) the sets, clothing, etc. of this "period piece" were fantastic to view.

Anyway, in my opinion, the star of the film was a guy who hardly got any billing: James Olson. He is the key figure in this story and very interesting to watch. Actually, just about everyone is interesting which makes for good storytelling. Nonetheless, Olson's fine performance is unfairly overlooked.

Howard Rollins was good as the black "victim" of the profane slob Kenneth McMillian and Elizabeth McGovern certainly kept ones attention although I wasn't quite sure how her character tied into the story.

By the way, to rate this movie "PG" is ludicrous since McGovern is seen in a 3- to-4-minute scene casually talking away with bare breasts for all to see. And - contrary to a popular rumor - nothing of her was cut out of the DVD.

Meanwhile, Cagney showed he hadn't forgotten how to act. It was a pleasure to see him again, just a few years before he would pass away. It's a cliché, but I doubt if anyone was in his class as an actor and a dancer, a tough guy or a comedian. He was the best and went out in style here, too, although he did do one last made-for-TV film a short time after this.