Harmony and Hustle: The Five Heartbeats
This program is presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Part of the UCLA Film & Television Archive screening series The Black Pack: Rewriting American Comedy. Learn more at cinema.ucla.edu.
In person: Introduction by Artel Great, associate professor, San Francisco State University School of Cinema, and author of The Black Pack: Comedy, Race, and Resistance.
Harlem Nights trailer (1989)
The only film written, directed, produced by and starring Eddie Murphy, this film, set in 1930s Harlem, imagines a world of Black nightlife, entrepreneurship and survival amid gangsters and corrupt cops.
The Five Heartbeats (1991)
Robert Townsend pens a soulful love letter to Black popular music in this film loosely inspired by Motown-era vocal groups. Following a fictional quintet from 1960s chart success through industry exploitation, infighting and addiction, the film delivers a clear-eyed critique of a business that profits from Black genius while denying Black ownership. Featuring a pop-history–rich script by Townsend and Keenen Ivory Wayans and a pitch-perfect ensemble performance, this story bridges generations of Black artistry and cinema as it beautifully reveals the spiritual power of brotherhood and Black music.
Director: Robert Townsend. Screenwriters: Robert Townsend, Keenen Ivory Wayans. With: Robert Townsend, Michael Wright, Leon Robinson, Harry J. Lennix, Tico Wells, John Canada Terrell, Harold Nicholas, Diahann Carroll.
The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a division of UCLA Library, and presents its public programs in the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer, among other venues. For more information about the Archive, visit cinema.ucla.edu.
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