Ragtime
Directed by Milos Forman
Written by Michael Weller from a novel by E.L. Doctorow
1981/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/YouTube rental
Younger Brother: What kind of music do you play?
Coalhouse Walker Jr.: Anything they ask me to, and then I play ragtime.
This was even better than I remembered it.
The story takes place in New York City and its environs in the days before WWI. It is intended to give a panoramic view of the time. Mother (Mary Steenbergen), Father (James Olson), and Younger Brother (Brad Dourif) are an upper middle class family living in New Rochelle. Father is very proper and conventional but in the end is not such a bad guy. Mother and her brother march to a different drum.
A maid finds a black baby in the garden and Mother immediately wants to take it in. Finally, the mother (Debbie Allen) is found and Mother insists on taking her in as well. The father of the child, Coalhouse Walker Jr. (Howard E. Rollins, Jr.) soon makes an appearance. His mastery of the piano has secured him steady employment and he is now prepared to marry.
Simultaneously we follow the story of Evelyn Nesbitt (Elizabeth McGovern) and her jealous husband Henry Thaw. Thaw becomes enraged when a nude statue, rumored to have been modeled by his wife, is placed atop Madison Square Garden. Although millionaire Stanford White denies this, Thaw starts following him with murderous intent and finally achieves his aim at a show in the Garden. He comes from a wealthy family who secure him the best defense attorney (Pat O’Brien) and pay off Evelyn to lie on the stand.
Also simultaneously, we meet a Jewish immigrant artist (Mandy Patinkin) who eventually becomes an early movie maker.
Little Brother becomes obsessed with Evelyn but she is a ditzy free spirit who is certainly is not ready for any type of commitment. This leaves him ready to perform any number of rash acts.
Coalhouse is very proud of his brand new Model T. Right before his wedding day, the car stalls in front of a fire department. The firemen resent the idea that a black man could have a new car and dump excrement on the front seat. Coalhouse demands that they clean it. But they don’t and the authorities take their side. The car is badly damaged overnight. Things subsequently spiral out of control as Coalhouse seeks justice. With James Cagney, in his last film, as a police commissioner and Donald O’Connor as Evelyn’s dance instructor.
It is hard to single out a performance from the ensemble cast as they are uniformly excellent. The movie is long but the story is gripping. And it was so much fun to see all the old movie stars. Cagney has a substantial part and is fantastic. Forman never made a bad film and the period detail here is out of this world.
I have a friend who has done extensive research on Nesbit and am wondering what she thinks about her portrayal in this film.
“Ragtime” was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Supporting Actor (Rollins), Best Supporting Actress (McGovern), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score (Randy Newman), and Best Original Song.
Theme song for another movie but appropriate here.
