Hoodlum
Directed by	Bill Duke
Produced by	Frank Mancuso, Jr.
Written by	Chris Brancato
Starring
Music by	Elmer Bernstein
Cinematography	Frank Tidy
Edited by	Harry Keramidas
Distributed by	MGM Distribution Co.
August 27, 1997
Running time	130 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$30 million[1]
Box office	$23,461,013 (USA)

Hoodlum is a 1997 American crimedrama film that gives a fictionalized account of the gang war between the Italian/Jewish mafia alliance and the black gangsters of Harlem that took place in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The film concentrates on Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson (Laurence Fishburne), Dutch Schultz (Tim Roth), and Lucky Luciano (Andy García).^[2]

By the mid-1930s, St. Clair, who had lost the support (if not the affection) of Bumpy Johnson by this point, realized Schultz and the Mafia led by Charlie “Lucky” Luciano had too much power to resist and she turned over her organization to those rivals. Schultz, however, had other problems on his doorstep. Ellsworth Raymond 'Bumpy' Johnson (October 31, 1905 – July 7, 1968) was an American drug trafficker in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. Johnson was born in Charleston, South Carolina on October 31, 1905, to Margaret Moultrie and William Johnson. When he was 10, his older brother Willie was accused of killing a white man. Harlem Godfather: The Rap on My Husband, Ellsworth Bumpy Johnson by Mayme Johnson. 2 days ago Bumpy Johnson was one of Harlem's most notorious crime bosses of the and later did business with Italian mobster Charles Lucky Luciano. Associations: Bumpy Johnson, Dutch Schultz, Lucky Luciano. Clair carved out a piece of the New York rackets during the early years of the 20th.

Plot[edit]

In 1934, Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson (Laurence Fishburne) is released from Sing Sing and returns to Harlem, where mobster Dutch Schultz (Tim Roth) asserts his control of the lucrative numbers game. Schultz begrudgingly reports to Mafia boss Charles “Lucky” Luciano (Andy Garcia), who pays bribes to special prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey (William Atherton) to protect his business.

Reuniting with his cousin 'Illinois' Gordon (Chi McBride), Bumpy returns to the employ of Harlem crime boss Madame Queen (Cicely Tyson), whose business is threatened by Schultz. Bumpy is introduced to Francine (Vanessa Williams), a friend of Illinois’ girlfriend Mary (Loretta Devine). Schultz’s meeting with the Queen ends in a standoff when he presents her with a rival’s testicles. Walking Francine home from a club, Bumpy charms her with his poetry.

Madame Queen is attacked by Schultz’s men, led by black enforcer Bub Hewlett (Clarence Williams III), but Bumpy and fellow mobster Whispers (Paul Benjamin) repel the assassins and rescue her. At a meeting of the Commission, Schultz states his determination to take over Harlem. After robbing Schultz’s operation with Illinois, Bumpy is chastised by Madame Queen for making his own decisions. Schultz then hires two hitmen, the Salke brothers, to kill Bumpy, and has his police contact, NYPD Captain Foley (Richard Bradford), arrange for Madame Queen to be arrested. At a party, a 17-year-old named Tyrone asks Bumpy for a job, and Francine struggles to reconcile her feelings for Bumpy with his criminal ways.

The Salkes break into Bumpy’s home, killing his guards, but Bumpy ambushes them and kills one while the other is shot dead by a terrified Francine. Illinois is beaten and robbed by Foley and his officers, while Madame Queen is arrested for illegal gambling. Taking over her operation, Bumpy enlists Tyrone as a runner, and ignores the Queen’s orders to avoid violence. By May 1935, he is locked in an all-out war with Schultz. His wealth and power grow, as does the body count, including Tyrone. Bumpy’s attempt to comfort Tyrone’s mother at his funeral is rejected.

At an ice cream parlor with Francine, Bumpy realizes his banana split has been poisoned. When the shop owner reveals that Bumpy’s associate Vallie ordered him to hire the new teenage employee responsible, Bumpy forces the boy to eat the poisoned ice cream despite his attempts to apologize. Whispers then kills Vallie with a razor. Bumpy confronts Schultz at the Cotton Club with Vallie’s severed finger, demanding he cease his Harlem operations; Schultz refuses.

Disguised as truck drivers, Bumpy and Illinois deliver a bomb to one of Schultz’s illicit breweries, narrowly escaping before the warehouse explodes. Illinois returns home to find Schultz had Mary killed in retaliation. Threatened by Dewey to end the bloodshed in Harlem, Luciano invites Bumpy and Schultz to a meeting, against both their wills.

Visiting Madame Queen in prison, Bumpy is rebuked for inciting a gang war. Finding she can no longer accept who he is, Francine leaves him, and Illinois drunkenly confronts him over the innocent lives lost. Illinois is abducted and tortured by Foley, to Hewlett’s disgust, but refuses to betray his cousin. At Luciano’s meeting, Bumpy and Schultz refuse to settle their dispute. After finding Illinois’ corpse left as a message, Bumpy slits Foley’s throat while he's with a black prostitute, but spares Hewlett’s life and offers him a partnership.

Bumpy accepts an alliance with Luciano, and Luciano’s driver – on Bumpy’s orders – informs Schultz that Bumpy will be meeting with Luciano’s accountant. Schultz and his men burst in but find only the accountant, who Schultz kills. At a restaurant, Schultz’s long-suffering henchman Lulu (Ed O'Ross) shoots him in the bathroom, and Schultz calmly returns to his table before dying. Meeting Luciano outside for payment, Lulu is shot dead. With Dutch eliminated and the gang war settled, Dewey – having received an enormous bribe from Bumpy, delivered by Hewlett – warns Luciano to stay away from Harlem. Hewlett and Bumpy part ways, and Bumpy arrives at Illinois’ funeral. After exchanging looks with Francine and Madame Queen, Bumpy walks out into the rain alone.

Cast[edit]

• Laurence Fishburne as Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson
• Tim Roth as Dutch Schultz
• Vanessa Williams as Francine Hughes
• Andy García as Charles 'Lucky' Luciano
• Cicely Tyson as Stephanie St. Clair/Madam Queen
• Chi McBride as Illinois Gordon
• Clarence Williams III as Bub Hewlett
• Richard Bradford as Captain Foley
• William Atherton as Thomas E. Dewey
• Loretta Devine as Pigfoot Mary
• Queen Latifah as Sulie
• Ed O'Ross as Lulu Rosenkrantz
• Eddie Bo Smith Jr. as Tee-Ninchy
• Mike Starr as Albert Salke
• Beau Starr as Jules Salke
• Paul Benjamin as Whispers
• Tony Rich as Duke Ellington

Soundtrack[edit]

A soundtrack containing hip hop and R&B music was released on August 12, 1997 by Interscope Records. It peaked at #94 on the Billboard 200 and #23 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.

Reception[edit]

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 43% based on 21 reviews.^[3] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B on scale of A to F.^[4]

Critic Roger Ebert noted that 'the film is being marketed as a violent action picture, and in a sense, it is' and that director Bill Duke having made 'a historical drama as much as a thriller, and his characters reflect a time when Harlem seemed poised on the brink of better things, and the despair of the postwar years was not easily seen on its prosperous streets.'^[5]

See also[edit]

• Godfather of Harlem: a 2019 Epix television series, starring Forest Whitaker as Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson.

References[edit]

1. ^https://variety.com/1997/film/news/mgm-at-a-prelim-1117433216/
2. ^Hoodlum at IMDb
3. ^http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1078030-hoodlum/
4. ^'Cinemascore'. CinemaScore. Archived from the original on 2018-12-20. Retrieved 2019-08-07.
5. ^Roger Ebert (August 27, 1997). 'Hoodlum'. Chicago Sun-Times.

External links[edit]

• Hoodlum at IMDb
• Hoodlum at Box Office Mojo
• Hoodlum at Rotten Tomatoes

Harlem Godfather: The Rap on My Husband, Ellsworth Bumpy Johnson by Mayme Johnson

The first and only full biography on legendary Harlem gangster, Bumpy Johnson who was depicted in the movies Cotton Club, Hoodlum and American Gangster Al Capone may have ruled Chicago. Lucky Luciano may have run most of New York City. But from the 1930s to the late 1960s, when it came to Harlem, the undisputed king of the underworld was Ellsworth Bumpy Johnson. Bumpy was a man whose contradictions are still the root of many an argument in Harlem. But there is one thing on which both his supporters and detractors agree in his lifetime, Bumpy was the man in Harlem. Harlem Godfather: The Rap on My Husband, Ellsworth Bumpy Johnson is the first complete biography of a man who for years was Harlem s best kept, and most cherished secret. There is also a full chapter on Madame Stephanie St . Clair, the infamous Harlem numbers banker who instigated the famous fight with Jewish mobster Dutch Schultz. The book is written by Bumpys widow, Mayme Johnson, and details not only his criminal life but also his personal life. This book also details Bumpys relationship Harlem dopedealer with Frank Lucas, who has called himself Bumpys right-hand man, but was -- according to Mrs. Johnson -- little more than a flunky.

BUMPY JOHNSON SAVED LUCKY LUCIANOS LIFE IN SING SING-- ALLAH B, BRONALD & BROTHER HENRY

10 Fascinating Things About New York’s Black Mafia

Stephanie St. Clair carved out a piece of the New York rackets during the early years of the 20th century, battling mobsters such as Dutch Schultz and Lucky Luciano , as well as corrupt and honest police, for control of gambling in Harlem. According to biographer Shirley Stewart, who wrote the definitive history of St. Clair, she was born in the French east Caribbean island of Guadeloupe in and traveled to the United States on a steamer in when she was 13 years old. Other biographies echo the manifest of the S. Guiana, aboard which St.

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I n the opening scene of Ridley Scott's mesmerising American Gangster, the underworld legend Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson dies in the company of his protege Frank Lucas, lamenting the disappearance of the Harlem he once knew. While the scene takes place in an appliance store, and Johnson, by most accounts, died in Lucas's arms in a nightclub, the scene establishes the strong bond of affection between the godfather of uptown crime and his surrogate son - a son who would revolutionise the New York heroin trade. I've taught you everything you need to know about this racket, Johnson seems to be saying. Now it's time for me to go. Bumpy Johnson is a perfect example of a type known as the regional legend. Feared and revered in Harlem, whose criminal life he dominated from to , Johnson has never officially entered the pantheon of mainstream American villains, which is dominated by such high-profile gangsters as Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Dutch Schultz and John Gotti.

Clair, and later did business with Italian mobster Charles 'Lucky' Luciano. Johnson would go on to mentor Frank Lucas, who would take over Harlem's operations and turn it into a haven for drug trafficking. He was given the nickname 'Bumpy' due to an abnormal growth on his head. After his older brother was wanted for the murder of a white man, a year-old Johnson, along with most of his other siblings, was sent to Harlem for safety. Despite moving up north, there was no avoiding the scourge of racism, and Johnson, with his small frame and thick Southern accent, was a target for bullying. However, Johnson's bad temper kept him from being a hapless victim, and starting at an early age, he learned how to be a scrappy fighter. Through Hewlett, Johnson became a highly regarded bodyguard for high-rolling illegal gamblers in Harlem.

Lucky Luciano And Bumpy Johnson Affair

He has been the subject or character of a number of Hollywood films including The Cotton Club , Hoodlum , and most recently, American Gangster. Johnson was originally from Charleston, South Carolina. During his formative years, his family moved north to Harlem. He was always armed and did not hesitate to resort to violence to achieve his objectives. By his 30th birthday, Johnson had spent almost half his life in prison.

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Charles Lucky Luciano And Bumpy Johnson

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