Scott Joplin (film)
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Janet Hubbard
| Scott Joplin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Jeremy Kagan |
| Written by | Christopher Knopf |
| Produced by | Stanley Hough Janet Hubbard |
| Starring | Billy Dee Williams |
| Cinematography | David M. Walsh |
| Edited by | Patrick Kennedy |
| Music by | Scott Joplin Dick Hyman |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | NBC Universal Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Scott Joplin is a 1977 biographical film directed by Jeremy Kagan and based on the life of African-American composer and pianist Scott Joplin. It stars Billy Dee Williams and Clifton Davis. Its script won an award from the Writers Guild of America in 1979.[2] Eubie Blake makes an appearance in the movie.
In the late 19th century, Scott Joplin, a young African-American musician, moves to Missouri and to make ends meet finds a job as a piano teacher. He befriends Louis Chauvin, who plays the piano in a brothel.
Joplin composes ragtime music. One day his "Maple Leaf Rag" is heard by John Stark, a publisher of sheet music in Sedalia, Missouri and later St. Louis, Missouri. Stark is impressed, buys the rights to the composition and sells it, with Joplin sharing some of the profits. Joplin's new songs also achieve a great popularity.
Chauvin is equally talented, but contracts syphilis and dies in his 20s. Joplin becomes obsessed with composing more serious music, yet is continually thwarted in his attempt to write and publish an opera.
Cast
- Billy Dee Williams as Scott Joplin
- Clifton Davis as Louis Chauvin
- Margaret Avery as Belle Joplin
- Eubie Blake as Will Williams, the judge of the piano cutting contest on August 18, 1899
- Godfrey Cambridge as Tom Turpin (posthumous appearance)
- Art Carney as John Stark
- Seymour Cassel as Dr. Jaelki
- DeWayne Jessie as John The Baptist
- Taj Mahal as Poor Alfred
- Sam Theard as One-handed guy
- Mabel King as Madam Amy
- David Healy as Sam Bundler
- Samuel Fuller as Impresario
- Leon Charles as Liebling
- Fred Pinkard as Dr. Adams
- Delos V. Smith Jr. as Wallis
- Marcus Grapes as Rabin
- Denise Gordy as The Girl
- David Hubbard as Young Scott
Production
The film was made as a TV movie that was to air on NBC as Motown Productions' first venture into dramatic television. However, the film was given a theatrical release instead after Universal Pictures executives thought it had box-office potential.[3]