#332. Ragtime (1981)

Directed By: Milos Forman

Starring: James Cagney, Brad Dourif, Elizabeth McGovern, Howard E. Rollins Jr.



Tag line: "The Passion, The Violence, The Birth of America's Gilded Age"

Trivia:  Jack Nicholson makes a very brief cameo in this film, playing a pirate in a silent film shoot









Based on E.L. Doctorow's novel of the same name, director Milos Forman's Ragtime is a sprawling epic set in the first decade of the 20th century. 

Mixing fact with fiction, the film tells a number of fascinating tales, including the real-life scandal of former dance-hall girl Evelyn Nesbit Shaw (Elizabeth McGovern), whose wealthy husband Harry (Robert Joy) shot and killed Stanford White (Norman Mailer) - a socialite and Evelyn's former lover - over a dispute involving a nude statue. 

There are rags to riches stories (such as that of the impoverished Jewish cartoonist, played by Mandy Patinkin, who would eventually make it big in Hollywood), and quiet, middle-class households, where the husband (James Olsen) and wife (Mary Steenburgen) will be torn from their domesticity by an ever-changing world. 

And then there's the dramatic tale of Colehouse Walker (Howard Rollins, Jr), a black musician whose fight for justice against a bigoted fire chief (Kenneth McMillan) evolves into an all-out race war.

This is the synopsis for Ragtime, but it does not even scratch the surface as to how truly marvelous this film is. Its detailed recreation of the time period is a work of art in its own right, a stunning achievement that the Academy recognized with nominations for Costume and Set Design as well as Art Direction. 

The world of Ragtime is, indeed, lush and vibrant, yet is matched at every turn by some tremendous performances. Every member of the cast shines, including Brad Dourif as a young man whose initial naivete slowly succumbs to the realities of a harsh world, and Moses Gunn, who makes a brief yet powerful appearance as historical civil rights leader Booker T. Washington. 

The best performance, however, is delivered by Howard Rollins, Jr. as Colehouse Walker, whose stubbornness and determination to see justice done gives the film its most dramatic story arc. When I first saw Ragtime on cable in the early 80's, I was convinced that Rollins' turn was the greatest screen performance I had ever seen, and even today, I marvel at how strong he is. 

Throw in the occasional scene with Harry Houdini (played by Jeffrey DeMunn) acting out one of his patented escape tricks, and the final screen appearance of the great James Cagney (as New York Police Commissioner Rhinelander Waldo), and you have a motion picture that is as wide in scope as it is brilliant in its presentation.

Ragtime was not a financial success, and I even remember it being mentioned in the book "The Golden Turkey Awards", by Harry and Michael Medved, which detailed the biggest box-office bombs of all-time. This is a tragedy, not because Ragtime failed at the box office (the cinema's rich history is cluttered with great films that audiences avoided), but because so many missed out on a truly magnificent experience.

If you haven't seen Ragtime, don't let another minute go by without doing so.