Hollywood Shuffle (1987)
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87% of critics liked it
(23 reviews) -
32% want to see it
(3,138 ratings)
This satirical look at the ambivalent relationship between Hollywood power brokers and African-American performers marked the writing, producing, and directing debut of Robert Townsend. The filmmaker also stars as Bobby Taylor, a struggling actor looking for his big break despite his family's… More This satirical look at the ambivalent relationship between Hollywood power brokers and African-American performers marked the writing, producing, and directing debut of Robert Townsend. The filmmaker also stars as Bobby Taylor, a struggling actor looking for his big break despite his family's and co-workers' reservations about his chosen career path. While working a day job flipping burgers, Bobby heads out to insulting cattle calls where white casting agents pass judgement on whether he seems "black enough." Meanwhile, he imagines himself playing Sam Spade, Rambo, and other movie heroes rather than the stereotypical roles actually available to him. When Bobby actually does win one such pimp-daddy part, however, he is forced to choose between accepting work that opens doors, but ultimately demeans him and returning to obscurity with his principles intact. Hollywood Shuffle's enormous supporting cast includes a wealth of black actors, from then-unknowns such as Damon Wayans to veterans such as 227 star Helen Martin. Self-financed and filmed on scraps of hand-me-down celluloid, the film helped establish actor Townsend as a director of note and also kick-started the career of co-screenwriter and co-star Keenen Ivory Wayans, who would cast Townsend in his own directorial debut the following year. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Directed By
- Robert Townsend
- Written By
- Robert Townsend, Keenen Ivory Wayans
- Genres
- Comedy
R,
- Studio
- Virgin Vision
Critic Reviews
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Variety Staff, Variety
Brimming with imagination and energy, Hollywood Shuffle is the kind of shoestring effort more appealing in theory than execution.
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Pat Graham, Chicago Reader
Improv talent Robert Townsend is pretty much the whole show.
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Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Despite the film's conspicuously minuscule budget and shaky narrative structure, it is funny. If you value enthusiasm and imagination more than glossy sophistication, you'll laugh.
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Janet Maslin, New York Times
Mr. Townsend has taken aim at the industry's funny bone and struck a solid blow.
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Richard Harrington, Washington Post
For a mere $100,000, Townsend and company have made a funny, poignant and technically proficient film -- one that should thoroughly embarrass those studios that routinely offer up badly made, multimillion-dollar disasters.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
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Cast
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Robert Townsend
as Bobby Taylor, Jasper, Sam Ace, Speed
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Anne-Marie Johnson
as Lydia/Willie Mae/Hooker #5
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Starletta DuPois
as Bobby's Mother
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Helen Martin
as Bobby's Grandmother
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Craigus R. Johnson
as Stevie Bobby's Brother
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Dom Jack Irrera
as Writer
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Paul Mooney
as NAACP President
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Lisa Mende
as Casting Director
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Robert Shafer
as Commercial Director
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John Witherspoon
as Mr. Jones
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Ludie Washington
as Tiny
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Keenen Ivory Wayans
as Donald/Jerry Curl
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Franklyn Ajaye
as Body Guard #1
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Jesse Aragon
as Audition Actor/Student #1/Punk
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Jim Beaver
as Postal Worker
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Conni Marie Brazelton
as Hooker
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Verda Bridges
as Audition Actor/Bessie/Hostage
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Wren T. Brown
as Picketer #2
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Grand L. Bush
as Mandingo Ricky Taylor/Hood #5
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Michael Colyar
as Body Guard #3
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Sarah Katie Coughlin
as Sitcom Girl Friend
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Richard Cummings Jr.
as Slave #3/Hood #1
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Tony Edwards
as Audition Actor/Eddie Murphy
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Roy Fegan
as Jesse Wilson, Slave #2, Zombie
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Marc Figueroa
as Client #2, Sitcom Father
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Eugene Robert Glazer
as Director
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Myra J.
as Picketer #1
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Lorrie Marlow
as Hooker #2/Reporter
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Bobby McGee
as Audition Actor/Zombie Pimp/Eddie
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David McKnight
as Uncle Ray
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Lydia Nicole
as Make-Up Woman
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Brad Sanders
as Batty Boy
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Nick Stewart [Nicodemus]
as Cookie's Father
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Le Tari
as Rudy
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Damon Wayans
as Body Guard #2/Willie
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Kim Wayans
as Customer in Chair
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Jimmy Woodard
as Advance Student/Basketball
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Gregory "Popeye" Alexander
as Pimp
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Carl Craig
as Audition Actor/Basketball
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Rusty Cundieff
as Audition Actor/Slave #1/Zombie
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Donald Douglass
as Basketball Player/Eddie Murphy
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Sena Ayn Black
as Receptionist
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Michael Conn
as Teacher #2/Police Detective #1
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Christopher Jackson
as Punk #1
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E.J. Murray
as Actor in Audition
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Don Reed
as Maurice
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Nancy Scher
as Client #1
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Steven Fertig
as Agent #2
- Howard Allen
- Beverly Brown
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Nancy Cheryl Davis
as Audition Actor, Hooker
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Steve W. James
as Hood #3
- Tommy Morgan Jr.
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Michael Smith
as Student #2/Zombie Pimp
- Sarah Kaite Coughlan
- Sean Michal Flynn
- Keenan Ivory Wayans
