Chicago Blues (film)
Movie | |
---|---|
German title | Chicago blues |
Original title | The big town |
Country of production | United States |
original language | English |
Publishing year | 1987 |
length | 110 minutes |
Age rating | FSK 16 |
Rod | |
Director | Ben Bolt |
script | Robert Roy Pool |
production |
Martin Ransohoff Gene Kraft Don Carmody |
music | Michael Melvoin |
camera | Ralf D. Bode |
cut | Stuart H. Pappé |
occupation | |
|
Chicago Blues (Original Title: The Big Town ) is an American feature film from 1987 with Matt Dillon in the lead role. It's a mix of drama, romance and thriller.
action
Carl Hooker advises his protégé Ricky, an extremely talented craps player, to move out of the small town and work as a professional player in Chicago. Ricky immerses himself in the vibrant nightlife of Chicago in the 1950s . He works as a professional dice player for the blind Mr. Edwards and his wife. He lost his eyesight many years ago when another player spilled battery acid in his face. Since then, he's been seeking revenge and looking for Pete Carbondale. The Edwards couple provide Ricky with the racist Sonny from the southern states , who introduces him to the gaming scene. Ricky wins a lot and delivers a certain percentage to the Edwards. Ricky begins a relationship with the honest unmarried Aggie, who has a young daughter. Much more passionate, however, is his affair with the ambitious striptease dancer Lorry Dane. She is unhappily married to George Cole, a nightclub owner with a criminal past. Cole runs the "Gem Club" gambling hall, the only gambling den where Ricky is allowed to work on his own account.
Ricky wants to help Lorry take over the Gem Club. He tries his luck again and again at the game and puts George Cole in dire financial straits with his winnings. He breaks the bank several times. Ricky reveals to Lorry that he recognized the man Mr. Edwards was looking for by a tattoo on his wrist. He's in town under the name Phil Carpenter. Lorry reveals to Mr. Edwards, who assigns George Cole to kill Carpenter. She also informs the police so that her husband is arrested immediately after the crime. Ricky leaves Lorry when he surprises her in bed with the lawyer who is supposed to put Cole behind bars for a long time. Finally, he returns to his hometown with Aggie and her daughter Christy.
background
The film is based on the novella The Arm by Clark Howard. The film was shot in Chicago , in Kleinburg (in the Canadian province of Ontario ) and in Toronto . The box office income in US cinemas was approximately $ 1.7 million. The film was released on DVD in German and English.
Reviews
Many critics praised the style and the good acting performance despite the predictable plot. According to the lexicon of international films , the film is "entertaining thanks to the brisk staging and the detailed, nostalgic, transfigured ambience." Cinema mentioned the "stylish environment for an anemic story" and said that the "decors are right, the cast reveals taste, but the story is running out of life. ” Roger Ebert described the plot as predictable in the Chicago Sun-Times on September 25, 1987 , but the style had captivated him.
The German Film and Media Evaluation FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the title valuable.
Web links
- Chicago Blues in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ cf. moviejones.de
- ↑ Chicago Blues. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ cf. cinema.de
- ↑ Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times (English)