Robert Johnson Movies

Actor and dancer Gregory Hines served as both executive producer and star for this biographical drama that chronicles the life of legendary entertainer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. In 1916, Robinson was a successful vaudeville performer and considered the finest tap dancer of his generation when he met Fannie (Kimberly Elise), a college student nearly two decades his junior. Even though Robinson was already married, he quickly fell in love with Fannie, and in time she was swept off her feet by the charismatic dancer and became his second wife. Fannie was one of the first people to encourage Robinson to stop performing in blackface (common for African-American vaudeville performers of the time), and in the 1930s, she and manager Marty Forkins (Peter Riegert) persuaded Bill to move to Hollywood and find work in the movies. While roles for black actors in Hollywood were severely limited at the time, Robinson managed to become a recognized film star, headlining the musical Stormy Weather and appearing in a number of pictures with child star Shirley Temple. But while Robinson's film work helped make him the best-known black performer in America, his frequent roles as domestic servants did little to earn him respect among his own people, and he was often seen as an "Uncle Tom" for his aggressively cheerful on-stage demeanor. And while Robinson was confronted with the less fortunate consequences of fame, he and Fannie had to deal with his growing addiction to gambling, which threatened to leave the highest-paid black man in America flat broke. Bojangles also features Savion Glover and Maria Ricossa; the film was produced for the Showtime premium cable network, where it first aired on February 4, 2001. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

John Covert directs himself in the starring role of a Chicago mobster, Andrew Martel, in this violent crime drama. Covert wrote the script and also edited and produced this film, his first independent feature. Comparisons to Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather abound in terms of subject matter and plot. Covert's character battles with relatives, including Marco Nartel (Michael McCullough), for control of the family business after the head of the gangster family is brutally murdered. FBI agent William Diehl (Daniel Gately) tries to intervene to stop the vendettas and incriminate some members of the gang in order to curtail their mob rule. Covert graphically portrays the ruthless nature of the crime syndicate "business." ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

In this collaboration between actor Gregory Peck and director John Frankenheimer, Peck plays Southern sheriff Henry Tawes, who intends to bring moonshiner Carl McCain (Ralph Meeker) to justice. Instead, Tawes falls in love with McCain's nubile daughter, Alma (Tuesday Weld), and arranges for the feds to keep their hands off McCain's still. The sheriff thus risks completely destroying his work life and home life. Not surprisingly, Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line" is heard on the soundtrack at various crucial junctures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this psychological thriller, an avaricious man covets his stepbrother's home. The greedy fellow knows that his stepbrother has a heart condition and so sets off a fatal attack by smashing a beloved violin. He then throws his wife and his other step-brother out of the house. But his actions do not come without a terrible price, and soon he begins to go mad. Thinking that he hears the plaintive songs of the broken violin, he runs to the piano and begins to loudly play hoping drown out the hellish sounds. A wild fear overtakes the man as the violin plays on and on until at last he crumples, face down upon the keyboard, a victim of a massive, fatal heart attack. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide