Description: Based on the popular novel by E.L. Doctorow, RAGTIME tells the story of four New York families at the turn of the 20th century. Starving immigrant artist, Tateh sets off to make his fortune in Hollywood, but along the way encounters showgirl Evelyn Nesbit who is at the center of a murder investigation. Meanwhile, an upper-class family finds their seemingly perfect existence ruined when black pianist Coalhouse Walker Jr. begins to romance a pregnant girl living in their home.
Amazon.com essential video: Fact and fiction intertwine in Milos Forman's colorful kaleidoscope of E.L. Doctorow's sprawling novel of turn-of-the-century America. Anchored in the true story of the murder of architect Stanford White (Norman Mailer) by Harry Thaw (Robert Joy) over the affections of his wife Evelyn Nesbit (Elizabeth McGovern), Forman weaves a portrait of early 1900s America in a tapestry of intertwining fictional tales. The primary thread involves the proud black pianist Coalhouse Walker Jr. (Howard Rollins) and his demand for justice when a racist fireman destroys his automobile, which escalates into a reign of terror by Walker and a band of revolutionaries. A secondary story involves an ambitious immigrant artist (Mandy Patinkin) whose primitive flipbooks send him on the road to creating early cinema. Centering all of these stories in one way or another is an upper-class family known simply as Father (James Olson), Mother (Mary Steenburgen), and Younger Brother (Brad Dourif). James Cagney came out of a twenty-year retirement to play the irascible Irish police commissioner, a character created for the film. Forman's biggest departure from Doctorow's novel, however, is his focus on Walker's story, cutting away the other threads to little more than asides in the final half of the picture, the primary dramatic weakness of an otherwise rich evocation of America's past. Randy Newman's lyrical score and Miroslav Ondricek's understated cinematography earned two of the film's eight Academy Awards nominations --Sean Axmaker
Engrossing I very much liked the E.L. Doctorow novel and this movie over 25 years ago. Seeing the movie again, I enjoyed it just as much. Several reviewers have commented on the McGovern nude scene, as if that was the core of the film, but it isn't. Nor was it deleted from the DVD I received trom Amazon.
There are two connected stories here, somewhat ragged as the music for which this was named. First, there is the story of Evelyn Nesbit and the murder of Stanford White--which actually happened, pretty much as the film shows. Then there is the fictional story of Coalhouse Walker, a black piano player who only wants respect and justice. The connecting link is a young man who becomes enamored of Newbit, then takes up the cause of Walker.
The acting is very good throughout. The atmosphere of the Edwardian Age in New York feels right. There are wonderful side stories, such as the Jewish silhouette artist in the Lower East Side ghetto who becomes a "count" and a silent film director with Nesbit as his star. As an aside, she did make several such films in real life.
This is a movie worth seeing, if for the beautiful Elizabeth McGovern alone and her very natural and au natural acting. She plays the dim bulb Nesbit perfectly, far better than Nesbit was portrayed by Joan Collins in "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing."
"Genius--Right in the Kisser!" I was entranced by Doctorow's book, and the following movie was not a disappointment. The weaving of the lives of famous and infamous people, accurately, with those of fictional characters makes for a believable and charming story that spans years, even decades. The highlights of the movie are the hijinks of Houdini and the Irish police comissioner. We get to see Jimmy Cagney in one of his last roles and he is perfect for the part--even better than in some of his more famous roles, I believe. If you have never read the book or seen the film, you owe it to yourself to indulge in this treat.
Running Time Correction After checking out the DVD against other Online stores carrying the same title, it is evident that the 115 minute running time previously posted by Amazon was a mistake. It's now been corrected and stands at 156 minutes - the original running time. Folks worried about this DVD version being cut by 40 minutes can put their minds at ease. It is the original version.
RAGTIME LOVE IT CAME IN MINT CONDITION. WAS NOT DECEIVING IT WAS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR.
RAGTIME uncut on DVD I can't understand why so many reviewers are claiming that the RAGTIME disc contains a cut version of this film, missing 40 minutes of footage. I picked up a copy recently, and it's definitely uncut, running exactly 155 minutes
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