Sparkle (1976 film)

Infobox Film
name = Sparkle


director = Sam O'Steen
writer = Joel Schumacher
Howard Rosenman
starring = Philip M. Thomas
Irene Cara
Lonette McKee
Dwan Smith
Mary Alice
Dorian Harewood
Tony King
producer = Howard Rosenman
distributor = Warner Bros. Pictures
music = Curtis Mayfield
cinematography = Bruce Surtees
released = April 7, 1976
runtime = 98 min.
language = English
budget =
amg_id = 1:45943
imdb_id = 0075249

"Sparkle" is a 1976 American film directed by Sam O'Steen and released by Warner Bros. Pictures. Inspired by The Supremes, "Sparkle" is a period film set in Harlem, New York during the late 1950s and early 1960s which follows the rough lives and careers of singer Sparkle Williams and her family and friends.

The film stars Philip Michael Thomas (later of "Miami Vice" fame), Irene Cara, Lonette McKee, Dwan Smith, Mary Alice, Dorian Harewood, and Tony King. Curtis Mayfield served as the composer and producer of "Sparkle's" songs and score.

Plot synopsis

The film begins in Harlem, New York in 1958. The Williams sisters - Sister (Lonette McKee), Dolores (Dwan Smith), and Sparkle (Irene Cara) - are singers in their local church's teenagers' choir along with their friends Stix (Philip Michael Thomas) and Levi (Dorian Harewood). The girls' mother Effie (Mary Alice), works hard as a maid for the Waters family in Long Island, and struggles to keep her girls, especially the "high-spirited" Sister, safe. Stix, a buddling songwriter in love with Sparkle, wants to start a group, and arranges the five of them into a quintet called "The Hearts". The Hearts enter a local rock and roll talent contest, which they win with the help of Sister's stage appeal. Shortly afterwards, however, Levi drops out of the group so that he can become an important man in the operations of local gangster Satin (Tony King).

Stix decides to repackage the group as an all-girl trio, appointing Sister lead singer and reducing his role in the act to manager and songwriter. The girls, now known as "Sister & the Sisters", debut at the seedy Shan-Doo Club; their immediate success gains them a position as regular performers there. Satin, invited to the show by Levi, takes up with Sister, who leaves home to move in with him. Sister begins showing up at the Shan-Doo with bruises from Satin's abuse, and begins taking cocaine. When Dolores learns that Satin has gotten Sister hooked on drugs, she plots revenge, coming on to one of Satin's flunkies in order to set the kingpin up. Dolores calls the police to let them know when and where Satin's next drug pick-up will be, but Levi is the one caught in the sting. Regretful and weary of life in Harlem, Dolores packs up and leaves home in order to pursue her dreams of racial equality.

Satin pulls Sister out of The Sisters without telling the others, and a frustrated Stix gives up on music. He leaves Harlem to work in construction upstate, breaking Sparkle's heart in the process. Several months later, Sister dies of a drug overdose, and Stix reconciles with Sparkle after her funeral. By this time, Stix has moved back to New York and gained employment with a record label, and offers to produce Sparkle as a solo star. He borrows money from Effie's employer Max Gerber (Paul Lambert), to fund a recording session, and Sparkle's first single becomes a smash hit. Stix lands Sparkle a gig at Carnegie Hall as Ray Charles' opening act, but finds himself kidnapped by Gerber's partners in the Mafia for merely Gerber's back instead of accepting a profit-sharing agreement. Despite being threatened with death, however, Stix refuses to give in, and the impressed Gerber lets Stix go free. Stix arrives at Carnegie Hall just in time to see Sparkle finish her set.

History

"Sparkle" was a successful film, and is something of a cult classic among African-American audiences. Its success was inspirational in the creation of the musical that would eventually debut on Broadway in 1981 as "Dreamgirls". In fact, one of "Dreamgirls central characters is named "Effie", the name of the Mary Alice character in "Sparkle". The film's soundtrack album, featuring Aretha Franklin in place of the actresses in the film, was also a success. Two of "Sparkle's" stars, Dorian Harewood and Irene Cara, portray Alex Haley's parents in the 1979 miniseries '.

Warner Bros. and Whitney Houston's BrownHouse Productions had planned a modernized remake of "Sparkle" at the turn of the 20th/21st century. Aaliyah was signed to star as Sparkle, but died in August 2001 before production began. [ "The It List: Aaliyah". "Entertainment Weekly." Retrieved from http://www.ew.com/ew/article/commentary/0,6115,131380_4_0_,00.html on November 11, 2006. ] Although the film was put on hold following the singer's death, Ashanti was later attached to star as Sparkle in a remake. [ [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1470323/20030303/ashanti.jhtml?headlines=true Ashanti Working On Second Album - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News ] ] In 2003, Warner Bros. announced plans to go forward with the production with Raven-Symoné in the lead. [Greg Dean Schmitz. "Sparkle". "Greg's Previews." Retrieved from http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/preview/1808405989 on November 11, 2006. ] With the release of a film version of "Dreamgirls" in 2006, development on "Sparkle" was shut down. Now the remake is in the beginning process."Sparkle" was released on VHS in the early 1990s. After being long out of print and unavailable save for television broadcasts, "Sparkle" was released on DVD on January 2, 2007. An abbreviated edition of the accompanying Aretha Franklin album was included on a bonus disc.

ee also

*"Sparkle" (Aretha Franklin album) (soundtrack for the film)

Notes

External links

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