#1173: TOWNSEND, Robert: Hollywood Shuffle (1987)
TOWNSEND, Robert (United States)
Hollywood Shuffle [1987]
Commentary
Featuring Townsend.
Interviews
With actors Cundieff, Johnson, and McGee.
Radio program
Featuring Townsend in conversation with film critic Elvis Mitchell.
Trailer
Extras Rating (0-40):
Hollywood Shuffle [1987]
Spine #1173
Blu-ray
This debut feature by Robert Townsend is an ingenious guerrilla satire that takes riotous aim at the typecasting of Black actors in 1980s Hollywood. The writer-director-star’s megawatt charisma propels Hollywood Shuffle, the hilarious tale of a struggling actor attempting to break into an industry where the only roles available to Black performers seem to be hustlers, butlers, slaves, and “Eddie Murphy types”—forcing him to choose between selling out and maintaining his self-respect. Lampooning everything from film noir to zombie flicks to Siskel and Ebert, Townsend and cowriter Keenen Ivory Wayans cannily turn the frustrations of the Black artist into a subversively funny pop-culture critique.
81 Minutes
Color
Monaural
1:85:1
Criterion Release 2023
Color
Monaural
1:85:1
Criterion Release 2023
Director/Writers
Written by Robert Townsend and Keenen Ivory Wayans.
Townsend was 30 when he directed Hollywood Shuffle.
Townsend was 30 when he directed Hollywood Shuffle.
The Film
a
Film Rating (0-60):
The Booklet
60
The ExtrasThe Booklet
Twelve-page wraparound featuring an essay by critic Aisha Harris.
Commentary
Featuring Townsend.
Interviews
With actors Cundieff, Johnson, and McGee.
Radio program
Featuring Townsend in conversation with film critic Elvis Mitchell.
Trailer
Extras Rating (0-40):
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