Sparkle
by Sam O' Steen
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dwan Smith, Irene Cara, Lonette Mckee, Philip ThomasDirector: Sam O' Steen
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 98 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-01-02
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Model: 31974
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product features:
- Irene Cara (Fame) and Lonette McKee (Round Midnight) sing and struggle their way to show-business glory in a Supremes-like girl group. Dynamite Curtis Mayfield soundtrack.Running Time: 98 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG Age: 085393197421 UPC: 085393197421 Manufacturer No: 31974
Movie Reviews of Sparkle
Movie Review: As a trashy compendium of rags-to-riches cliches, SPARKLE is going for the gold
Summary: 5 Stars
The rags-to-riches saga of '60s girl group The Supremes is such an over-the-top true-life soap opera it inspired a whole trio of Bad Motown Musicals We Love. On Broadway (and now Hollyood) there was DREAMGIRLS, on TV there was DIVAS and, best of all, on-screen there was SPARKLE. DREAMGIRLS and DIVAS surely did more than their part for bitching and sequins, but only the spectacularly bad 1976 Sparkle boasts an unintentionally hilarious screenplay that keeps you giggling from first frame to last.
The "fictional" yarn of three Harlem sisters -- one sexy (Lonette McKee), one sweet (Irene Cara), one sour (Dwan Smith) -- who long for a better life, Sparkle dutifully dramatizes the obstacles that poverty throws in front of three purportedly talented young black women. Early on, Cara (the sweet one) is being wooed by neighborhood hustler Philip Michael Thomas on the roof of her run-down apartment building. "Don't!" she gasps when the future star of "Miami Vice" kisses her. "It's a sin!" "Does it feel like a sin?" he asks. "Feels so good it must be a sin," she answers, reassuring us that, as a trashy compendium of rags-to-riches cliches, Sparkle is going for the gold.
Older sibling McKee (the slut) warns sweet Cara and sour Smith not to go all the way till they find a sugar daddy: "Pick out somebody nice with enough money in his pocket so he can stop down to the jeweler on 125th street and buy you something." Amazingly, she then flashes a miniscule ring and proudly announces, "Real diamond chip. It cost $17." The movie isn't called Sparkle because of jewels. Meanwhile, Thomas and a pal team up with the girls in a singing group called "The Hearts." Even though the emcee of the talent night at a local strip joint introduces them as "The Farts," this group -- well, let sweet Cara tell it: "First prize! Who woulda thought?" And, this being a trashy compendium of rags-to-riches cliches, the three gals are soon headlining on their own in skintight gowns, false eyelashes and big, big hair.
Just as you'd predicted, slut sister McKee takes up with a pimp right after he beats up his previous "girlfriend" and retrieves the fur coat right off her back. When McKee appears badly bruised before a show one night, claiming she was in an accident, sister Smith snarls, "You had an accident of the brain when you started running around with that low-life, no-good trash!" At this McKee tosses her out of the dressing room and nose-dives into a pile of cocaine, confiding to sweet sibling Cara, "Your sister can't fly on one wing." Smith is so sour, however, she's soon asking McKee, "What else is that nigger pushing into you besides his fist?" The girls' old mother has worries about McKee, too. "Baby, he's gonna drag you to the gutter. I've lived in Harlem all my life -- I do know a rat when I see one." Proving mother knows best, McKee's pimp boyfriend punches her and growls, "I want you to crawl for me, bitch! Crawl! Crawl!" This subplot soon threatens to turn Sparkle into Lady Sings the Black and Blues, as the battered, drugged McKee does such a bad nightspot impersonation of Billie Holiday that she finally keels over and dies. Then, clearing the way for a much-needed explanation of why SPARKLE is named "SPARKLE" instead of Nod or Bitch, sour sister Smith runs away from home and good-guy Thomas convinces sweet sister Cara to step out as a solo performer with backup singers. When Cara makes the charts, Thomas, overwhelmed by the opportunity for yet another cliche, gleefully booms, "Next stop, Carnegie Hall!"
Just as you'd predicted, thugs who lent Thomas $10,000 now want to own Cara! But, being the good boyfriend of the sweet sister, he refuses, whereupon he is kidnapped and tortured by the mob. Nevertheless, good triumphs over evil here, as it so often does in impoverished, mob-controlled milieus, making for one of the most remarkable plot twists ever: when Thomas won't give an inch no matter what the gangsters do to him, they just let him go! And so, Thomas and Cara are reunited for a happy-ever-after life of gold, platinum and other things that sparkle.
Astoundingly, this film's screenwriter was heard from again. After penning the even worse THE WIZ for the real Diana Ross, Joel Schumacher changed careers to become the director of such other Bad Movies We Love as FLATLINERS,DYING YOUNG, and A TIME TO KILL.
Summary of Sparkle
Irene Cara (Fame) and Lonette McKee (Round Midnight) sing and struggle their way to show-business glory in a Supremes-like girl group. Dynamite Curtis Mayfield soundtrack.Before Dreamgirls hit cineplexes in 2006, there was Sparkle. Released in 1976, the low-budget movie (which is also loosely based on the story of Diana Ross and the Supremes) achieved somewhat of a cult following among fans that enjoy a good cry along with their kitsch. Sparkle tells the rags-to-riches (and rags again, for some of the characters) tale of three sisters with gorgeous voices. There's Sister (Lonette McKee), Sparkle (Irene Cara, Fame), and Delores (Dwan Smith), who team up with a couple of players (including a very young Philip Michael Thomas, pre-Miami Vice) to form a singing group. Because the men add little oomph to the outfit, the quintet becomes an all-girl trio and is renamed the redundant (and hysterical) Sister and the Sisters. But because this movie is called Sparkle and not Sister, we know that Irene Cara's character is the one to watch. Cara is a joy to listen to when she unleashes her powerful pipes. And as the much put-upon Sister, McKee is convincing and earns the viewer's sympathy. Set in the 1950's, the movie tackles racism, sexism, jealousy, and both chemical and physical abuse. While it is overly dramatic and liberally serves up sloppy doses of soap opera clichés, the film also is highly watchable because of its over-the-top campiness. --Jae-Ha Kim
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