RAGTIME (1981)

E.L. Doctorow’s literary fantasia about pre-WWI New York society (high, low & in-between) is like a rich, historical vaudeville where all the acts bump into each other backstage.  One of the great reads of the day, its jokes, lively coincidence and plethora of famous & fictional characters packed into 270 pages, had most of its fun flattened when Michael Weller’s script and Milos Forman’s direction ennobled Doctorow’s kaleidoscopic view into scolding social drama.   A well-made disappointment upon release, now that the book has somewhat receded from view, the film, if still no RAGTIME, seems to work better than it did at the time.   The second half does turn into the Coalhouse Walker story (Black stride piano-playing striver turns avenging martyr when his Model T is defiled), but enough of the whirligig character (in people & plots) comes across thanks to tasty period settings and effective casting.  Police Commissioner James Cagney, hilarious, spunky & vital after a twenty-year hiatus; Brad Dourif’s sweetly off-kilter fireworks anarchist; Kenneth McMillan’s gleefully racist fireman; even Mandy Patinkin’s reinvented Jewish filmmaking immigrant.  (Look fast, that’s Fran Drescher as his unfaithful wife.)  Though any adaptation that skips J.P. Morgan & Henry Ford’s fireside chat and can’t find a believable font for silent film inter-titles can hardly be called RAGTIME.

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY:  Originally optioned by Dino De Laurentiis for director Robert Altman, his post NASHVILLE/’75 slump left him a commercial pariah till THE PLAYER/'92 resurrected him.  That film’s tricky structure showing what might have worked here.  On the other hand, Altman really was putting out a lot of stinkers at the time . . . almost as many as producer Dino De Laurentiis.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: The original Stateside poster a High Concept dud blamed for poor initial grosses.  Replacements all de-emphasized the Coalhouse Walker/racial storyline.  The messy Japanese try (see above) coming a little closer to combining sales pitch with honesty.