Movies That Made Us: Hollywood Shuffle

If you were in film school or entering the entertainment industry in the late 80s or early 90s, you had a moment (or two) where you completely related to a scene in “Hollywood Shuffle”. The late 80s were time when we all learned that you could finance a film on credit cards, and Hollywood Shuffle was a grand example!

This satirical look at the ambivalent relationship between Hollywood power brokers and African-American performers marked the writing, producing, and directing debut of Robert Townsend. The filmmaker also stars as Bobby Taylor, a struggling actor looking for his big break despite his family’s and co-workers’ reservations about his chosen career path. While working a day job flipping burgers, Bobby heads out to insulting cattle calls where white casting agents pass judgment on whether he seems “black enough.” Meanwhile, he imagines himself playing Sam Spade, Rambo, and other movie heroes rather than the stereotypical roles actually available to him. When Bobby actually does win one such pimp-daddy part, however, he is forced to choose between accepting work that opens doors, but ultimately demeans him and returning to obscurity with his principles intact. Hollywood Shuffle’s enormous supporting cast includes a wealth of black actors, from then-unknowns such as Damon Wayans to veterans such as 227 star Helen Martin. Self-financed and filmed on scraps of hand-me-down celluloid, the film helped establish actor Townsend as a director of note and also kick-started the career of co-screenwriter and co-star Keenen Ivory Wayans, who would cast Townsend in his own directorial debut the following year.

1987, MGM.
directed by Robert Townsend

Don’t miss co-star and current SAG Vice President Ann Marie Johnson, and check the original music by Patrice Rushen!

Watch the entire film, courtesy of MGM and YouTube!