I loved this movie, but I noticed Leonard's brother and Bo Diddley were completely ignored in this film. Both were pretty significant characters of the Chess label. Any reason why?
Brian Defferding
Writer/Artist/Publisher "School: A Ghost Story"
www.deftoons.com
My sentiments exactly
shareI thought that was Bo at the beginning, introducing the film. Maybe I just assumed that because they played I'm A Man. Certainly looked like it was supposed to be him though.
Ah, I just checked the credits. Not supposed to be Bo then. I agree, that's a dreadful omission, especially as Chuck was in it.
The song that you heard as "I'm A Man" (which Bo did), was actually "Mannish Boy" which Muddy Waters did. The man at the beginning was supposed to be Willie Dixon-who wrote about a zillion (and a half) other blues songs that you know.
shareOn the commentary, director Darrell Martin said she had to lose alot of characters in the movie to get the budget approval. She decided to focus on the relationship between Leonard Chess and Muddy Waters and Len's relationship with Etta James as they're considered most influential to the Chess history. I would have loved to have seen Bo Diddley as he's my favorite Chess artist and more Chuck Berry would have been nice.
sharelose characters? is like: 'we need to lose characters, let's get rid of a couple of kids from the Von Trapp's'. what the hell?!
shareThere was a DVD deleted scene with Phil Chess.
shareBuddy Guy is not in the film, either. He was a major act on Chess.
Not that he was a major act FOR Chess. But that's why I mention him - there is much evidence that Leonard held Buddy Guy back by the way that he chose to produce him. I doubt Buddy has an approving view of the way Leonard was portrayed in this film. In short it's a very good film, but there are certainly elements of it that are not accurate, or more to the point that make it an unbalanced, incomplete portrayal.
I agree on the Buddy Guy front. I was a little disappointed not to see even maybe a relatively small scene with him. But Chess wouldn't let him record his style until after Clapton et. al. was doing it. Shame too, because that was Buddy's baby form the beginning and some of his thunder got stolen thanks to Len. Oh well...
I read somewhere that they didn't have a lot of these characters because they simply couldn't fit them. The cast was already quite crowded as it was, and the addition of two more lead characters would have created a bit of an overload.
You can thank Beyonce as the producer, for hogging up the screen time for a full 10 minutes, with her 3 song performances. This movie was only an hour and forty minutes, and with a film this length, 10 minutes can be an eternity. They could've thrown in Bo Diddley, and cut out some of the duration of Beyonce's performances.
Etta James was a key player at Chess, but so much to where she outshines, or takes preeminence, over BO DIDDLEY!
This is why I will forever HATE this film.
They could've thrown in Bo Diddley, and cut out some of the duration of Beyonce's performances.
I don't know, Although i have to agree that the absence of Bo Diddley in this film disappointed me, i don't think that adding him in the movie would have helped it, The films' focus was mainly Chess reletionship with Muddy Waters and Etta James, I think by adding Bo Diddley they would have had to subtract another artist they mentioned.
shareyeah. What the F?????? It's Bo Diddley, for crying out loud --- One of the most influential musicians in history. They make it seem as if he wasn't even there at all. They could've at least had him in the background of a scene or two, ya know? I mean, they had the Rolling Stones. I'm sure it wouldn't cost THAT much to have ONE scene where some extra dressed as Bo Diddley says "hey Muddy" or something like that. Holy crap.
EDIT: sorry, haven't been on IMDb for a long time. I meant to reply to the OP, not the above post.
THANK YOU, J. Florida. Bo Diddley is the man. He should have at least been mentioned since he and Buddy Guy were just as influential on the world of rock and roll and music in general and probably more than Etta James, no disrespect to Etta.
But Beyonce had to try to show that she could act and since she really can't act, hogging up screen time singing Etta's songs was her way of getting people to see her try to ham it up.
Agreed, oxblood. EVERYONE has heard of Bo Diddley.
More screen time for the other artists--& Phil Chess & less screen time, for Beyonce (the producer)---singing---not acting (see above), would've improved this film.
Carpe Noctem!
Having been born in 1942, I can state most absolutely that the timeline and sound track didn't match. As an example, Chuck Berry's "Promised Land" was playing before his incarceration, when in fact that record was released after his sentence in the penitentiary. Rather than harp on all the other inaccuracies of music, I simply ask the burning question: How could Phil, Bo Didley and the Moonglows not been a part of this film?
Bob Engleman
I'm sorry about the budgetary constraints, but this was ABOUT Chess Records, of which Phil & Lenny were the owners.
Bo Diddley, too, was too important, to let the producer, Beyonce, hog the screen time.
On another post, on this board, I just countered a poster called Beyonce THE Diva---in a good way. I explained what 'diva' means.
Never let a novice producer get onscreen time.
Carpe Noctem!
The problem with revisionism...
Dwacon
http://blog.dwacon.com/
http://www.twitter.com/dwacon
I didn't realize she produced the movie. I came here trying to figure out why the brother was not mentioned
2) Why no Buddy Guy
3) No Bo Diddley
4) Why they tried to imply Chess was in love with Etta James.
Remember she tried to get a Oscar for writing a song in Dreamgirls but they found out she did not have even a little hand in writing the song so they removed her name from the nominations. I have never seen such a self promoter in my life. But I have to give it to her. She like Anna Nicole Smith have little talent but managed to fool people into thinking they did and became multi millionaires. I have to respect that.
Her whole involvement with the movie now makes me see why Jeffery Wright and Columbus Short did not get Oscar nods for their performances. A few years back Beyonce's family went over board in trying to get her the Oscar for Dream Girls that many voters were turned off and said they want little to do with her and the family anymore. I bet her involvement in this movie might have been to the detriment of Wright and Short when it came to the Academy Awards.
"She like Anna Nicole Smith have little talent but managed to fool people into thinking they did and became multi millionaires. I have to respect that. "
To compare Beyonce to Anna Nicole Smith is a little unfair. The only thing they both shared was a voluptuous figure. Beyonce has loads of talent but it's not in acting or songwriting. She's a phenomenal singer with hot body. One of the best singers in pop/urban r&b today. So much so that many of today's female r&b singers try to emulate her. It is fair to say that they both wanted to go into areas they don't have talent for. Beyonce tries just as hard as Smith once did to break into movies. She's just more successful at it because she used her fame in music to push herself into another market. She's just barely a better actress than Smith but that's not saying much when you're in way over her head in even something as silly and comedic as Austin Powers movies. She never should have been allowed to portray Etta James in this. Money and nepotism talk.
Smith was totally untalented. She was a plus sized model who got noticed as a novelty for her full-bodied sexuality and posed in Playboy. I've seen her in movies and on her own reality show when she was alive. She never exhibited anything remotely close to art or entertainment other than as a case study of the classic stereotype gold digger. People loved hearing, seeing and reading about how she fleeced some old rich zillionaire who had one foot in the grave but who was also totally infatuated with her. It's the classic story you always hear about gold diggers and the media and pop culture ate it up. Actually her lack of talent is as much a part of her claim to fame as her life story from trailer park cutie to con artist/millionairess and her sexy figure were. She became a role model for many other talentless girls with sexy looks who want to be millionaires. She really did try to emulate Marilyn Monroe and she took the basic premise of what she thought Marilyn was about and parlayed it into career and lifestyle for herself. She worked it and got over. Too bad she died tragically and so young. Believe it or not, I was a big fan of Anna.
Lol Ok Ok. I will concede to you that the comparison is off, but by just a tiny bit. Because one must be under the assumption that it takes no talent to be a gold digger like Ana Nicole and that Beyonce can at least sing. Well I don't think she can sing or act. And I do think it takes a lot of work and talent to be a Gold digger. Just because Beyonce has a lot of money doesn't mean she is not a Gold digger by marrying Jay-Z. I have a certain amount of respect for a true Gold digger. Because in fact a lot of Gold diggers already have a lot of gold of their own to dig for more gold. But I think Anna and Beyonce's true talent lies on their self promotion. But I will make a concession because there are people who believe Beyonce can at least sing.
I was a big fan of hers also. She was a absolutely gorgeous model also. I do not think she was a idiot that people said she was. Her case against her husbands heirs had merit and I respected the way she took it all the way to the Supreme Court and got a partial victory. I think she made bad choices about those hanger ons she had around her and they took advantage of her addictive personality. Even her doctors. I was in the hospital when she died. And was very upset. She did not have to die that way. I cannot think of a more tragic event then having a baby and having your son die at the same time. How does a person who is ok deal with that no less a person like Anna.
Look---I'm from Houston, home of Beyonce & where Anna worked in strip clubs.
I agree with you about their talent for self-promotion.
There, the comparison ends. Anna claimed she had no implants. We here know she did. She was totally fabricated. I worked in those clubs.
Beyonce has SOME talents as a performer. Not an actress. Not a GREAT singer. She may become a better actress. Time will tell.
Carpe Noctem!
Well I am sure she had implants. But look at Beyonce. Did you see her latest album cover and that doll she had. All had to have her approval. She looks like she is white. She is getting lighter and lighter every time I see her. Those hair weaves and wigs are not real and they are bordering on looking like something a Drag Queen would wear. And now she claims in a commercial she is French and Native American. I never seen a person who has had as much work done to her as Beyonce. So I do think her transformation from a cafe au lait black woman to a white looking French Native American Black woman is even worse then Anna Nicole. Because at least I think she was at least proud of being a white person. And Beyonce seems to have a little self hatred going on. I live in Houston and I know in North Texas and little towns like that surround Houston and towns in Louisiana in between Texas and New Orleans have a color problem. The lighter you are the better. And i think Beyonce has that problem.
As for talent she still does not have a identity as a singer. Which is IMO required for any great singer. What I mean is as soon as good singers sing their first note you know exactly who they are. As soon as Mariah or Whitney or Jill Scott, Mary J Blige or Etta James or Frank Sinatra and Luther Van Dross etc. sing a songs first note you know it is them. It is not that way with Beyonce. Until she gets a identity as a singer she will remain mediocre.
@marbleann
Oh,c'mon--Beyonce a "gold-digger"? That's really stretching it,considering that Beyonce IS a legit songwriter and businesswoman, AND she can sing her a$$ off--I have one of her CDs and would love to get another one. Also, she was the lead singer of one the world's biggest singing groups for a decade---Destiny's Child--who were STILL hugely popular even when they broke up,and she's had her acting career on the side for a while now. Also, Jay-Z has been huge in his own right for well over a decade now in the rap world---I seriously doubt that either of them needed each for the money,when each one of them has got their own gold,for real!
Honestly, I have never understood the hate Beyonce gets, other than the fact that she is simply popular hit-making singer. I could see if she had a reputation as a b**** or a diva, or was just a plain evil person, but I've never heard or seen anything that says that she is. That scene where she sits in the bathroom and just sings acapella to Leonard Chess---I was like, "Whoa,she's killin' it with that song,". The girl can sing,no doubt about it. Also, the film wouldn't have gotten made without her in the first place, which is why she probably ended up producing it to begin with. Anna Nicole was just a white trash gold-digger with no talent whatsoever except for promoting herself, and her drug addiction is what killed her. I don't know why you're hyping her because she wasn't all that to begin with.
I do not believe Gold diggers are poor. And I reserve saying that about very few people. If anybody think that Jay-z match was anything other then a business merger they are mistaken. And I believe he was gold digging as mch as she was to make even more money. I do not think it is a bad thing used in the right perspective. So I think that is where there is a misunderstanding.
I don't hate her I just do not think she has any talent and that is why I compared her to Anna Nicole Smith. It is subjective if you think a person has talent. I do not hate her at all. I don't know her. But you do not either and because you think she is talented you think anybody who thinks she is not is a hater. Wrong.
A person who had no talent whatsoever and was able to make millions. Or the Kardashians who are well off like Beyonce and are digging for a little more gold. What makes Beyonce any different them Smith is that at least Smith self promoted herself she did not have a parent to do that for her. And that at least entails a talent for success and self preservation. Like I said gold-digging imo is not a bad thing.
@marbeann
Usually I agreed with you on things, but sorry, I disagree on this one--Beyonce can sing and act, and she's been writing her own songs for years---she wrote or co-wrote "Crazy" which was one of the biggest solo hits she's had to date. To compare her to that no-talent gold digger Anna Nicole, who basically became just another drug addict who committed suicide. Beyonce was part of one of the biggest and most popular singing groups in the world---so she definitely didn't need to marry anybody for anything---she was already a huge star when she got with Jay-Z anyway. Why would anybody be a fan of Anna Nicole? What did she do that was so important? Not a damn thing.
I am sorry but this sounds like something from SNL. LOL Check it out. Looks like am a hunted person too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGxe83lXgJg
Berry Gordy did the same thing with Diana Ross in Lady Sings the Blues. He pushed so hard for her to get an Oscars that was assumed he pissed off the voters. You would think mistakes of the past would be learned and not repeated.
shareWhere the heck was Sonny Boy Williamson II?
Watch 'em Abe, I seen 'em do some things!
I may have missed him somewhere, but didn't Johnny Otis discover Etta James?
sharePhil Chess was in the movie-he was played by Shiloh Fernandez. He was the one who was wearing a hat smoking at Chess records and he was the one that bought Etta to Leonard in the hotel room. But the movie doesn't exactly give him an introduction.
share
You're right!
Johnny Otis, who transitioned Tuesday, @ 90, discovered Etta, who transitioned 3 days ago.
Gold Star for you!
Carpe Noctem!
I just watched this film and came straight here to comment on the omission of Bo Diddley, and also Leonard's brother.
not to mention Bo was a disgrace.
overall the movie was extremely disappointing, taking a too-broad brush to the whole story.
I'm amazed it rates so highly on IMDB