Ragtime (1981)

Ragtime: Directed by Milos Forman. With James Cagney, Brad Dourif, Moses Gunn, Elizabeth McGovern. A young black pianist becomes embroiled in the lives of an upper-class white family set among the racial tensions, infidelity, violence, and other nostalgic events in early 1900s New York City.

“I never saw this film until 2005 and after I had become a big James Cagney fan and wanted to see the movies of his I had missed. Thus, I had to check this out, especially since it was his first film he had made in over 20 years.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eEn route to getting a glimpse at the 80-year-old star, I found out (1) he wasnu0026#39;t on screen until 45 minutes were left in this 155-minute movie; (2) his absence didnu0026#39;t upset me that much because I was absorbed in this interesting story (plus, to be fair, I was told in advance he didnu0026#39;t appear until the last part!), (3) the sets, clothing, etc. of this u0026quot;period pieceu0026quot; were fantastic to view.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnyway, in my opinion, the star of the film was a guy who hardly got any billing: James Olson. He is the key figure in this story and very interesting to watch. Actually, just about everyone is interesting which makes for good storytelling. Nonetheless, Olsonu0026#39;s fine performance is unfairly overlooked.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHoward Rollins was good as the black u0026quot;victimu0026quot; of the profane slob Kenneth McMillian and Elizabeth McGovern certainly kept ones attention although I wasnu0026#39;t quite sure how her character tied into the story.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBy the way, to rate this movie u0026quot;PGu0026quot; is ludicrous since McGovern is seen in a 3- to-4-minute scene casually talking away with bare breasts for all to see. And – contrary to a popular rumor – nothing of her was cut out of the DVD.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMeanwhile, Cagney showed he hadnu0026#39;t forgotten how to act. It was a pleasure to see him again, just a few years before he would pass away. Itu0026#39;s a cliché, but I doubt if anyone was in his class as an actor and a dancer, a tough guy or a comedian. He was the best and went out in style here, too, although he did do one last made-for-TV film a short time after this.”