DVD Review: Cadillac Records
A Musical Biopic About Chess Records, The 1950's Chicago R&B Label
Cadillac Records is the 2008 musical biopic about 1950s Chicago blues label Chess Records. Founded by Polish brothers Leonard and Phil Chess, Chess Records famously launched the careers of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Chuck Berry, Little Walter, Etta James, and others. Also famous was the way the Chess brothers bought each of their artists a Cadillac out of their royalty statements instead of paying them directly, which kept the cash-poor artists under their control.
A Great Ensemble Cast
Theater actor Jeffrey Wright gracefully plays bluesman Muddy Waters, beside Adrien Brody’s thrifty Leonard Chess, Columbus Short’s loose and wild Little Walter, Beyoncé Knowles’ strong, guarded Etta James, and Mos Def’s jovial, light-footed Chuck Berry. Gabrielle Union plays Muddy’s faithful wife, Geneva Wade, with just enough steady pain to make the audience question whether she will stick around, and to root for her whichever way she decides to go. Undoubtedly Beyoncé Knowles was cast for her voice, which so beautifully covers the Etta James catalog, but her acting here is notable as well. Knowles gives a bold, brave performance, dirtying herself up to portray Ms. James, whose foul mouth, frequent emotional outbursts, and unattractive drug addiction have marked her apart from other female singers of her era.
Soft on the Chess Brothers
In one of the necessary concessions musical biopics always make to allow for time, the movie skips over Phil Chess altogether, focusing totally on Leonard (or Len, as he was familiarly called), and his dreams of financial freedom. The movie portrays Len as a decent guy who wasn’t concerned with race, who had himself been persecuted early in his life for being Jewish, and who in Chicago just wanted to make a name for himself by signing the best musicians he could find. In the beginning of the story, the records he cuts with Muddy Waters, Little Walter, and Howlin’ Wolf are considered “race records” by radio djs, but eventually certain artists are able to “cross over” to the white mainstream record-buying public. Chuck Berry and Etta James are central to this change, partially because Chuck sounded like a white country singer and because Etta James was recording ballads like “At Last” and “Trust In Me” which could be marketed as pop, as well as R&B.
The movie goes easy on Len Chess and his unconventional bookkeeping—rather than taking the angle that he was manipulating his artists into letting him control their finances for personal gain, the movie shows him trying to manage the books mostly for everyone’s good (even if he does end up with the biggest house and the newest Cadillac). Muddy Waters was the first artist signed by Chess Records, and Len and Muddy had a strong partnership for years. Muddy counseled Little Walter, a smart-mouthed, rambunctious teenager at the start of the movie, into shutting his mouth and playing the harmonica—without his help, Len would never have been able to work with Little Walter. In one scene, after examining his accounts, Len orders his bookkeeper to take 10% of Chuck’s royalties and give them to Muddy. In another scene, Etta James sells her car and her furniture to pay for her heroin habit, and when Len finds out he tells Etta to put her house in his name so she won't lose that, too.
Fantastic Music
Most of the music in the movie is played and sung skillfully by the actors themselves. These performances make seeing Cadillac Records worthwhile despite the film’s unavoidable flaws and distortions. This story of the history of Chicago Rhythm and Blues will please music and movie fans alike, and it is likely to do one of the best things musical biopics can do, which is send people to the record store to re-discover the original music.
Link: check out this suite101 article on the origin of the blues.
Red Cadillac
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Red Cadillac
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Red Cadillac
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