Hollywood Shuffle (1987) on Netflix
Bobby Taylor, an aspiring actor who works at a hot-dog stand, auditions for Jivetime Jimmy's Revenge, a street-gang movie. His grandmother disapproves and points him to the post office.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.9/107,274 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes85%
Trailer
Plot summary
Bobby Taylor studies his lines for Jivetime Jimmy's Revenge, a street-gang picture where light-skinned black actors audition for Latino gang parts and speak in cartoonish Spanish accents. Stevie, his younger brother, watches him get ready, while his grandmother catches the jive talk in his lines and objects and his mother offers encouragement. Bobby promises her that landing the part would change their lives. At Winky Dinky Dog, Mr. Jones asks why auditions keep pulling Bobby away from his shifts. A limousine delivers B. B. Sanders, the famous star of a sitcom, who tells Bobby that acting is about sequels and merchandising and that a script is good if the character does not die. Bobby's agent calls to say the producers want an Eddie Murphy type, and that night he dreams of turning into Eddie Murphy.
Cast
- Christopher Jacksonas Punk #1
Show all 20 cast
- Gregory 'Popeye' Alexanderas Pimp / Eddie Murphy-Type
- Marc Figueroaas Sitcom Father / Client #2
- Sean Michal Flynnas Sitcom Boyfriend
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Hollywood Shuffle (1987)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Robert Townsend paid for his own satire out of his savings and a stack of pre-approved credit card offers, scraping together an estimated $60,000 to $100,000. The shoot stretched across two and a half years but added up to only twelve days of actual filming.
- To stretch the money, Townsend worked a rental trick on the camera houses: he would take the equipment out on a Thursday, claim he was shooting only on the Friday, and bring it back on Monday, getting three days of filming for the price of one.
