The Temptations (1998) on Netflix
Detroit teenager Otis Williams is inspired by a concert to chase a music career. With his friends he forms a vocal group, recruits bass singer Melvin Franklin, and aims for Motown Records.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb8.4/105,871 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Plot summary
A Cadillacs concert in 1958 leaves teenage Otis Williams determined to sing. His stepfather would rather he take an assembly line job. Otis and his school friend Elbridge Bryant perform on street corners, and Otis recruits bass singer Melvin Franklin with his mother's approval. Johnnie Mae Matthews, who runs a radio station out of a basement, becomes their manager, renames them the Distants, and fires them when they ask about payment. Bryant and two others quit. Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams join; Paul teaches the dancing, Eddie takes the falsetto. As the Elgins they approach Motown, where Berry Gordy asks for a better name, and Otis offers The Temptations.
Cast
- Terron Brooksas Eddie Kendricks
- Erik Michael Tristanas Smokey Robinson
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Temptations (1998)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Otis Williams and the producers were sued by several people portrayed in the film and their families, notably Melvin Franklin's mother and the children and estate of David Ruffin.
- The group's famous four-headed microphone stand actually debuted in 1966 and was created by David Ruffin, not introduced later as the miniseries depicts.
- Paul Williams's death by suicide is dramatized in the miniseries; in reality he was found dead in an alley in a car, not in a parking lot as portrayed.
- The miniseries claims the group left Atlantic Records after one album, but they actually recorded two full albums for the label.
