The cursed movie that made Francis Ford Coppola his “most horrible enemies” in cinema
You don’t get to be in Francis Ford Coppola’s shoes without making a few enemies, something that the director has plenty of experience in after decades of breaking the rules and doing things in his own unapologetic way.
Whether it be the creation of Apocalypse Now, The Godfather or Rumble Fish, Coppola has never been concerned by the status quo or doing what’s expected of Hollywood directors, always remaining true to his unwavering vision (even when it no longer makes sense) and fiercely defending his idea (even when they no longer make sense).
But while this might have earned him his fair share of success over the years, with The Godfather breaking global box office records and being heralded as the masterpiece of the ‘70s, the director came up against the strict boundaries of the business many times before and after this, with his 1984 film The Cotton Club causing all kinds of conflict that scarred him for life.
The Cotton Club, starring Richard Gere and Diana Lane, follows a Harlem club that becomes a hotbed for chaos as the lives of entertainers and gangsters intertwine. It’s one of the lesser-seen pictures from his filmography, and perhaps for good reason. With so many obstacles behind the scenes, it was almost marked for disaster from the very beginning.
The budget was originally set to be $20million, with Coppola clashing with the financiers and producer, Robert Evans, after the costs of the production soared to $67m. Coppola fought with Evans over the size of the budget, trying to justify the costs while the investors grew increasingly unhappy with the creative choices he made. As well as this, one of the key financiers was personally involved in the Chicago mafia, which only led to further disputes and obvious complications.
But while Coppola might have been furious with the shoot itself and the complications that made his job all the more difficult, he was more upset with Evans and the people who caused these grievances, saying, “I didn’t want to show up at the premiere for one reason, I didn’t want to be involved with those people. They have been my most horrible enemies. What’s that word? Calumny. That’s the word for it. Evans is a liar, you see. I almost think he would love this picture to be a gigantic flop.”
When your artistic vision is on the line, it’s not surprising that you would be so upset by the people who threatened it, with Coppola expanding on his annoyance by saying, “Had they not hired me, the film wouldn’t have been made. I got a call and took over the picture, and now they’re blaming me for what happened in the last five years.”
The countless upsets that marked the production of The Cotton Club were placed on the shoulders of Coppola, with the director being blamed as the source of this friction. In some ways, this is true, with the director ballooning the costs of the film and making it an unsound investment for all those involved. But on the other side, the director should be supported in their creative vision, not met with resistance at each stage of the process.
