The Five Heartbeats: A Black Music Month Celebration
Houston Cinema Arts Society partners with Rooftop Cinema Club to present The Five Heartbeats, as part of our Black Music Month Celebration, on Thursday, June 30th, 7:30pm.
The program will be preceded by a Live Motown-Inspired DJ set by DJ Flash Gordon Parks at 6:30pm.
In the early 1960's, a quintet of hopeful young African American men form an amateur vocal group called The Five Heartbeats. After an initially rocky start, the group turns pro, and becomes a top flight music sensation. Along the way however, the guys learn many hard lessons about the reality of the music industry with its casual racism and greed while the personal weaknesses of the members threaten to destroy the integrity of the band. Stars Robert Townsend, Leon Robinson, Michael Wright, Tico Wells, Harry J. Lennix, Diahann Carroll and Theresa Randle, and the film was written by Robert Townsend and Keenan Ivory Wayans. The Five Heartbeats is rooted in the lore of the Temptations, the Four Tops, James Brown, Sam Cooke and others.
| Country, Year | United States, 1991 |
|---|---|
| Director | Robert Townsend |
| Writer | Robert Townsend, Keenan Ivory Wayans |
| Cast | Robert Townsend, Leon Robinson, Michael Wright, Tico Wells, Harry J. Lennix, Diahann Carroll, Theresa Randle. |
| Runtime | 121 MINS, SECS |
Special Guests
Flash Gordon Parks
Jason Woods aka Flash Gordon Parks is an ethnomusicologist from the city of Houston, TX. He earned a Bachelor's Degree in Photography at Sam Houston State University in 2001. In 2005 Flash Gordon Parks published a book of photography and poetry called The Beautiful Side of Ugly with Eric Blaylock, which combined Blaylock's poetry with FGP's images to document the beauty of urban areas of Houston. As a DJ, he strives to educate the audience through carefully thought out selections lectures on the importance of Houston's Rich Music History. He has lectured at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Rice University, Art League Houston and more. In 2015 Flash Gordon Parks directed the documentary "This Thing We Do Houston DJ Culture Revealed".