Crossroads
Short description
Eugene Martone studies classical guitar but dreams of playing the blues. Convinced that a lost song by the legendary Robert Johnson still exists, he seeks out Willie Brown, an aging harmonica player who once knew Johnson and who is living in a Harlem nursing home. Eugene helps Willie leave, and the two travel south toward Mississippi, the birthplace of the blues, with Willie hoping to settle an old bargain and Eugene chasing the song he believes will make his name.
Walter Hill directed the film, the ninth of the twenty-two features he has directed, following Brewster's Millions and preceding Extreme Prejudice, from a screenplay by John Fusco. Ralph Macchio plays Eugene, Joe Seneca plays Willie Brown, and Jami Gertz appears as Frances, a young runaway the pair meet on the road. Robert Judd and Joe Morton play figures connected to a mysterious stranger, and guitarist Steve Vai appears as Jack Butler.
Released in March 1986, the film earned about 6 million dollars worldwide, a modest return. On IMDb it holds a 7.1 rating from roughly 19,000 votes, and on TMDB a 7.4 from about 500 votes, both indicating a steady following. A critics' rating of 5.9 from nineteen reviews places it below those audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- In the duel, Eugene plays Paganini's Caprice No. 5.
- American bluesman Willie Brown actually lived in Cleveland and was one of Robert Johnson's teachers. However, unlike the film character, he never served time in prison and died in 1952, long before the events depicted in the film.
- The devil's intermediary, to whom Willie sold his soul, is a Vodou spirit – loa Legba.
- Before the guitar duel, Willie gives Eugene a gri-gri talisman.
- Ry Cooder performs the slide guitar part at the beginning of the duel and all of Eugene's musical parts in the film.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
