Screening
Presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive
Free admission. No advance reservations. Your seat will be assigned to you when you pick up your ticket at the box office. Seats are assigned on a first come, first served basis. The box office opens one hour before the event.
In person: Introduction by Artel Great, associate professor, San Francisco State University School of Cinema, and author of The Black Pack: Comedy, Race, and Resistance.
Harlem Nights
Year: 1989
Country: U.S.
Language: English
Runtime: 116 min.
35mm. Color.
Harlem Nights marks the only film written, directed, produced by and starring Eddie Murphy. Set in 1930s Harlem, the film imagines a world of Black nightlife, entrepreneurship and survival amid gangsters and corrupt cops. Anchored by a jazzy score blending big band and Duke Ellington standards, the film unites three generations of Black comedy — Redd Foxx, Richard Pryor and Murphy — alongside an overflowing ensemble cast. Often misunderstood on release, Harlem Nights stands as a bold assertion of authorship and creative control, envisioning Black autonomy over space, style and destiny.
Director/Screenwriter: Eddie Murphy. With: Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx, Jasmine Guy, Della Reese.
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