The New Rochelle family (who are not given a name either in the book or the movie) are forced to flee to Atlantic City when their white neighbors pressure them for protecting the motherless black baby.
He then organizes a gang of equally disgruntled young black men and launches a bloody campaign which includes the murders of several firemen while demanding authorities turn over the bigoted fire chief (Kenneth McMillan) who engineered his humiliation.
Walker fails to obtain justice through legal channels, and his wife is killed by security police when she attempts to appeal to Vice President Charles Fairbanks during a political whistle stop. Rollins), is humiliated by a group of brutish, bigoted volunteer firemen who, out of boredom, vandalize his shiny new Model T. The violence is triggered when the girl's common-law husband, a ragtime piano player named Coalhouse Walker Jr. On the fictional side, a prim and proper upper middle-class family from New Rochelle becomes embroiled in a bloody race-related reign of terror when they offer shelter to a young black woman (Debbie Allen) and her illegitimate baby. Thaw's insane jealousy over White's past relationship with Thaw's child bride, artist's model Evelyn Nesbit (Elizabeth McGovern), was well-publicized before the murder was committed before hundreds of witnesses in the plush rooftop theater of Madison Square Garden. The story incorporates the actual scandal involving the murder of prominent architect Stanford White (played with remarkably dignified presence by author Norman Mailer) by Pittsburgh millionaire playboy Harry K. The story is set in America's gilded pre-World War I era, a time of transition which saw the birth of mass production and big industry, conspicuous wealth and an incredible influx of immigrants lured by the American dream.Īgainst this turbulent backdrop, Doctorow mixed real and fictional characters and incidents to create an intriguing morality tale a fascinating overview of American inequities and injustices which still exist today. Doctorow's novel "Ragtime."įrom New York's grimy lower east side teeming with immigrants all scrambling for a share of America's golden promise to the Victorian landmarks and opulent interiors of mid-Manhattan, director Milos Forman has created a visually dazzling film which is like rare photographs (circa 1906) come to life.īut while "Ragtime" is nice to look at, Michael Weller's screenplay is lengthy and tedious, falling far short of the riveting depth and flow of Doctorow's book, and the visual novelty wears off after the first hour. "RAGTIME' Reding 4, Continental (PG) Never in films has a historical period been reconstructed with more scenic detail and authenticity than in the screen adaptation of E.L.
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