The Five Heartbeats

Plot

Donald "Duck" Matthews, Anthony "Choir Boy" Stone, J.T. Matthews, Terrence "Dresser" Williams, and Eddie Kane Jr. perform at a Battle of the Bands contest as The Heartbeats. The group loses to Flash and the Ebony Sparks but pleases the crowd and is noticed by Jimmy Potter. Jimmy offers to manage the group, promising them $100 if they do not win the next month's Battle of the Bands contest. After the group loses, Jimmy pays them. When the owner of the club asks to hire them, they agree to let Jimmy manage them.

Bird and The Midnight Falcons witness the Heartbeats rehearsing for a competition and are concerned they could lose; Bird asks his girlfriend to invite her friends and boo The Heartbeats while cheering The Falcons. The announcer, a cousin of one of the Falcons, forces The Heartbeats to use the house piano player. Duck grows frustrated with the house piano player and shoves him off the piano stool. Eddie leads the group in a number that results in Bird's girlfriend fainting in Eddie's arms. The Heartbeats win the contest and the interest of Big Red, who owns Big Red Records. Big Red offers them a deal, but Jimmy and his wife Eleanor, aware of Big Red's corruption, decline. The group instead releases their first single on Jimmy's own independent label and searches for a record company they can trust, but no one else is interested aside from a label which wants to buy Duck's songs for a group they've already signed, The Five Horsemen. The Heartbeats sign with Big Red.

The group goes on the road. The travel is marred by racism and poor living conditions. Dresser's girlfriend visits and reveals she is pregnant, and the group is faced with their first album cover featuring white people, despite the label having earlier approved a photo of the Heartbeats as the cover.

Throughout the mid to late 1960s The Five Heartbeats receive numerous awards, chart several hits, and are featured on magazine covers. Eddie abuses alcohol and cocaine, affecting his performance and prompting his girlfriend Baby Doll to break up with him. Convinced that Jimmy intends to replace him due to his deteriorating condition, he cuts a deal with Big Red to have Jimmy cut out of his contract. Jimmy threatens to go to authorities with information about bootlegged LPs, cooked books and payola that could have Big Red arrested, leading Red to have Jimmy killed. The group learns that Eddie's deceit caused the argument between Jimmy and Big Red. Big Red is convicted of Jimmy's murder, forcing the group to sign to a new record label. Eddie leaves in disgrace.

The Heartbeats add Flash as their lead singer. Duck comes to suspect his fiance, Tanya Sawyer, is having an affair with Choir Boy. He follows her to a hotel, only to discover that Tanya is meeting with J.T., not Choir Boy. Tanya's relationship with J.T. predates her relationship with Duck, but she says she is now in love with Duck. J.T. urges Tanya to disclose the affair, but she refuses. At an awards ceremony celebrating their success, Flash announces he is going solo. Duck reveals that he knows about Tanya and J.T. and also leaves.

The film then skips ahead to the early 1990s. Choir Boy has returned to singing in his father's church. After converting to Christianity, Eddie became clean and sober. He is now married to Baby Doll, sings in Choir Boy's choir, and manages a group. He asks Duck to write songs for them, to which he agrees. J.T. has a wife and two children, including a son named "Duck". The brothers reconcile. The only member to have maintained a singing career is Flash, who transitioned from doo-wop to pop music, and is part of the group Flash and The Five Horsemen.

At a family gathering, Eleanor Potter, coming to terms with her husband's death, forgives Eddie. The Five Heartbeats reunite in front of their families and friends, trying to remember their old moves.

The Five Heartbeats

Other characters

Other bands

Production

After writing (along with Keenen Ivory Wayans), producing, directing, and starring in his first film Hollywood Shuffle, Robert Townsend had attained near-cult status among independent filmmakers due to his dedication to that film—a project which caused him to max out all his credit cards and spend nearly $100,000 of his own money raised through savings and various acting jobs in order to produce the film. When writing Townsend's first studio film The Five Heartbeats, Townsend and Wayans kept comedy an important aspect of the film, but also explored complex characters in a more dramatic way. After extensive research with rhythm and blues-singing group The Dells, who were renowned for their four-decade career, Townsend used his film to depict a similar story, following the lives of three friends who aspire to musical stardom. Given the setting of the film, he was able to tie in other elements, such as race relations, as well. Due to the production's budgetary constraints, Townsend used little-known actors of the time, with the exceptions of Leon Robinson, Diahann Carroll and Harold Nicholas of The Nicholas Brothers.

Promotion

To promote the film prior to its release, Townsend, along with the other actors who portrayed the fictional musical quartet The Five Heartbeats (Leon Robinson, Michael Wright, Harry J. Lennix, and Tico Wells) performed in a concert with real-life Soul/R&B vocal group The Dells, one of many groups that inspired the film. The Dells sang and recorded the vocals as the actors lip synced.

Soundtrack

A soundtrack for the film was released by Virgin Records, featuring original music by various artists. Both "Nights like This" and "A Heart Is a House for Love" became top 20 hits on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart. Many of the tracks are credited to fictional characters in the film as opposed to the actual vocalists.

1. A Heart Is a House for Love - Billy Valentine/ The Dells
2. We Haven't Finished Yet - Patti LaBelle, Tressa Thomas, Billy Valentine
3. Nights like This - After 7
4. Bring Back the Days - U.S. Male
5. Baby Stop Running Around - Bird & The Midnight Falcons
6. In the Middle - Dee Harvey
7. Nothing but Love - The Dells with Billy Valentine
8. Are You Ready for Me - Dee Harvey
9. Stay in My Corner - The Dells
10. I Feel Like Going On - Andraé Crouch (Eddie, Baby Doll and the L.A. Mass Choir)

Reception

The film grossed approximately $8,500,000 after being released in 862 theaters throughout North America. However, despite the film's moderate success, it was not well received by a majority of critics. On Rotten Tomatoes The Five Heartbeats accumulated an average of 38%, although only 16 reviews were counted (6 of which were positive, the remaining 10 negative).

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times commented that:

Due to the nature of the film, music montages were often used to progress the plot; critics considered this a major flaw.

The numerous musical performances in the film were highly acclaimed. All Music complimented the Dells' lead singer Marvin Junior (who provided the singing voice for fictional character Eddie Kane Jr.) stating that he was "one of the most underrated voices in pop music." Tressa Thomas' performance of "We Haven't Finished Yet," in particular, was given favorable attention by critics. The film received an ASCAP award for Most Performed Songs in a Motion Picture for the song "Nights Like This."

DVD releases

A DVD was released for the film in 2002, a special edition was also released in 2006 for the film's 15th Anniversary which includes additional content.