Cadillac Records Page #2

Synopsis: In this tale of sex, violence, race, and rock and roll in 1950s Chicago, "Cadillac Records" follows the exciting but turbulent lives of some of America's musical legends, including Muddy Waters, Leonard Chess, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Etta James and Chuck Berry.
Director(s): Darnell Martin
Production: Sony Pictures
  Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 7 wins & 22 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.0
Metacritic:
65
Rotten Tomatoes:
66%
R
Year:
2008
109 min
$8,134,217
Website
1,874 Views


Yeah, that's right.

I hear good things about you.

- When do you want to do this?

- Right now. The studio's booked.

- But I got to get my band.

- No, you don't.

Not the crazy harp-playing motherf***er,

you don't. No. Just you.

You want to do this?

- Yeah.

- Come on. Studio's booked.

Well, I'm going away to leave

Won't be back no more

Going back down south, child...

Now, Leonard Chess didn't

worry none about skin color.

It was the color of them bills that mattered.

Just get you enough green to cover yourself

and then you ain't no Jew-boy no more.

And you ain't no colored boy either.

You're just a man with a Cadillac.

It's so beautiful!

- Do we have enough?

- Hi, baby. Stop with the "enough. "

This is America. The word is "more. "

I like the way your husband thinks.

You must be Muddy.

I'm Revetta. I love your record.

Thank you. Pleasure to meet you.

I packed for a week. Will that be enough?

Yeah, that ought to be good.

I think she's asking,

how long are you gonna be gone.

Come here. Hey.

Close your eyes.

A little friend to keep you company

while I'm gone.

There you go.

- Can we afford this?

- Don't worry about it. It's classy.

Thank you.

I tell you, that's a whole lot of ocean.

Take a hell of a lot to get me to cross it.

How come you didn't stay your ass

in Poland?

How come you didn't stay your ass

in Mississippi?

Len knew the only way

to make it big was radio.

And that meant taking

Muddy back down South.

- Thank you very much.

- The man don't need no more Scotch.

I got a hell of a mortgage.

Sh*t.

Yeah, I got one of those.

I tell you what.

Throw this record on the table.

It pays off everybody's.

Leonard...

If people buy Muddy's record,

I got to make more.

Then I'm into you every month.

Yeah, but I got to be fair, you know.

I know you got to be fair.

The motherfuckers bring in the Glenfiddich

and the Johnnie Walker.

But you got to ask yourself,

do they really stand up

to Jackson and Grant?

I don't bribe deejays.

I do.

You realize he doesn't care

about your music.

It's just about the money with him.

Everybody, this is the newest race music

right out of Chicago.

You're on your own.

Now, in the South, whites and coloreds

didn't ride around in the same car

unless the colored man was chauffeuring.

F*** Mississippi police.

You got to bless them.

- All right, easy. Thank you.

- Hey, you gotta bless them.

- It's very good.

- Room service.

Well, hello.

- We heard you on the radio.

- Come on in.

No, he don't bite. And I don't either.

Play it, Daddy.

Yeah.

Don't rush it.

Don't step on it now.

That's Chicago's heartbeat.

Go on, now.

You've got such hair.

Play that for me, Daddy.

I lied to you, girl.

Yeah, I like that.

- Where you going? Don't leave us alone.

- I'll swing one over your way.

I'm married.

Yeah, and they ain't redhead.

That's bullshit.

Yeah, that's right. Come on, Daddy.

Come on back.

Preacher lay his Bible down.

We're coming straight to you

from down in the Delta

with Muddy Waters and his hit record.

That's right. Sunshine, how you doing?

I want to say a big hello, if I can,

to everybody down in Coahoma County.

They got a whole mess of bluesmen

working Mississippi fields.

When I was out there I used to sing...

Time don't get no better

Up the road I'm going

So, you know,

I want to thank old Len Chess here for

giving Muddy Water a chance to shine.

Does that mean you're staying

where you are?

Because I know some labels down here

who'd love to snap you up.

Well, they can try all they want to,

but I belong to the Chess family.

We're gonna play a little something

from Muddy Waters right now.

Lay it on me.

It was kind, what you said on the radio.

You know, starting a business together,

it is like starting a family.

Appreciate that.

Yeah, well, how come, then,

you need me to sign this thing?

That's what people do in business.

You know, you got a power with that guitar.

Amazing. It even put three women

in your bed last night.

Yeah, but you married.

I like another kind of broad.

Does that bother you?

What's that gonna bother me for?

I'm just saying, it doesn't make me

like them. And that's not me.

I'm not that.

Who is you?

Sign the contract and find out.

You got a pen there?

All right.

This is the newest race music

right out of Chicago.

And I want you to remember this name.

Muddy Waters.

The last time I signed something like this,

I got married.

Well, that's what this is.

Till death do us part.

By the way, the car's yours.

- What do you mean?

- You earned it.

Muddy! Listen!

Now playing Muddy Waters'

Can't Be Satisfied, WGES Chicago.

It's you!

- Come on in here.

- No! I got to go to work!

- Come on in, Mama.

- Muddy, don't! Muddy!

On a Sunday night,

when no one happened to be in Len's club,

the Macomba mysteriously burned down.

Hi, Daddy.

He put the insurance money

into this here recording studio.

Hi.

Hi, baby. Hi, there. How you doing?

Look. It's coming along, huh?

- We're late on our mortgage again, Len.

- Yeah.

- It's gonna have to wait.

- You're gambling our home.

- Yeah. And we're gonna win big.

- And if we don't?

I won't let you down, babe.

I won't let you down.

- Dave, show her the... Spin the thing.

- Sure thing.

You see this?

Chess Records was the best studio

in Chicago.

Had a sound nobody could touch.

Tie me up. Come on.

- Did everybody see?

- You guys better watch out now.

Little Walter getting electrified!

He's amplifying a f***ing harmonica.

Wait, Chess. Let him try it. Watch it now.

- All right. Go ahead.

- Take one.

Forty days and forty nights

Since my baby left this town

He's blowing all over Muddy's vocals.

I got to cut.

No, hold on.

But the rain keep coming down

She my life, I need her so

Why she left I just don't know

Let it ride.

You can't record a record

with harmonica all over the place.

Yeah, we can.

Forty days...

Okay.

And forty nights

Since I set right down and cried

Keep raining all the time

But the river running dry

Lord help me, it just ain't right

I love that girl with all of my might

It works.

Now that's a record.

- You like that?

- Yeah.

Walter got a record. Let's lay it down.

- Oh, yeah?

- You want to hear?

Why don't you and Jimmy back him up?

You caught me on a good day.

Where's Belo at?

Take one.

Boss, this your new sh*t?

Yeah. You like it, huh?

- Go park it, motherf***er.

- What?

Park it at your house.

Oh, Jenny, you see this sh*t?

Wait till these motherfuckers see me now.

- You my white daddy?

- You're getting carried away again.

Man, oh, man. Oh, boy.

Black folks riding around in Cadillacs.

Feel like I died and gone to heaven.

Walter, this is Willie Dixon.

He's gonna write some songs for us.

- How you doing?

- I like what you do with that harp, man.

- Wrote a killer song for you.

- You did?

I know how the girls love you so much.

It's called My Babe.

My Babe? This is my babe right here.

Rate this script:3.3 / 3 votes

Darnell Martin

Darnell Martin (born January 7, 1964) is a television and film director, screenwriter, and film producer. more…

All Darnell Martin scripts | Darnell Martin Scripts

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