D.C._Cab Knowpia

D.C. Cab
D.C. Cab
	Theatrical release poster by Drew Struzan
Directed by	Joel Schumacher
Screenplay by	Joel Schumacher
Story by	Topper Carew; Joel Schumacher;
Produced by	Topper Carew
Starring	Adam Baldwin; Charlie Barnett; Irene Cara; Anne De Salvo; Max Gail; Mr. T; José Pérez; Paul Rodriguez; Gary Busey;
Cinematography	Dean Cundey
Edited by	David E. Blewitt
Music by	Giorgio Moroder
Production; companies	The Guber-Peters Company; RKO Pictures; Universal Pictures;
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	December 16, 1983;
Running time	100 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$8 million
Box office	$16 million

D.C. Cab (also known as Street Fleet^[2]^[3]) is a 1983 American comedy film written and directed by Joel Schumacher, based on a story by Topper Carew and Schumacher,^[4] and starring Max Gail, Adam Baldwin, Mr. T, Charlie Barnett, Gary Busey, Marsha Warfield, Whitman Mayo, John Diehl, Bob Zmuda, Timothy Carey, Bill Maher, and Irene Cara.

Plot edit

Naive but good-natured young man Albert Hockenberry (Baldwin) arrives in Washington, D.C., with plans to work for his late father's army buddy Harold (Gail), owner of the run-down District of Columbia Cab company. Aware of the sorry state of his business and the growing competition from the popular Emerald Cab Company, Harold wants to clean it up but does not have the financial means to do so. Complicating matters is the motley group of cab drivers that he has working for him. They all see driving as a dead-end job while they wait for better lives until Albert inspires them to work as a team.

A valuable violin is found in one of the cabs, earning Harold and his wife a $10,000 reward as owners of the cab. Harold wants to share the money with the drivers and let them invest in the cab company as partners. However, his greedy wife Myrna picks up the reward money and tosses Harold and Albert's belongings out of the house. The cabbies are not happy about losing their share of the reward, so Albert decides to donate $6,063 of his own money to the cab company and convinces the drivers to stay and make something of the company and themselves. The cabbies completely overhaul the entire business, and the revitalized company soon supplants Emerald Cab as the most popular in the city.

Later on, the cabbies work together to rescue Albert and a diplomat's two children after they're kidnapped. The film ends with a parade in D.C. Cab's honor followed by a post-credits scene with a shabby-looking dressed man climbing into the back of Tyrone's taxicab and claiming to be the Angel of Death and requesting Tyrone to take him to Hell to which he is then asked by Tyrone "Got any luggage?"

Cast edit

Max Gail as Harold Oswelt
Adam Baldwin as Albert Hockenberry
Mr. T as Samson
Charlie Barnett as Tyrone Bywater
Gary Busey as Dell
Gloria Gifford as Miss Floyd
Marsha Warfield as Ophelia
Bill Maher as Baba
DeWayne Jessie as Bongo
Paul Rodriguez as Xavier
Whitman Mayo as Mr. Rhythm
Peter Barbarian as Buddy
David Barbarian as Buzzy
Irene Cara as Herself
Diana Bellamy as Maudie
John Diehl as Head Kidnapper
Newton D. Arnold as FBI Chief
Dennis Stewart as Ski Mask Hoodlum
Jim Moody as Arnie
Bob Zmuda as Cubby
Anne De Salvo as Myrna
José Pérez as Ernesto Bravo
Jill Schoelen as Claudette
Timothy Carey as Angel of Death

Reception edit

D.C. Cab grossed $16,134,627 in theatres.^[5]

Critical response edit

D.C. Cab received negative reviews from film critics. Roger Ebert gave the film two out of four stars saying, "'D.C. Cab' is not an entirely bad movie, [but] feels like a movie with a split personality." The kidnapping plot was praised for being "fresh," while the stolen violin plot was described as "paralyzingly boring." Overall, he described it as "mindless, likable confusion."^[6] Critic Edward Sargent of The Washington Post writes in his review: "Despite its shortcomings, D.C. Cab is an hour and 40 minutes' worth of finger-popping music and gags. But viewers should remember that this low-budget film features large doses of vulgarity meant to illicit several cheap laughs."^[7]

Critic Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote in her review: "D.C. CAB is a musical mob scene, a raucous, crowded movie that's fun as long as it stays wildly busy, and a lot less interesting when it wastes time on plot or conversation. There's a lot of talent in the large cast, and Joel Schumacher, the director, generally keeps things bustling. Mr. Schumacher was once a costume designer, which helps explain why everything here is so wildly colorful, as the characters joke around in outfits that are traffic-stopping. The movie has just the sort of bouncy, frantic, dopey humor to please the young fans of Mr. T., who is one of its stars. However, the film makers have thrown in enough R-rated material to make D.C. Cab slightly out of reach for very young audiences."^[8]

Ian Buckwalter of the Washington City Paper wrote in his review: "I'm not going to argue that D.C. Cab is a great movie, or even a good one. It wasn't a hit when it was released in December 1983, and it would probably be a stretch to even call it a cult favorite, since whatever cult exists around it is probably limited to Mr. T completists and a cadre of local film obsessives. [...] Still, by any rational measure, D.C. Cab is pretty terrible. The plot is standard '80s underdogs-strike-back fare, with the titular cab company, a gang of misfits and outcasts trying to avoid being shut down by a corrupt, power-hungry hack inspector who's in the pocket of the smug, satin jacket-wearing drivers of the Emerald Cab Company. It's basically Revenge of the Nerds with taxis. The script is ostensibly a comedy, but most of its humor is unintentional."^[9]

Soundtrack edit

Irene Cara performed the main title theme to the film.^[10] Gary Busey performed "Why Baby Why".^[11] The soundtrack was released in 1983.

Release edit

D.C. Cab was released in theatres on December 16, 1983.^[8] The film was released on DVD on March 1, 2005, by Universal Studios Home Entertainment.^[12] D.C. Cab was released on the digital distribution app store Google Play.^[13] A high definition Blu-ray release by Kino Lorber was released on December 1, 2020.

References edit

^ "AFI|Catalog".
^ Klotman & Gibson 1997, p. 119.
^ Pym 2010, p. 1303.
^ "D.C. Cab". Turner Classic Movies. Atlanta: Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Retrieved May 17, 2021.
^ "D.C. Cab". Box Office Mojo. United States: Amazon.com. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
^ Ebert, Roger (December 22, 1983). "D.C. Cab Movie Review". Roger Ebert. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
^ Sargent, Edward (December 29, 1983). "'D.C. Cab' Offers Wild Ride Through Underside of City". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
^ ^a ^b Maslin, Janet (December 16, 1983). "FILM: 'D.C. CAB,' HUMOR". The New York Times. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
^ Buckwater, Ian (December 19, 2013). "D.C. Cab Is a Terrible Movie, but It's Our Terrible Movie". Washington City Paper. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
^ Miller 1983, p. 56.
^ "Gary Busey". Film Reference Library. Toronto: TIFF Bell Lightbox. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
^ "D.C. Cab". Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Universal City, California: Universal Filmed Entertainment Group. ASIN B0006IIPJO. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
^ "D.C.Cab". Google Play. Mountain View, California. Retrieved January 17, 2017.

Sources edit

Klotman, Phyllis Rauch; Gibson, Gloria J. (1997). Frame by Frame II: A Filmography of the African American Image 1978-1994. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 119. ISBN 978-0253332806.
Pym, John (2010). Time Out Film Guide. London: Time Out Digital Ltd. p. 1303. ISBN 978-1846702082.
Collier, Aldore D. (August 1983). "The Year of the Black Male in Films". Ebony. Vol. 38, no. 10. United States: Ebony Media Corporation. p. 172. ISSN 0012-9011. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
Miller, Mitzi, ed. (December 19, 1983). "'D.C. Cab' Rolls With Mr. T And High–Speed Cast". Jet. Vol. 65, no. 15. Chicago: Johnson Publishing Company. ASIN B008D6GY8A. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved January 17, 2017.