A young black pianist becomes embroiled in the lives of an upper-class white family set among the racial tensions, infidelity, violence, and other nostalgic events in early 1900s New York City.
Direction
Forman wrangles E.L. Doctorow's novel into something almost coherent.
Acting
Cagney's final bow, and Howard E. Rollins Jr. breaks your heart.
Production
They built 1906 Atlantic City on a beach. The scale is insane.
Director
Miloš Forman
James Cagney
New York Police Commissioner Rhinelander Waldo
Brad Dourif
Younger Brother
Moses Gunn
Booker T. Washington
Elizabeth McGovern
Evelyn Nesbit
Kenneth McMillan
Willie Conklin
Pat O'Brien
Delmas
Donald O'Connor
Evelyn's Dance Instructor
James Olson
Father
Mandy Patinkin
Tateh
Howard Rollins
Coalhouse Walker Jr.
Mary Steenburgen
Mother
Debbie Allen
Sarah
Jeffrey DeMunn
Harry Houdini
Robert Joy
Henry Thaw
Norman Mailer
Stanford White
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was James Cagney's first film in 20 years and his final performance; he came out of retirement specifically for Forman.
The film's production of 'Atlantic City' required building an entire 1906 boardwalk and hotel complex on a South Carolina beach, only to have a hurricane destroy it before filming ended.
US
