Harlem Nights

Harlem Nights is a 1989 comedy-drama/crime film starring Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor. The film also featured Michael Lerner, Danny Aiello, Redd Foxx, Della Reese and Murphy's brother Charlie Murphy. Murphy and Pryor star as a father-and-son team running a nightclub in late-1930s Harlem, New York while contending with gangsters and corrupt police officials. They're up to something big. (taglines) Dialogue Sugar Ray: I'm going to take this little boy home to his mother. Young Quick: My mama's dead. Sugar Ray: Well, your daddy? Young Quick: My father's dead, too. Sugar Ray: Did you kill them? Young Quick: No, they just dead. Bennie: Excuse me, I got something in my eye. Gambler: Well, get it the fuck out yer eye you blind muther fucker! Quick: Vera, put that razor away! [pulls gun] Quick: I ain't playing games no more. You put that fucking razor away or I'll blow your goddamn pinky toe off! Vera: Oh! Now you're going to shoot me in my pinky toe. Quick: I'm not playing with you. I will blow that little black, gnarled crusty, dead motherfucker the fuck off your foot! Now put the razor away! Vera: Benny, you put this orange juice back in here, ain't nothing left but a swallow! Bennie: Then swallow it and shut the fuck up! Quick: Hey, I have a lot of money on you, man. The Champ: W-w-w-well... y-y-y-you's getting ready to b-b-b-be a rich nigga ... you see, because, c-c-come next week... I'm knocking... somebody... the fuck out! Quick: I haven't had my ass whipped in a while. Probably been like 1911. Sugar Ray: Yeah, that's when the doctor slapped you on the ass. Quick: Yes. That's the last ass-whipping I recall. I'm looking for him. Quick: [Quick is getting ready to sleep with Dominique and putting his gun under a pillow... he discovers she's done the same under one] Oh, that's cute! I thought I was the only one who slept with a gun under the pillow... look at the little gun! [kisses her gun] Quick: Aw, that's adorable. [pauses for a moment after realizing that she intends to kill him] Quick: It's cute. [Quick knocks on Sugar Ray's door, waking him up.] Sugar Ray: Yes, Goddamnit, I'm coming! Okay! I'm coming! Just a minute! [opens the door.] Ohhh, how was your date? Quick: I killed her. Sugar Ray: Ahh, tore the pussy up, huh? Quick: No, man, I KILLED her. Sugar Ray: What the fuck are you talkin' about?! Quick: I SHOT her, man. Sugar Ray: Hmm... was the pussy THAT bad, man? Sugar Ray: Quick... you're not a gangster. We're not. We're club owners. We run a dance hall. Calhoune is a cold-hearted killer. He'll have yo' ass killed. Now, the man probably doesn't know about LaRue yet. But in the morning, he's gonna want you REALLY dead. So... we're gonna find a place where we can lay low... 'til we can run this scam and split. Quick: What, you're tellin' me I should hide? Sugar Ray: No, I'm tellin' you you're GONNA hide. You don't hide, Quick, they're gonna kill you. I'm not gonna let that happen to you; I didn't come this far with you so you can prove you ain't no punk and die. What they gon' put on your tombstone, "Here lies a man, 27 years old. He died, but he ain't no punk"? Hey, man, that's bullshit, okay? You know, when you die, when you're 89, you got yo' children and yo' grandchildren around the bed, THAT'S cool. It ain't cool to die at 27. I'm not gonna let you do that to yourself. I'm not gonna let you do it to me. 'Cause they kill you, they're gonna have to kill me... 'cause I'm gonna kill them. Quick: [Quick is at the open door of Tommy's apartment] Tommy... hey, man. You asleep? Tommy! Yo... hey... hey... hey... hey... [sees Tommy dead in his chair, bullet-ridden and with his throat cut] Quick: Holy shit... somebody fucked you up real bad, man. I think I'm going to leave, because you probably want to sit there by yourself, alone, and think about who you pissed off. So, I'll let you have your space. Excuse me. Vera: Kiss my ENTIRE ass! Vera: YOU shut the fuck up, Bennie! I would tell you to kiss my ass. But knowing you, you probably can't find it, you blind motherfucker! Bennie: Man didn't accuse you of stealing, Vera. Now sit down and shut the fuck up! Sugar Ray: Okay, the same fellow who made the drop last year is going to do it again. I want somebody on him. Vera, do you have a girl? Vera: I've got a girl who's pussy is so good. If you threw it up in the air, it would turn into sunshine. [final lines] Quick: So... where you wanna go, pop? Sugar Ray: I dunno, son... but we got a tank full of gas and a trunk full of money. Quick: [chuckles] That sounds like a sweet combination. Sugar Ray: Sweet as sugar. [winks at Quick as they drive off into the night] Taglines They're up to something big. Cast Eddie Murphy - Vernest "Quick" Brown Desi Arnez Hines II - young Quick Richard Pryor - Sugar Ray Redd Foxx - Bennie Wilson Danny Aiello - Phil Cantone Michael Lerner - Bugsy Calhoune Della Reese - Vera Berlinda Tolbert - Annie Stan Shaw - Jack Jenkins Jasmine Guy - Dominique La Rue Vic Polizos - Richie Vento Lela Rochon - Sunshine David Marciano - Tony Arsenio Hall - Reggie Thomas Mikal Ford - Tommy Smalls Charlie Murphy - Jimmy Robin Harris - Romeo Uncle Ray Murphy - Willie Michael Buffer - Ring Announcer Reynaldo Rey - Gambler Don Familton - Referee Ji-Tu Cumbuka - Daryl External links 0097481 Harlem Nights Category:1989 films Category:1980s American films Category:American comedy-drama films Category:Heist films Category:Films set in New York City Category:Films set in the 1930s