Beautiful music and striking dance performances are the highlight of Francis Ford Coppola's musical/mobster flick centered around the legendary Harlem nightclub. The club's black dancers and musicians entertain the exclusively white audience made up of gangsters and Hollywood stars. Local boy Dixie Dwyer (Richard Gere) saves the life of crime boss Dutch Schultz (James Remar) and reluctantly enters the world of racketeering. Talented tap dancer Sandman Williams (Gregory Hines) struggles to get ahead in the segregated world of 1920s nightlife. Authentic costuming and sets help make THE COTTON CLUB a stylistic homage to the Jazz Age and gangster films of old.