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Released
1997 · FILM

Hoodlum

Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson rises to power in Harlem's dangerous numbers game, but must battle a ruthless mobster's invasion to protect his community and claim his legacy.

Power is measured in enemies.

Directed by
Written by
Runtime
130 min
CrimeDrama

Synopsis

In 1934, the second most profitable business in New York City was operating "the numbers." When Madam Queen, the influential figure who controls the operation in Harlem, is arrested, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson assumes leadership and must fend off an invasion by a ruthless mobster.

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How many hands made this film

The scale of the collaboration

Principal cast & crew: 20

These are the principals we have on file — the full crew ran to the hundreds. Every film this size was made by far more hands than any credits list ever names.

Why a floor?

This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.

Craft leads on file

Edited by Harry KeramidasShot by Frank TidyScored by Elmer BernsteinDesigned by Charles C Bennett

Box Office

1997 · Box office

📉 Underperformed — grossed 0.8× its budget

Why 2.5×?

Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).

Worldwide gross

$23.5M

Budget$30.0M
Worldwide gross$23.5M
break-even (2.5×)

Also known as

  • Harlem, N.Y.C. – Der Preis der Machtde
  • Hamponeses
  • Les Seigneurs de Harlemfr

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