View source for D.C. Cab

{{Short description|1983 film}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = D.C. Cab
| image          = D c cab.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster by [[Drew Struzan]]
| director       = [[Joel Schumacher]]
| screenplay     = Joel Schumacher
| story          = {{ubl|[[Topper Carew]]|Joel Schumacher}}
| producer       = Topper Carew
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Adam Baldwin]]
* [[Charlie Barnett (comedian)|Charlie Barnett]]
* [[Irene Cara]]
* [[Anne De Salvo]]
* [[Max Gail]]
* [[Mr. T]]
* José Pérez
* [[Paul Rodriguez (actor)|Paul Rodriguez]]
* [[Gary Busey]]}}
| cinematography = [[Dean Cundey]]
| editing        = [[David E. Blewitt]]
| music          = [[Giorgio Moroder]]
| studio         = {{ubl|[[Peter Guber#Career|The Guber-Peters Company]]|[[RKO Pictures]]|[[Universal Pictures]]}}
| distributor    = Universal Pictures
| released       = {{Film date|1983|12|16}}
| runtime        = 100 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $8 million<ref>{{cite web | url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57917-DC-CAB | title=AFI&#124;Catalog }}</ref>
| gross          = $16 million
}}

'''''D.C. Cab''''' (also known as '''''Street Fleet'''''{{sfn|Klotman|Gibson|1997|page=119}}{{sfn|Pym|2010|page=1303}}) is a 1983 American [[comedy film]] written and [[Film director|directed]] by [[Joel Schumacher]], based on a story by [[Topper Carew]] and Schumacher,<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/19203/dc-cab#credits|title=D.C. Cab|work=[[Turner Classic Movies]]|publisher=[[Turner Broadcasting System]] ([[Time Warner]])|location=[[Atlanta]]|access-date=May 17, 2021}}</ref> and starring [[Max Gail]], [[Adam Baldwin]], [[Mr. T]], [[Charlie Barnett (comedian)|Charlie Barnett]], [[Gary Busey]], [[Marsha Warfield]], [[Whitman Mayo]], [[John Diehl]], [[Bob Zmuda]], [[Timothy Carey]], [[Bill Maher]], and [[Irene Cara]].

The film was released to negative reviews from critics, but Cara's song "[[The Dream (Hold On to Your Dream)]]" was a Top 40 hit, peaking at #37 on the [[Hot 100]].

==Plot==
Naïve but good-natured young man Albert Hockenberry arrives in [[Washington, D.C.]], with plans to work for his late father's army buddy Harold Oswelt, owner of the run-down District of Columbia [[taxicab|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 Myrna Oswell 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 Bywater'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==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Max Gail]] as Harold Oswell
* [[Adam Baldwin]] as Albert Hockenberry
* [[Mr. T]] as Samson
* [[Charlie Barnett (comedian)|Charlie Barnett]] as Tyrone Bywater
* [[Gary Busey]] as Dell Dorado
* Gloria Gifford as Miss Floyd
* [[Marsha Warfield]] as Ophelia
* [[Bill Maher]] as Baba
* [[DeWayne Jessie]] as Bongo
* [[Paul Rodriguez (actor)|Paul Rodriguez]] as Xavier
* [[Whitman Mayo]] as Mr. Rhythm
* [[Peter Paul (actor)|Peter Barbarian]] as Buddy
* [[David Paul (actor)|David Barbarian]] as Buzzy
* [[Irene Cara]] as Herself
* [[Diana Bellamy]] as Maudie
* [[John Diehl]] as Head Kidnapper
* [[Newt Arnold|Newton D. Arnold]] as [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] Chief
* [[Dennis Cleveland Stewart|Dennis Stewart]] as Ski Mask Hoodlum
* [[Jim Moody (actor)|Jim Moody]] as Arnie
* [[Anne De Salvo]] as Myrna Oswell
* [[Bob Zmuda]] as Cubby
* [[Denise Gordy]] as Denise
* [[Senta Moses]] as Ambassador's Daughter
* [[Jose Perez (actor)|José Pérez]] as Ernesto Bravo
* [[Jill Schoelen]] as Claudette
* [[Patricia Duff]] as Elegant Blonde
* [[Timothy Agoglia Carey|Timothy Carey]] as Angel of Death
* [[Ron Canada]] as Policeman
{{div col end}}

==Reception==
''D.C. Cab'' grossed [[USD|$]]16,134,627 in theatres.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=dccab.htm|title=D.C. Cab|work=[[Box Office Mojo]]|publisher=[[Amazon.com]]|location=United States|access-date=January 17, 2017}}</ref>

===Critical response===
''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."<ref>{{cite web|first=Roger|last=Ebert|author-link=Roger Ebert |publisher=Roger Ebert |title=D.C. Cab Movie Review|url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/d-c-cab-1983|date=December 22, 1983|access-date=January 17, 2017}}</ref> 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 elicit several cheap laughs."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1983/12/29/dc-cab-offers-wild-ride-through-underside-of-city/2c39b3db-1ec6-4d6f-849c-f2d63c9b3cb5|title='D.C. Cab' Offers Wild Ride Through Underside of City|last=Sargent|first=Edward|date=December 29, 1983|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=January 17, 2017}}</ref>

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."<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/16/arts/film-dc-cab-humor.html|title=FILM: 'D.C. CAB,' HUMOR|author-link=Janet Maslin|last=Maslin |first=Janet|date=December 16, 1983 |access-date=January 17, 2017}}</ref>

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."<ref>{{cite news |last=Buckwater |first=Ian |date=December 19, 2013 |title=D.C. Cab Is a Terrible Movie, but It's Our Terrible Movie |url=http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/arts/film-tv/blog/13080122/d-c-cab-is-a-terrible-movie-but-its-our-terrible-movie |work=[[Washington City Paper]] |access-date=January 17, 2017}}</ref>

==Soundtrack==
{{main|D.C. Cab (soundtrack)}}
[[Irene Cara]] performed the main title theme to the film "[[The Dream (Hold On to Your Dream)]]".{{sfn|Miller|1983|page=56}} [[Gary Busey]] performed "Why Baby Why".<ref name="Gary">{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/14/Gary-Busey.html|title=Gary Busey|work=[[Film Reference Library]]|publisher=[[TIFF Bell Lightbox]]|location=[[Toronto]]|access-date=January 17, 2017}}</ref> The soundtrack was released in 1983.

==Release==
''D.C. Cab'' was released in theatres on December 16, 1983.<ref name="NYT"/> The film was released on [[DVD-Video|DVD]] on March 1, 2005, by [[Universal Studios Home Entertainment]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/D-C-Cab-Mr-T/dp/B0006IIPJO|title=D.C. Cab|work=[[Universal Studios Home Entertainment]]|publisher=[[Universal Pictures|Universal Filmed Entertainment Group]]|location=[[Universal City, California]]|asin=B0006IIPJO|access-date=January 17, 2017}}</ref> ''D.C. Cab'' was released on the [[digital distribution]] [[app store]] [[Google Play]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/D_C_Cab?id=DiHHD8LxR7g|title=D.C.Cab|work=[[Google Play]]|location=[[Mountain View, California]]|access-date=January 17, 2017}}</ref>
A high definition Blu-ray release by [[Kino Lorber]] was released on December 1, 2020.

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

===Sources===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kczcgHtgGfYC&q=was+D.C.+Cab+also+known+as+Street+Fleet&pg=PA119|title=Frame by Frame II: A Filmography of the African American Image 1978-1994|first1=Phyllis Rauch|last1=Klotman|first2=Gloria J.|last2=Gibson|publisher=[[Indiana University Press]]|location=[[Bloomington, Indiana]]|year=1997|isbn=978-0253332806|page=119}}
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bcDIMS2Zb94C&q=was+D.C.+Cab+also+known+as+Street+Fleet&pg=PA1303|title=Time Out Film Guide|first=John|last=Pym|publisher=[[Time Out Group|Time Out Digital Ltd]]|location=[[London]]|year=2010|isbn=978-1846702082|page=1303}}
* {{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=giy81axAIT8C&q=was+Whitman+Mayo+in+the+film+D.C.+Cab&pg=PA174|title=The Year of the Black Male in Films|first=Aldore D.|last=Collier|magazine=[[Ebony (magazine)|Ebony]]|publisher=Ebony Media Corporation|location=United States|issn=0012-9011|volume=38|number=10|date=August 1983|access-date=January 17, 2017|page=172}}
* {{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jq4DAAAAMBAJ&q=was+Marsha+Warfield+in+the+film+D.C.+Cab&pg=PA58|title='D.C. Cab' Rolls With Mr. T And High–Speed Cast|magazine=[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]]|publisher=[[Johnson Publishing Company]]|editor-last=Miller|editor-first=Mitzi|location=[[Chicago]]|asin=B008D6GY8A|date=December 19, 1983|access-date=January 17, 2017|issn=0021-5996|volume=65|number=15}}

{{Refend}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|id=0085387|title=D.C. Cab}}
* {{AFI film|57917|title=D.C. Cab}}
* {{TCMDb title|19203|title=D.C. Cab}}
* {{Letterboxd film|dc-cab}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|dc_cab}}

{{Joel Schumacher}}

[[Category:1983 films]]
[[Category:1983 comedy films]]
[[Category:American comedy films]]
[[Category:Films set in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Films shot in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Films directed by Joel Schumacher]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Joel Schumacher]]
[[Category:Universal Pictures films]]
[[Category:1980s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Giorgio Moroder]]
[[Category:RKO Pictures films]]
[[Category:Films about taxis]]
[[Category:1980s American films]]