Mahogany (film)

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Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Infobox film/short descriptionScript error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "[". Mahogany is a 1975 American romantic drama film directed by Berry Gordy and produced by Motown Productions. The Motown founder Gordy took over the film direction after British filmmaker Tony Richardson was dismissed from the film.[1] Mahogany stars Diana Ross as Tracy Chambers, a struggling fashion design student who rises to become a popular fashion designer in Rome. It was released on October 8, 1975. The soundtrack included the single "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 1976.

Plot

Tracy Chambers dreams of becoming a fashion designer and has worked her way up to assistant to the head buyer at a luxury department store (modeled after and filmed at Marshall Fields on State Street) in Chicago.[2] Her supervisor, Miss Evans, believes that Tracy's night school courses will interfere with her responsibilities at the store. Her aunt, however, encourages her and visits prospective buyers, who tell Tracy her designs are good for Paris but not for Chicago.

One evening, she gets into a shouting match with Brian Walker, a local activist fighting against gentrification in their community.

Sean McAvoy, a fashion photographer, comes to the department store to photograph models, with whom he is dissatisfied. He mistakes Tracy for a new model and creates an impromptu shoot with her, featuring a rainbow-colored gown made by her aunt. As Sean prepares to leave Chicago, he invites Tracy to Rome.

Tracy again encounters Brian during her walk to work and surreptitiously pours milk into his bullhorn's mouthpiece. Brian assumes that one of the construction workers has played a prank on him and a fight begins. Brian is arrested, and Tracy bails him out. Brian becomes her boyfriend, but the relationship does not last long as he does not support Tracy's aspirations.

Sean reinvents Tracy as "Mahogany," and she becomes an in-demand fashion model. An uneasy relationship develops with Sean, who is possessive and jealous of anyone vying for Tracy's attention. Tracy, feeling she owes Sean for her new career, reluctantly agrees to sleep with him. Sean's implied latent homosexuality makes the union a failure. Brian fails to persuade Tracy to return home with him to support him in his political aspirations.

During their next photo shoot, Sean causes an accident in which he's killed and Tracy sustains severe injuries. A new benefactor, Count Christian Rosetti, lends Tracy his villa for her recovery and a studio space in which she may create her own fashion label. Because of the tremendous job pressures, Tracy becomes demanding and cruel to her employees. She is unwilling to express her appreciation to her new benefactor by becoming his mistress. She finds her career emotionally empty and not what she dreamed it would be without Brian's love and support. Following the tremendous success of her first collection, Tracy must decide whether to continue with her empty life in Rome or return to the man she loves in Chicago and use her talents to boost his political prospects. She returns to Chicago and reunites with Brian as he decides to run for Congress.

Cast

Soundtrack

Mahogany was the second original motion picture soundtrack by Diana Ross, following her 1972 release Lady Sings the Blues. The soundtrack included the single "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)", which peaked at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 1976. The single's B-side, "No One's Gonna Be a Fool Forever", was taken from Ross's Last Time I Saw Him album of 1973. The soundtrack reached #19 in the USA and sold over a million copies worldwide.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Track listing

All tracks composed by Michael Masser, except where indicated:

Side one

  1. "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" (lyrics: Gerry Goffin) – 3:25
  2. "Feeling Again" – 3:22
  3. "You Don't Ever Have to Be Alone" – 2:40
  4. "Can You Hear It in My Music" – 3:38
  5. "Christian's Theme" – 1:46
  6. "After You" – 2:17
  7. "Theme from Mahogany" (Instrumental) – 3:52

Side two

  1. "My Hero Is a Gun" – 3:18
  2. "Cat Fight" (Gil Askey) – 1:31
  3. "Erucu" (Don Daniels, Jermaine Jackson) – 3:34
  4. "Let's Go Back to Day One" (Gil Askey, Gloria Jones, Patrice Holloway) – 1:42
  5. "Tracy" (Gil Askey) – 2:14
  6. "She's the Ideal Girl" (Don Daniels, Jermaine Jackson) – 2:46
  7. "Sweets (And Other Things)" – 2:01
  8. "Mahogany Suite" – 5:31

Charts

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Release and reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 29% based on reviews from 21 critics.[6]

Mahogany was released on VHS home video in the 1990s, and was issued on DVD on May 1, 2007.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Awards and nominations

Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
Academy Awards Best Original Song "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)"
Music by Michael Masser;
Lyrics by Gerry Goffin 		Nominated [7]

The film is recognized by the American Film Institute in this list:

See also

References

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Mahogany and Marshall Field's
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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External links

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