Table Of Content
- Watch: How Chef James Kent Makes His Stunning Pork Main Course at N.Y.C.’s Saga
- Full Cast & Crew
- Steve Carell Joins Tina Fey in Netflix Comedy Series ‘Four Seasons’
- Writer/director Reginal Hudlin wrote the first version of the movie while he was at Harvard.
- Comedy
- Kid (Christopher Reid) and Play (Christopher Martin) literally met at a house party.
Robin Harris who played Kid’s father was hilarious as he searched for his son who snuck out to go to Play’s party as was a young Martin Lawrence who played Bilal. What’s even crazier is both Robin Harris and Martin Lawrence had roles in Spike Lee’s 1989 hit “Do The Right Thing”. John Witherspoon had a timely cameo as an angry neighbor and Full Force provided some unexpected comedic moments even as the villains, surprising since they were not the least bit funny when they whupped Blair Underwood’s ass in “Krush Groove”. The headline for a New York Times piece that ran just days before House Party hit theaters proclaimed, “In Hollywood, Black Is In.” Despite how Hollywood might have viewed black cinema, it wasn’t a mere trend.
Watch: How Chef James Kent Makes His Stunning Pork Main Course at N.Y.C.’s Saga
Though some of the references in the film are cringey at best, the rest is, as Roger Ebert said at the time, filled with "exuberance." The teen movies of the 1980s, such as those written and directed by John Hughes, left an indelible mark on the decade. In many ways, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Pretty in Pink, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off are as representative of the ’80s as Reaganomics. Black teens of that era, on the other hand, had no quintessential equivalent.
Full Cast & Crew
He gives Kid a beat to rap over while Kid is trying to avoid Stab and his brothers. Throughout "House Party," two white cops stop most of the major characters and hassle them. Played by Barry Diamond and Michael Pniewski, they're only referred to as "Cop #1" and "Cop #2" in the credits, though Robin Harris' Pops reads their badge names as Boyd and what sounds like Warnoski.
Steve Carell Joins Tina Fey in Netflix Comedy Series ‘Four Seasons’
Sure, its R-rating is earned—there is no shortage of raunchy jokes—but it feels true to Black teenage experience in a way that audiences hadn’t seen in a major film since Cooley High. These were young Black people who aren’t sanitized—they face issues like cop harassment, after all—but who also aren’t “at-risk” necessarily, and whose lives aren’t neatly divided into stereotypical boxes. The movie shows you Black kids from the projects and from middle-class suburbia—and they don’t seem all that far away from each other, geographically or culturally. But never looks or feels like the same backdrop as Boyz N the Hood or Colors; it feels like this story could be anywhere in Black America.
Rico Wade Given Atlanta's Highest Honor, and Music Industry Training Program in His Name
In an interview with DJ Vlad in 2017, Lou said he rewrote a scene—including adding Pee-Wee's high-pitch nasally voice and his infamous sing-songy declaration to "kick your f--king aa-ass" and showed it to the Hudlin brothers. "We killed it and Warrington Hudlin looked at us and said, 'Keep it!'…. After that, I changed all of our f--king scenes in there," with his brothers' help, Lou said. Stab, Pee-Wee and Zilla aka the bullies who tormented and chased Kid throughout the entire movie and then tried to light Play's brick house on fire, were played by Full Force (Paul Anthony, Bowlegged Lou and B-Fine). But Lou, who'd been a theater buff, said their bully roles were "kinda plain, kinda bland, kinda like with no personality," so they re-worked them to give them some personality. The Hudlin brothers were just striking while the iron was hot using the momentum generated by recent films made by Black filmmakers. Little did they know how integral their film would become to not only helping to make Rap music and Hip Hop culture break into the mainstream in 1990 but pave the way for what would be regarded as a Black film renaissance the following year.
Writer/director Reginal Hudlin wrote the first version of the movie while he was at Harvard.
There were films targeting young black audiences that attained cult status, but they didn’t receive the same adoration. “Even though you had Beat Street and Wild Style, there was nothing like this,” says Christopher “Play” Martin, who portrayed the party’s suave host. Clueless sparked a teen movie revival during the mid-’90s and Cruel Intentions supposedly put the genre 6 feet deep at the decade’s close, but House Party set the standard. The comedy, music and dancing in “House Party” made it popular with audiences but one thing that’s oft overlooked is the scene where Kid & Play end up battling each other at the party which introduced mainstream audiences to the concept of the live rap battle. Please keep in mind that in 1990 copies of “Wild Style” were nonexistant.
A. J. Johnson as Sharane
Full Force's "Ain’t My Type of Hype" was the song playing during the iconic dance-off scene, but it is not actually on the movie's official soundtrack. Full Force, the hip-hop group who also played the film’s villains, released the song after the soundtrack was completed and it ended up being one of their biggest hits. Sadly, we would only see Harris one more time at the movies, in Spike Lee's Mo' Better Blues. Shortly after House Party's release, he was found dead in his room at the Four Seasons Hotel of an apparent heart attack at the tragically early age of 36. Still, his legacy lived on, with Pop being referenced in future House Party films.
He's also hosted shows, including "Your Big Break" and "Showtime at the Apollo," and branched out into stand-up comedy — not a big stretch, given his long friendship with comedian Bill Maher. Kid was a frequent guest on Maher's first talk show, "Politically Incorrect," and composed the theme song for Maher's HBO Show, "Real Time with Bill Maher," along with producers Buster & Shavoni. Maher jump-started Kid's stand-up by letting him do a brief set on "Real Time." Kid is also active on social media, including on Twitter and Instagram, and still performs music. Kid 'n Play were already a popular hip hop act when they starred in "House Party," and the film opened up new creative avenues.
Kid (Christopher Reid) and Play (Christopher Martin) literally met at a house party.
Martin Lawrence unveils his Hollywood Walk of Fame star - REVOLT
Martin Lawrence unveils his Hollywood Walk of Fame star.
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Play went into business for himself as well, founding Playground Solutionz, a multimedia company. John Witherspoon, already a legend in Hudlin’s eyes, was cast off his work in I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, Hollywood Shuffle, and The Richard Pryor Show. And Hudlin, a huge Parliament-Funkadelic fan, wrote a role specifically for George Clinton—the funk deity has a cameo as a fast-talking DJ at a bougie affair—so he might have the chance to meet him. Full Force, who were already known for their own music as well as writing and producing for Kurtis Blow and Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, wound up in House Party as the bullies because the script already included descriptions of them. “It said something like, They get accosted by three bullies with great physiques and Jheri curls, somebody like Full Force,” says singer Lou “Bowlegged Lou” George, who played Pee-Wee. ‘House Party’ was filmed in California and Georgia, especially in Los Angeles County and Atlanta.
“Let’s get a new crew of young’uns up in there to tell it their way,” says Reid. Martin Lawrence had only appeared in one film, Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, prior to being cast in House Party. He met his future Martin co-star Tisha Campbell while working on House Party. In his high-school cafeteria, Peter, also known as "Play," announces that he will be having a party at his house that night, as his parents are on vacation.
What's more, one of his most famous stand-up routines, "Bébé's Kids," was turned into an animated feature by Bruce W. Smith (Animation Director of Space Jam, among many others), in which Harris' part was voiced by actor Faizon Love. While it's sad to think we'll never see more of what Harris could do, it's a comfort to know that his comedy lives on. Already a working stand-up at the time of House Party's release, Lawrence was plucked from his early movie days by mogul Russell Simmons to host the groundbreaking HBO series Def Comedy Jam. While working on that show, he launched his own sitcom, Martin, which was a huge hit, making a star of its lead. Then he was cast as co-lead opposite Will Smith in Michael Bay's massive cop action hit Bad Boys, which has spawned multiple sequels up to and including 2020's Bad Boys For Life.
The good news is that Mitchell would go on to demonstrate a much wider range, with House Party serving as a launchpad for a long and venerable screen career. The '90s, in particular, were good to him, with roles on The John Larroquette Show and in the classic sci-fi comedy Galaxy Quest, in which he hilariously portrayed the grown-up Tommy Webber. After House Party, Johnson's acting career moved in fits and starts, leading her to roles in films like Sister Act and Baby Boy, and to television in a main role on Sirens and episodic turns in Chicago Hope and JAG, among others. Her most notable work, however, has been in the world of fitness, where she's become a wellness coach and the host of VH1's series Flab to Fab. She has served as a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society, and as Lindsay Lohan's life coach in the 2014 Oprah Winfrey Network docu-series Lindsay, demonstrating she's not afraid of any challenge. Comedians were cast in several key roles or did cameos in numerous scenes that helped the film flow perfectly.
Robin Harris was a rising star in the world of stand-up comedy at the time he was cast to play Pop, the father of Kid's protagonist in House Party. He'd already gotten his start in movies, appearing in late '80s classics like I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, Harlem Nights, and Do the Right Thing. As Pop, he was the hard-edged disciplinarian trying to keep his son out of trouble, and coming down hard when his rules weren't obeyed. He's last seen just before the credits roll, preparing to punish Kid for his night of debauchery. Martin Lawrence was a fresh-faced 25 year-old when he appeared in a supporting role in House Party, with his only previous film credit coming in Spike Lee's drama Do the Right Thing.
She showed up again at cinemas in '90s fare like New Jack City, Doc Hollywood, and The People Under the Stairs, and in episodic spots on shows like Sibs, Martin, and ER. Nowadays, she doesn't do much acting, choosing instead to focus on her work as a designer of handbags. While Kid 'n Play were the headliners in House Party, the rest of its appealing cast helped sell Hudlin's hilarious vision as well. Harris previously appeared in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing with Martin Lawrence, and his last onscreen appearance was in Lee’s film Mo’ Better Blues (which was completed before House Party). While Lawrence is undoubtedly hilarious, he also had an “in” that most likely helped him land the role—he is Christopher “Play” Martin’s cousin. He served as the president of the BET network and received a Best Picture nomination for working as a producer on Quentin Tarantino’s 2012 film Django Unchained.
DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince's "A Nightmare on My Street." Due to some legal issues that arose around sampling the music from A Nightmare on Elm Street, the rap duo ended up in a deal that put the House Party script in front of them. When the pair ultimately decided to pass on making the movie, it opened the door for Kid 'n Play to take on the project. The comedy waffles between nonsensically heightened and realistically grounded, often alternating between the two modes at random, never landing on a tone.
However, they do not do anything after realizing that Kid's only condom is too old to be used. When Sydney's parents come home – now revealed as one of the couples at the high-school reunion, including the man Kid ran into – Sydney helps Kid sneak out of the house. Rather than miss the party of the year, Kid sneaks out while Pop is sleeping. On his way to the party, Kid is stopped by the neighborhood police and runs into Stab and his brothers, jumps over a fence where a fat man named Roughouse is having sex.
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