The Cotton Club Research Paper

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Recommended: Reflection of history in cinema

One of the best and most entertaining forms of education include movies, especially when it comes to history. Movies are extremely vivid stories but stories can be altered whilst travelling from one source to another. It’s important to discern the difference between the facts and fiction within a film. “The Cotton Club” presents 4 well known historical entities: Dutch Schultz, Owney Madden, Fayard and Harold Nicholas. The movie not being a biography has changed history in a very literal sense.
Infamous gangster, Dutch Schultz was given justice by “The Cotton Club” movie. Born to Jewish immigrants as Arthur Fegenheimer, he stole the name “Dutch Schultz” from another local violent gangster. At his prime, the Schultz bootlegging business was earning $20 million a year. A greedy and vicious man, Dutch would kidnap and murder anyone who refused his beverage service. Contrary to the movie, there is no evidence of Dutch keeping a flapper with him but he is reputed to have 2 wives. Dutch and Owney Madden were acquaintances at the very least; both belonged to a close group of gangsters fighting over the Harlem area. Ironically, Dutch saw himself superior to other mobsters of the time, stating “I may do a lot of lousy things but …show more content…

Madden also grew up and resided in Manhattan, leading the area’s most violent gang at a young age. He created the real Cotton Club; one of the few places in segregated America which showcased black musical talent, the audience however was exclusively whites only. By the end of the 1920’s, Madden was a millionaire dealing with real estate, boxing, gambling, bootlegging, breweries and entertainment. As shown in the movie, Owen Madden left Harlem and moved to Hot Springs. The world thought Madden had left the world of crime only to later discover Hot Springs held the largest illegal gambling operation in the United

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