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Dreamgirls [2006] (movie)

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AboutDreamgirls is a 2006 musical drama film, directed by Bill Condon and jointly produced and released by DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures. The film debuted in three special road show engagements starting in December 15, 2006 before its nationwide release on December 25, 2006. Adapted from the 1981 Broadway musical of the same name by composer Henry Krieger and lyricist/librettist Tom Eyen, Dreamgirls is a film à clef of the histories of the Motown record label and one of its acts, The Supremes. The story follows the history and evolution of American R&B music during the 1960s and 1970s through the eyes of a Detroit, Michigan girl group known as "The Dreams" and their manipulative record executive.

Plot
Act I
Backstage at an amateur talent show at the Detroit Theater in 1962, Cadillac salesman Curtis Taylor, Jr. meets a girl group known as "The Dreamettes": lead singer Effie White and back-up singers Deena Jones and Lorrell Robinson. Curtis presents himself as the Dreamettes' new manager and arranges for the Dreamettes to become backup singers for local R&B star Jimmy "Thunder" Early.

With ambitions of making black singers mainstream successes, Curtis starts his own record label, Rainbow Records, out of his Detroit car dealership, and appoints Effie's brother, C.C., as his head songwriter. However, when their first single fails after a pop group releases a cover version, Curtis, C.C., and their producer Wayne turn to payola to make Jimmy and the Dreamettes pop stars. Offstage, Effie becomes infatuated with the slick-talking Curtis, while the married Jimmy begins an affair with Lorrell.

Jimmy's manager Marty grows weary of Curtis' plans to make his client more pop-friendly and walks out. However, when Jimmy bombs in front of a Miami Beach audience, Curtis sends Jimmy out on the road alone, keeping the Dreamettes behind to headline in his place. Feeling that Effie's large figure and voice will not attract mainstream audiences, Curtis appoints the slimmer Deena lead singer and renames the group "The Dreams".

With the aid of new songs and a new more glamorous image, Curtis and C.C. transform The Dreams into a top selling mainstream pop act by 1965. However, Effie begins acting out, particularly when Curtis' affections turn towards Deena. Curtis eventually drops Effie from the group, hiring his secretary, Michelle, to take her place.

Act II
Eight years later, in 1973, Effie has become an impoverished welfare mother, living in inner-city Detroit with her daughter Magic. Meanwhile, Rainbow Records has moved to Los Angeles, where "Deena Jones & the Dreams" have become superstars. Jimmy Early, on the other hand, has descended into drug addiction, his career neglected due to Curtis' preoccupation with Deena, now also his wife. When Jimmy has a breakdown onstage at Rainbow's tenth anniversary TV special the following year, during which he drops his pants in front of the audience and cameras, Curtis drops him from the label, and Lorrell ends their long affair. Some time later, Jimmy is found dead in a hotel room from a heroin overdose.

Angered over Curtis' increasing control over his music, and his lack of sympathy upon learning of Jimmy's death, C.C. quits and returns to Detroit to find Effie, who has been rebuilding her career in music with Marty as her manager. The two siblings reconcile, and C.C. writes and produces Effie's comeback single, "One Night Only". Just as the record begins gaining radio play in Detroit, Curtis uses payola to force radio stations to play a disco cover of "One Night Only" by Deena Jones & the Dreams instead. His plan falls apart when Deena, angry over Curtis' control of her career, finds evidence of his payola schemes and contacts Effie and C.C.

Deena and Effie reconcile, while Curtis, wanting to avoid being reported to the FBI for his payola operation and many other crimes, agrees to give Effie's record national distribution. Inspired by Effie's victory, Deena leaves Curtis to make it on her own.

In the final scenes, Deena Jones & the Dreams give a farewell performance at the Detroit Theater. For the last song of the concert, Deena invites Effie to join the group onstage and sing lead for the final performance of the group's signature song, "Dreamgirls". As the concert ends, Curtis notices Magic in the front row and realizes that he is the girl's father.

Technical
Film Director - Bill Condon
Written By - Bill Condon, Tom Eyen
Executive Producer - Patricia Whitcher
Music By - Henry Krieger
Edited By - Virginia Katz
Release Date - December 25, 2006 (United States), February 28, 2007 (France)
Running Time - 2 Hour 10 Minutes
Country - United States

Main cast
Beyoncé Knowles as Deena Jones
Jamie Foxx as Curtis Taylor, Jr.
Eddie Murphy as James "Thunder" Early
Danny Glover as Marty Madison
Keith Robinson as C.C.
Jennifer Hudson as Effie White
Hinton Battle as Wayne
Sharon Leal as Michelle Morris
Anika Noni Rose as Lorrell Robinson

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