By the late '80s, Bennett had died of AIDS, which made Geffen even more determined to get the film right in Bennett's memory. He intended to make Dreamgirls at Warner Bros., where he had his production company, starring Whitney Houston as Deena, the character based on Supremes lead singer Diana Ross. The problem was that the juiciest role, and the showstopper song, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," belongs not to Deena, but to plump and insecure Effie, the singer with a powerhouse voice, who is pushed aside in favor of the more glamorous Deena. (Effie was based on Supreme Florence Ballard, whose real life was more tragic than that of the ultimately triumphant Effie.) But Houston demanded all best songs for herself, including "And I Am Telling You." A few years later, director Joel Schumacher wanted to make the film with singer Lauryn Hill as Deena, but it never happened. It was not until after the film version of the musical Chicago became a hit and an Oscar® winner in 2002 that interest in making Dreamgirls revived. The film finally went into production in 2006 with Bill Condon directing and produced by Dreamworks SKG, the production company founded by Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg. Geffen refused to take a producer credit on the film, saying he was "just a facilitator."
By that time, Beyoncé Knowles had left the successful pop trio Destiny's Child and launched a solo career. Knowles's sleek glamour was ideal for Deena, but casting the more demanding role of Effie was challenging since it needed dramatic as well as vocal chops. More than 780 singers and actresses reportedly auditioned for the part, which went to Jennifer Hudson, a semi-finalist on the television pop singing competition program American Idol in 2004. Hudson, a gospel singer who had a six-octave vocal range, had no acting experience, and her only prior professional singing gig was on Disney cruise ships. She packed on an extra twenty-five pounds to play Effie. There were rumors, denied by both women, that there was friction between Hudson and Knowles during production. Jamie Fox played the Berry Gordy character and Anika Noni Rose was the third member of the girl group, called the Dreams in the film.
Hudson's intense performance earned her both a Golden Globe and an Oscar® as Best Supporting Actress. A scene-stealing Eddie Murphy also won a Golden Globe and was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar® for his energetic turn as a performer based on the likes of James Brown and Jackie Wilson. Dreamgirls earned a total of eight Oscar® nominations, but surprisingly, not a Best Picture nod. It won only one other, for best sound mixing.
As befits a grand, old-fashioned movie musical, Dreamgirls began its run as major Hollywood productions of the 1950s used to, with a "road show engagement" in major cities, featuring reserved seating and $25 ticket prices. There was also a souvenir booklet and special lobby exhibits featuring costumes and props from the film. Reviews for Dreamgirls ranged from respectful to raves. Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers called it "a movie that has everything: a blazing new star in Jennifer Hudson, a riveting, revitalized Eddie Murphy, a hot-lick score...a timely story about how music can sell its soul to greed and compromise, and a dynamo of a director and screenwriter in Bill Condon." But about Hudson's searing performance, there was near-unanimity. Mick LaSalle's San Francisco Chronicle review was typical: "Hudson turns Dreamgirls into an event, giving it an aura of significance and specialness. The magic all derives from her."
Director: Bill Condon
Producer: Lawrence Mark
Screenplay: Bill Condon
Cinematography: Tobias Schliesser
Editor: Virginia Katz
Costume Design: Sharen Davis
Production Designer: John Myhre
Music: Songs from the original Broadway production by Tom Eyen and Henry Krieger; new songs by Krieger, Siedah Garrett, Willie Reale, Anne Preven; original score by Stephen Trask
Principal Cast: Jamie Fox (Curtis Taylor Jr.), Beyonce Knowles (Deena Jones), Eddie Murphy (James "Thunder" Early), Danny Glover (Marty Madison), Jennifer Hudson (Effie White), Anika Noni Rose (Lorell Robinson), Keith Robinson (C.C. White), Sharon Leal (Michelle Morris), Hinton Battle (Wayne)
131 minutes
by Margarita Landazuri
