Scott Joplin (1977)

Not that long ago it occurred to me as kind of funny that there hadn't been a big screen bio-pic about black composer Scott Joplin. Then I looked more into the details of his life and that suddenly seemed less strange, Joplin dying in middle age at an asylum from syphilis isn't the most inspiring stuff. Then I discovered that there in fact was a Scott Joplin bio-pic, so I watched it. 

'Scott Joplin' was produced by Motown Studios on a noticeably small budget for a period piece and stars Billy Dee Williams as the famed rage time composer (who was undergoing a period of historical rediscovery and appreciation in the 70's, hence the movie). The film starts out fairly promising but really drags in it's second half. Art Carney has a good sympathetic supporting part coming off of 'Harry and Tonto' as John Stark, the Missouri music publisher who championed Joplin and did probably more then anyone save the man himself to make Scott a star. **