The Wizard of Harlem 1988
Synopsis
Poland, late 1980s. Stal Tczew basketball team faces a threat of losing their position in the league. Therefore, the club president Sylwester Bączek decides to bring in a good player from the US.
He travels to New York where he signs a contract with a black basketball player, Abraham Lincoln, nicknamed the \'Wizard of Harlem.\' The airplane in which Abraham Lincoln flies to Warsaw is redirected to land in Gdańsk due to the fog. Meanwhile, at the Warsaw airport, the club\'s welcoming committee members mistake a black pastor Jefferson for Abraham Lincoln and drive him to the hotel. It takes a lot of time to sort out the whole misunderstanding, as none of the welcoming persons speaks English. However, after some more perturbations, the \'Wizard of Harlem\' finally gets lodged in a workers\' hostel and joins the team. Disgusted with the conditions he had been offered, he demands a car. President Bączek promises to fulfill the request, but then, all of a sudden, the American disappears.
About
Year of production:
1988
Genre:
comedy
Premiere:
30-04-1990
Technical specs:
Color, 76 min.
Production:
Perspektywa Film Studio
Filmmakers
Directed by:
Paweł Karpiński
Written by:
Wojciech Niżyński, Paweł Karpiński
Cinematography by:
Zdzisław Kaczmarek
Edited by:
Anna Wilska
Music by:
Krzysztof Marzec
Sound by:
Ryszard Krupa
Set Decoration by:
Marek Mierzejewski
Costume Designer:
Eleonora Buhl
Production Manager:
Tadeusz Drewno
Cast
Okon Ubanga Jones (Abraham Lincoln),
Bogdan Baer (Sylwester Bączek, sport club "Stal Tczew" president),
Anna Kaźmierczak (Monika, Bączek\'s doughter),
Leszek Teleszyński (Romuald Strączek, sport club "Unia Olsztyn" president),
Piotr Skarga (Jagódka),
Jan Monczka (Szwed),
Jerzy Lustyk (curb dealer),
Wojciech Niżyński (Grynszpan),
Małgorzata Boratyńska (Jola, sekretarka Bączek\'s secretary),
Anna Gornostaj (masseuse),
Witold Skaruch (clark at Ministry of Sport),
Brian Scott (pastor Jefferson),
Mieczysław Hryniewicz (Bączek\'s driver),
Marian Glinka (Kazik),
Andrzej Chichłowski (photographer),
Janina Nowicka (toilet attendant at train station),
Krystyna Borowicz (canteen barmaid),
Czesław Mroczek (man with toilet paper),
Piotr Grabowski (sales clerk at Pewex),
Ludmiła Łączyńska (barmaid at train station),
Sylwester Przedwojewski (hotel receptionist in Tczew),
Maria Seroczyńska (secretary at Ministry of Sport),
Wojciech Pastuszko (hotel receptionist),
Małgorzata Bogdańska (bride),
Artur Kaczmarski (Heniek, groom),
Zygmunt Fok (bride\'s father),
Aleksander Skowroński (cheerleader),
Zbigniew Plato (bank cashier),
Gregory Joyner (Lincoln\'s son),
Włodzimierz Stępiński (sport club "Stal Tczew" board member),
Jan Mayzel (sport club "Stal Tczew" board member),
Zbigniew Krajewski (Jurek, TV reporter),
Marek Sierocki (TV commentator in Olsztyn).