Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»Movies - 1990s
    Movies - 1990s Movies - F 2 Mins Read

    Fabulous Baker Boys, The (1989)

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    Frank and Jack Baker (real-life brothers Beau and Jeff Bridges) are a cocktail lounge piano duo who content themselves playing to empty bars night after night.

    But when they employ professional escort turned sultry torch singer Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer) in an effort to revitalise their act, her arrival brings long-suppressed tensions to the surface.

    From her first entrance, Pfeiffer charges things up.  Susie has come to audition for the Baker boys, who think a girl singer might add glitz and bookings to their limp fifteen-year-old act. The boys have already heard 37 hilariously off-key canaries (Jennifer Tilly crucifying The Candy Man is the funniest) before Susie shows up.

    She’s late, her heel is broken, and she’s got gum stuck to her lip. Yet Susie cons the boys into listening to her warble More Than You Know.

    Pfeiffer does her own vocalising – she’s good enough to keep you attentive (if not eager to buy the soundtrack), but Jack thinks that Susie’s sweet voice and sumptuous body add up to a hot combo. He’s right.

    At first, Susie, with her French cigarettes, world-weary manner and four-letter vocabulary, seems all brash surface. But Pfeiffer lets us see the scared kid inside.

    When Jack, a jazz talent who hates himself for wasting his life noodling out elevator music for drunks, starts responding to the emotion Susie puts into her songs, she bristles. Susie recognises herself in Jack: They’re both losers who’ve sold themselves on the cheap.

    But her attraction to Jack is real. On one of their better gigs, at a resort hotel, she lets it show. Draping herself over Jack’s piano in a slinky red dress,

    Susie sings a torchy version of Makin’ Whoopee that brings down the house and her defences.

    Sweetly directed by screenwriter Steve Kloves in his directing debut, the film smoothly zeroes in on many universal truths along its delightful way, with the fabulous Bridges boys’ faultless timing and expert underplaying allowing Pfeiffer to shine radiantly.

    You won’t forget her sizzling rendition of Makin’ Whoopee in a hurry, either.

    Jack Baker
    Jeff Bridges
    Susie Diamond
    Michelle Pfeiffer
    Frank Baker
    Beau Bridges
    Nina
    Ellie Raab
    Monica Moran
    Jennifer Tilly
    Lloyd
    Xander Berkeley
    Charlie
    Dakin Matthews
    Vince Nancy
    Gregory Itzin
    Donna Baker
    Wendy Girard
    Ray
    Ken Lerner
    Henry
    Albert Hall
    Earl
    Bradford English
    Theo
    Todd Jeffries
    Dr Finnegan
    Stuart Nisbet
    Eddie
    Drake
    Jenny
    Jensen Daggett
    Becky
    Nadia Deleye

    Director
    Steve Kloves

    Related Posts

    • Fox, The (1968)
      Fox, The (1968)
      This study - based on a novella by D H Lawrence - of lesbian couple Jill Banford (Sandy Dennis) and…
    • White Palace (1990)
      White Palace (1990)
      Max Baron (James Spader) - a haughty young fellow of prosperous roots - takes up with slatternly burger joint waitress…
    • Kindergarten Cop (1990)
      Kindergarten Cop (1990)
      This undemanding picture proves that Arnold Schwarzenegger can do comedy, providing he doesn't try too hard. He plays tough Los…
    • Usual Suspects, The (1995)
      Usual Suspects, The (1995)
      Five criminals with widely diverse rap sheets are brought together in a police holding cell to appear in a line-up.…
    • Jack (1996)
      Jack (1996)
      In Big (1988), Tom Hanks played a boy in the body of a man. This comedy-drama repeats the trick by casting…
    • Edward Scissorhands (1990)
      Edward Scissorhands (1990)
      Rather than follow the hugely successful Batman (1989) with another special effects-driven bonanza, director Tim Burton instead delivered a delightfully realised movie…
    • Batman Returns (1992)
      Batman Returns (1992)
      Batman Returns pits the Dark Knight of Gotham City against a new gang of villainous fiends. Oswald Cobblepot (Danny De Vito)…
    • Cider House Rules, The (1999)
      Cider House Rules, The (1999)
      Honoured with two Academy Awards, The Cider House Rules tells a compelling and heart-warming story about how far a young man must…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleHanging In
    Next Article Hizzonner

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Scarecrow and Mrs King
      1 9 8 3 – 1 9 8 7 (USA) 88 x 60 minute episodes Bruce […]
    • Theatre Of Blood (1973)
      In a part he was born to play, Vincent Price is classically […]
    • Mego Super Heroes
      Starting in 1972, the cream of the crop from DC and Marvel […]
    • Kickboxer (1989)
      A key film in Jean-Claude Van Damme’s career, this is the […]
    • Adventurer, The
      1 9 7 2 – 1 9 7 3 (UK) 24 x 25 minute episodes A cloak and […]
    • Animal House (1978)
      Rude and crude, rough and ready, sometimes revolting but […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disco Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.