Saturday, April 4, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
Robert Townsend pens a soulful love letter to Black popular music in this film loosely inspired by Motown-era vocal groups. It follows a fictional quintet from 1960s chart success through industry exploitation, infighting and addiction. Here Eddie Murphy stands at the center of the Black Pack as Prince Akeem, heir to the throne of Zamunda, who leaves royal luxury for Queens, New York, in search of love on his own terms. The most commercially successful Black comedy feature of its era, this blockbuster is also a case study in power and authorship, as Murphy gives a tour de force performance of multiple characters and earns a “story by” credit. Ultimately, the film shows how box office clout enabled Black cultural specificity while embedding sharp critiques of race, class and respectability within mainstream studio comedy.—*guest programmer Artel Great* Director: John Landis. Screenwriter: David Sheffield, Barry W. Blaustein. With: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones.