Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back

A film by John Carluccio – on STARZ

It’s become popular for celebrities to lionize themselves on film as a kind of infomercial. Most of these are made mid-career. Though Bring Them Back is crammed with clips, credits, and kudos, it seems to be a legacy piece, made with love for a man whose extraordinary professional life is almost over without, his peers say, the recognition it deserves. Filmmaker John Carluccio may overstate, but he also shows us the heart of this talented, charismatic artist as often as nimble feet. Joy and heartache are both palpable.

Gregory and Maurice Hines late 1950s

Maurice Hines (1943-) actor, director, singer, and choreographer began dancing at five years old. Beside him, his beloved brother Gregory (1946-2003) was three. The boys used to enter the Apollo Theater midday and stay film after film, show after show, each time moving seats down closer to the artists so they could study dancers’ feet. Three years later, The Hines Kids were on stage. “I didn’t have to pay the rent at nine years old doing two shows a night,” Gregory’s daughter, Daria Hines ruefully notes.

Patterned after The Nicholas Brothers, Maurice and Gregory were nurtured by dance teacher Henry Le Tang and their entertainer father. Hines, Hines, and Dad followed the professional duo performing nationwide and on television. We’re told Hines Sr. wanted to set an example for African Americans who had no sense of what they might accomplish.

Maurice was apparently the outspoken brother who made things happen. “He felt he always had to say one more thing that got someone upset.” (Mercedes Ellington) The performer used his voice against ageism and racism without stardom on which to fall back. He was also openly gay. Gregory would sometimes accompany his brother to bars and dance with men. Watching Maurice recollect this is extremely touching. One gets the impression of a gentle human being despite being strongly opinionated about the act/the brothers’ lives.

Gregory and Maurice Hines on television, 1966

Gregory toed the line until… He impulsively married young, then feeling trapped, left wife and the act to settle in California. Strain became a schism which Maurice will not discuss to this day even with his closet intimates. “I thought it was the end of everything. My whole life was that,” he comments. The younger Hines went on to a successful career acting in film and theater. Performances like White Nights with Mikhail Baryshnikov required both acting and dancing.

Maurice predominantly turned his sights on directing, choreographing, and acting on stage. He explored African dance and ballet, pushing choreographic envelopes. Eventually the artist created his own musicals. We’re shown excerpts of both artistic lives as well as Maurice’s high energy, infectiously up teaching of kids.

After years of successive Tony nominations, Gregory finally secured his for Jelly’s Last Jam. He thanked everyone-including his children and manager, notably omitting Maurice who was deeply wounded. Family is family, business is business he declares. Their mother was very upset. As, of course, was Maurice. Even now, he describes the situation haltingly with clenched jaw. Not much later in the film, however, referring to his brother’s cancer, he admits, “I’m going to miss growing old together.” (Gregory earned his Tony Award for Uptown… It’s Hot!) Maurice threatened to quit Eubie if they didn’t take Gregory. Unwilling to tour, Gregory saw to it Maurice replaced him in Sophisticated Ladies at a time the two weren’t even taking. Blood ran hot, but remained familial.

Maurice Hines teaching at Debbie Allen’s Dance Academy

Excerpts from dance routines look just as crisp in the boys’ teens as they do middle-aged. We watch the artists separately as well. The last time Maurice and Gregory danced together was in Francis Ford Coppola’s film The Cotton Club. They played alienated siblings. One character exited the duo and became a star. The other was left to scramble. Maurice acknowledges parallels. “It definitely hurt my career,” he says referring to the act breaking up, not the movie. In the script, they fight, but make up on stage. Apparently much was improvised. Coppola knew what he had. In life, reconciliation didn’t come for a decade. We’re given no details. Perhaps it was around the time Gregory learned he was ill.

Director Mel Johnson Jr., Charles Randolph Wright, Debbie Allen, Chita Rivera, Gregory’s wife and son Zachery, Maurice’s adopted daughter Cheryl (with former partner Silas Davis), close friends and peers contribute. Leo and John Manzari, tapping brothers who backed Maurice in several shows, allude to a new generation of difficulties working so closely with a relative – one another – and are worried about Maurice.

They’re not the only ones. Maurice Hines expresses his depression to the camera. He withdraws and despite being lonely, refuses invitations. The filmmaker ends with a show of friend and family love. Maurice’s words are grateful.

All photos courtesy of the film

I last saw Maurice Hines in Tappin’ Through Life (2016.) He was marvelous and eminently likable. Read the review.

Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back
Director/Editor/Cinematographer – John Carluccio
Writer – Tracy E. Hopkins