the bluesman's soul. Willie and Eugene are transported back to Mississippi, where they start walking again, talking of cities they plan to visit. Cast Ralph Macchio as Eugene Martone Joe Seneca as Willie Brown Jami Gertz as Frances Joe Morton as Scratch's Assistant Robert Judd as Scratch Steve Vai as Jack Butler Dennis Lipscomb as Lloyd Harry Carey Jr. as Bartender John Hancock as Sheriff Tilford Allan Arbus as Dr. Santis Gretchen Palmer as Beautiful Girl/Dancer Al Fann as Pawnbroker Sammie Minniefield Jr as Pete Wally Taylor as O.Z. Tim Russ as Robert Johnson Tex Donaldson as John McGraw Guy Killum as Willie at 17 Akosua Busia as Woman at Boardinghouse Edward Walsh as Harley Terhune Allan Graf as Alvin Production Development The script was an original by John Fusco, who had long been interested in blues music. He worked as a blues singer and musician but had been warned by a doctor to rest his voice. In 1981 his girlfriend, who was working at a rest home, told him that an old black man with a harmonica had been admitted. Fusco went to visit him and on the way dreamt up a story about what would happen if the player was a legendary blues player. This gave him the idea for the story. He expanded on the myth of Robert Johnson selling his soul to the Devil at the crossroads. Coincidentally, Johnson was inducted to the inaugural class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in January 1986, while the film was in production. Fusco wrote the script as his Master's Thesis at New York University. It was only his second screenplay. Producer Mark Carliner acted as Fusco's independent adviser on it and later helped get it made. Fusco was paid $250,000. Jami Gertz was cast as the female lead. "She had the warmth I was looking for", Hill said, "and she was feisty, but I wondered, is she strong enough? She has to put Macchio through the experience of falling in love, and then she has to leave him, to strengthen his character for the movie's final showdown. I decided to go with her, and I was amazed by how strong she seemed on the screen." Guitar specialist Arlen Roth was hired as Macchio's musical coach. Hill was aware of some surface similarities to The Karate Kid: "You boil it down, and it sounds like a young