Young, beautiful, passionate and scandalous, New York and its environs in the 1900s. Two months ago, the great E.L. Doctorow passed away and it's time to revisit Milos Forman's sprawling epic of his chef d'œuvre in memory of the author. In collaboration with playwright Michael Weller, Forman's opus concentrates on two narrative threads - Coalhouse Walker's rise to notoriety as a black piano player seeking justice and Evelyn Nesbit's career as America's first sex goddess. Both Howard E. Rollins, Jr. and Elizabeth McGovern received Oscar nominations for their supporting roles as Walker and Nesbit. Thus honored were also Randy Newman's catchy music score and original song ("One More Hour"), Weller's screenplay and the cinematography of Miroslav Ondrícek, Forman's inseparable Czech compatriot behind the camera. Ragtime features early appearances by Samuel L. Jackson and Jeff Daniels in small roles. James Cagney and Pat O'Brien take their final screen bows. Look for author Norman Mailer as architect Sanford White and, in an uncredited cameo, Jack Nicholson as a scruffy pirate on the beach.