Source plot synopsis — includes the ending
Lymon was aged 13 when the teenage group Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers erupted from radios and jukeboxes with their 1956 hit "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" and appeared in the movie Rock, Rock, Rock! (1956).
After Mr. Rock and Roll (1957), Lymon started a solo singing career, but success quickly tapered off. Lymon's career was essentially over by the time he was aged 18, and he died of a heroin overdose seven years later.
Jumping between the 1950s–1960s and the 1980s, the film traces the rise and fall of Lymon (Larenz Tate) in a series of flashbacks, as courtroom claims on Lymon's royalties are outlined by three women: Zola Taylor (Halle Berry) of the R&B vocal group The Platters; Elizabeth Waters (Vivica A. Fox), a petty thief from Philadelphia; and Emira Eagle (Lela Rochon), a schoolteacher from Augusta, GA. The end credits show archival footage of the real Frankie Lymon performing his 1958 solo single "Goody Goody".
Little Richard also makes a courtroom appearance, and Miguel A. Nunez Jr. portrays Little Richard in scenes set in the 1950s.
The film ends with Emira winning Lymon's estate.
After Mr. Rock and Roll (1957), Lymon started a solo singing career, but success quickly tapered off. Lymon's career was essentially over by the time he was aged 18, and he died of a heroin overdose seven years later.
Jumping between the 1950s–1960s and the 1980s, the film traces the rise and fall of Lymon (Larenz Tate) in a series of flashbacks, as courtroom claims on Lymon's royalties are outlined by three women: Zola Taylor (Halle Berry) of the R&B vocal group The Platters; Elizabeth Waters (Vivica A. Fox), a petty thief from Philadelphia; and Emira Eagle (Lela Rochon), a schoolteacher from Augusta, GA. The end credits show archival footage of the real Frankie Lymon performing his 1958 solo single "Goody Goody".
Little Richard also makes a courtroom appearance, and Miguel A. Nunez Jr. portrays Little Richard in scenes set in the 1950s.
The film ends with Emira winning Lymon's estate.
Sources and content license
Source and revision history ↗ · Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Why Do Fools Fall in Love (film). Section headings and formatting adjusted. · Content license