''Harlem Nights,'' it's worth remembering, is a comedy, though as the body count piles up and entire reels go by without a joke in sight, it's also easy to forget.

If he's going to confine himself to bad movies like "Harlem Nights," it's probably better that he writes and directs them himself.

Harlem Nights offers a depressing answer to that not entirely pressing question, "Will success spoil Eddie Murphy?" It looks as if it has.

The degree of ineptness with which this film is made must finally amount to some form of contempt for the audience.