Estelle Evans Movies
Before becoming an actress, Estelle Evans, the sister of distinguished African American actress Esther Rolle, taught in New York City schools for 14 years. While studying acting, the Hunter College graduate, shared courses with such distinguished actors as Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte. Evans played supporting roles in films such as The Quiet One and To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). In 1969 Evans had a lead role in Learning Tree. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi- 1975
George (Sherman Hemsley) and Louise (Isabel Sanford) are too absorbed in a card game to pay attention to Mother Jefferson (Zara Cully). Determined to regain the spotlight, Mother Jefferson fakes a fall. Once she is bedridden with a "bad back," Mother Jefferson smugly allows Louise to wait on her hand and foot -- an old sitcom plot, here given a few delightful twists. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sherman Hemsley, Isabel Sanford, (more)
- 1975
Florida (Esther Rolle) throws a surprise baby shower for her friend Loretta (Mary Alice). The festivities come to an abrupt and unpleasant halt when Loretta announces that she intends to put the baby up for adoption. Will Florida and the kids be able to dissuade the expectant mother from her unhappy resolve? Estelle Evans, the real-life sister of series star Esther Rolle, appears as Alice. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1969
- PG
Gordon Parks' adaptation of his own novel The Learning Tree stars Kyle Johnson as Newt, a black teenager living in 1920s Kansas. He is an intelligent even-tempered young man who meets the many racial prejudices he faces with composure and pride. His best friend Marcus (Alex Clarke) is hot-headed and prone to react emotionally when confronted with life's problems. Newt gets into a difficult situation when he witnesses a murder and must decide if he should come forward to clear the man being framed for the crime. Doing so would forever change his own life, as well as Marcus'. In 1989, the film was selected to the National Film Registry in the Library of Congress. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kyle Johnson, Alex Clarke, (more)
Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiographical novel was translated to film in 1962 by Horton Foote and the producer/director team of Robert Mulligan and Alan J. Pakula. Set a small Alabama town in the 1930s, the story focuses on scrupulously honest, highly respected lawyer Atticus Finch, magnificently embodied by Gregory Peck. Finch puts his career on the line when he agrees to represent Tom Robinson (Brock Peters), a black man accused of rape. The trial and the events surrounding it are seen through the eyes of Finch's six-year-old daughter Scout (Mary Badham). While Robinson's trial gives the film its momentum, there are plenty of anecdotal occurrences before and after the court date: Scout's ever-strengthening bond with older brother Jem (Philip Alford), her friendship with precocious young Dill Harris (a character based on Lee's childhood chum Truman Capote and played by John Megna), her father's no-nonsense reactions to such life-and-death crises as a rampaging mad dog, and especially Scout's reactions to, and relationship with, Boo Radley (Robert Duvall in his movie debut), the reclusive "village idiot" who turns out to be her salvation when she is attacked by a venomous bigot. To Kill a Mockingbird won Academy Awards for Best Actor (Peck), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Art Direction. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, (more)
- 1948
The Quiet One relates, in semidocumentary fashion, the inner workings of the Wiltwyck School for Boys at Esopus, New York. The nonprofessional cast is headed by Donald Thompson as emotionally disturbed youth Donald Peters. Under the compassionate ministrations of a psychiatric counselor (Clarence Cooper) (a real-life Wiltwyck counselor), Donald recalls the various traumatic events that have led up to his present troubled state. Though the film's dialogue sounds spontaneous, it was pre-scripted by critic James Agee, who also narrates the film. Of particular interest to modern viewers is the fact that Donald Thompson is black. Unlike other "socially conscious" films of the late 1940s, The Quiet One does not make Donald's race an issue in the proceedings; he is simply a disturbed young boy in need of sympathetic treatment. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Donald Thompson, Sadie Stockton, (more)
