Collette Micks Movies
- 2010
Winona Ryder stars as Lois Wilson, co-founder of Al-Anon and wife of Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson (Barry Pepper), in this biopic centered on the rocky relationship between the two people who dedicated their lives to helping others who suffer from alcohol addiction. College graduate Lois Burnham was spending the summer in Vermont when she first met her future husband Bill. Teenage sweethearts, the paid married in 1918, just before Bill went overseas to fight in World War I. Lois worked as an occupational therapist while Bill was in Europe, and upon his return the couple tried unsuccessfully to start a family. It was during this time that Bill began drinking more than usual, but after landing a job at a local financial firm the hard-working veteran landed a high-paying job as a Wall Street securities analyst in 1927. For a while the couple was financially secure, and Lois tried repeatedly to help Bill to get his drinking under control. But it was all for naught; eventually Bill's alcoholism would cost him his job, his home, and nearly his relationship with Lois. It wasn't until Bill met Dr. Bob Smith, another recovering alcoholic, that he found the strength to finally sober up. Meanwhile, Lois was devastated by the fact that all of her own efforts to help Bill had ended in failure. After connecting with the wives of Alcoholics Anonymous members, however, Lois finally found her calling, founding Al-Anon in 1951 in order to help the family members of alcoholics build a functional support system for their loved ones. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Winona Ryder, Barry Pepper, (more)
In the 1920s, the rights of American workers to join a labor union was still considered an open question, and African-Americans were routinely denied their civil and economic rights. So in 1925, when journalist and political activist Asa Philip Randolph and railway car porter Ashley Totten formed the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, it was a bold gesture which proved to have a major impact in both labor and race relations in America. 10,000 Black Men Named George is a made-for-cable feature which dramatizes the struggle of Randolph (played by Andre Braugher) and Totten (Mario Van Peebles) to organize railway porters -- a demanding and sometimes dangerous job which was held almost exclusively by black men, who were paid low wages for demanding hours -- against the staunch opposition of Barton Davis (Kenneth McGreggor), head of the Pullman railway company and a fierce opponent of both unionization and civil rights initiatives. 10,000 Black Men Named George (the title refers to the fact Pullman porters were often called "George" by white passengers, which was considered a racial slur) also features Charles S. Dutton as Milton Webster, a veteran porter who joined the fight to organize; Carla Brothers as Lucille Randolph, Asa's wife who would play a major role in the early years of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; and Brock Peters as Leon Frey, an early member of the who would in time betray their cause. Directed by Robert Townsend, the film was produced for the Showtime premium cable network, where it first aired on February 24, 2002. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Andre Braugher, Charles S. Dutton, (more)
