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African American Drama
A three-year documentary odyssey through the bloody social upheaval of 1960s Africa, this film from the directors of Mondo Cane is just as unflinching as its predecessor in its visual catalogue of atrocities. Topics include the violent civil war in the Congo, the final days of colonial rule in Kenya, revolutions in Zanzibar and Angola, racial strife in Dar es Salaam, the Bahuti slaughter of the Rwandan Watusi, and the mass extermination of thousands of animals in game enclaves. The considerable political content was greatly reduced when exploitation maven Jerry Gross released the film in America in 1970 as Africa, Blood and Guts, a version running 37 minutes shorter than the original and emphasizing gore over historical perspective. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
In honor of Martin Luther King's birthday, PBS' Wonderworks presentation of January 14, 1985 was And the Children Shall Lead. Set in Mississippi in 1964, the 60-minute drama recreates the black voter registration drive of that year. The events are seen through the eyes of a young black girl, played by Pam Polito. Danny Glover and Denise Nicholas co-star as Polito's parents, who are encouraged to participate in local civil rights activities when the Freedom Riders come to town. Andrew Prine plays the requisite redneck white sheriff. Following the original telecast of And the Children Shall Lead, PBS offered a similarly themed adult drama, Go Tell it on the Mountain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
- AddThe Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittmanto QueueAddThe Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittmanto top of Queue
Cicely Tyson ages from 19 to 110 in the role of Jane Pittman, a fictional African-American woman whose life began in slavery and ended at the inception of the Civil Rights Movement. Northern journalist Quentin Lerner (Michael Murphy) travels to the racially polarized south of 1962 to interview Ms. Pittman for a potential book. Her life unfolds in flashbacks, many painful and unpleasant, but just as many are uplifting and hopeful. Based on the novel by Ernest J. Gaines and filmed on location in Baton Rouge, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman won nine Emmy Awards, including Best Actress (Tyson), Director (John Korty), and Screenplay (Tracy Keenan Wynn). The film premiered January 31, 1974, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cicely Tyson, Barbara Chaney, (more)
Forest Whitaker stars as the brilliant jazz saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker in this elegiac biopic. Director Clint Eastwood pays full homage to Parker's musical genius, but also devotes ample time to the musician's twin demons--drugs and alcohol-which accelerated his death at the age of 34. In his struggles to gain widespread acceptance for his music, "Bird" is forever stymied by his own self-destructiveness, and forever bailed out by the love of his life, Chan Richardson Parker (Diane Venora). The film bemoans the decline of the brand of jazz fathered by Parker, which came to be replaced by more conventional material -- as illustrated by the "descent" into the mainstream of Parker's mentor Buster Franklin. Also starring in Bird is Samuel E. Wright as Dizzy Gillespie. That's the real Charlie "Bird" Parker on the film's soundtrack, though most of the background music has been re-orchestrated. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Forest Whitaker, Diane Venora, (more)
With The Mod Squad sweeping the Tuesday night TV ratings in 1968, producers Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas hoped to get another multiracial adventure series on the air A.S.A.P. Carter's Army was the 72-minute pilot for this project. Set during World War II, the film stars Stephen Boyd as an Army captain who doesn't exactly dislike African Americans-it's just that he holds no special fondness for them. Naturally, Boyd is assigned an all-black company, and is forced to share his command with lieutenant Robert Hooks. Despite seething racial tensions, everyone pulls together to destroy an enemy dam. Originally telecast January 27, 1970, Carter's Army failed to spawn the planned series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Stelvio Massi directed this Italian-made action film, a copy of George Cosmatos' Cobra with Fred Williamson in the Stallone role. As a tough NYPD detective, Williamson protects photographer Eva Grimaldi, who witnessed a murder by the leader of the vicious Black Cobras biker gang. Fans of Italian genre movies will recognize Sabrina Siani as the kidnapped daughter of the police commissioner. Antonio Margheriti's Black Cobra 2 was next. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Williamson, Eva Grimaldi, (more)
The heroes in The Black Godfather are members of an African-American criminal organization. Like Brando in The Godfather, they're not averse to robbery and murder, but they do draw the line at narcotics. When the Mafia infiltrates the 'hood with dangerous drugs, the Black Godfather (Rod Perry) orders his minions to put an end to this perfidy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro) is literally what its title suggests: a retelling of the "Orpheus and Eurydice" legend enacted by black performers. This time the setting is the annual Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. Orpheus (Breno Mello) is a streetcar conductor; Eurydice (Marpessa Dawn) has just jilted her lover and is attempting to escape his wrath. Orpheus himself falls in love with Eurydice, whereupon her ex-lover, disguised as the Angel of Death shows up and kills Eurydice. To reclaim his lost love, Orpheus enters "Hell" (the Rio morgue) and uses supernatural methods to revive the dead girl. A multi-award winner on the international film scene, Black Orpheus features a samba musical score by Luiz Bonfa and Antonio Carlos Jobim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Breno Mello, Marpessa Dawn, (more)
Lawrence Kasdan originally wrote his script for The Bodyguard in the late 1960s as a vehicle for Steve McQueen; by the time it reached the screen, Kasdan's star was another movie hearthrob, Kevin Costner. When imperious musical superstar Whitney Houston begins receiving death threats, she is compelled to hire a bodyguard. Enter Costner, who immediately incurs the wrath of Houston and her entourage by imposing prison-like security measures. An ex-Secret Service agent, Costner still hasn't purged himself of his guilt feelings over his inability to protect President Reagan from would-be assassin John Hinckley (in the original concept, the agent had been guarding JFK in Dallas, but Costner was too young to make this credible; besides, he and Oliver Stone had been there before). Gradually, and inevitably, Costner and Houston fall in love. Ralph Waite is cast as Costner's father, while Robert Wuhl and Debbie Reynolds please the crowd in their cameo roles. The Bodyguard was a huge box-office success, helped along in no small part by Whitney Houston's bestselling rendition of the old Dolly Parton hit "I Will Always Love You." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Costner, Whitney Houston, (more)
Director John Singleton's debut chronicles the trials and tribulations of three young African-American males growing up in South Central Los Angeles. When young Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.), a bright underachiever, begins to show signs of trouble, his struggling professional mother (Angela Basset) sends him to live with his father (Lawrence Fishburne), a hard-nosed, no-nonsense disciplinarian. There he befriends Ricky (Morris Chestnut), a burgeoning football star, and Doughboy (Ice Cube, in a standout performance), a would-be gang banger. Over the years, each chooses his own path: Tre seems bound for college; Ricky is a blue-chip running back with his pick of schools; Doughboy is a dope dealer and bona fide gangster who drifts in and out of the county juvenile facility. All is well until, without warning, a rival gang chases down Tre and Ricky with tragic results. Doughboy immediately prepares for revenge, forcing Tre to decide whether to jeopardize his future and, perhaps, his life for the price of revenge and self-respect. Sometimes riveting, Boyz'N the Hood is not without its problems. The film tries to cram every single issue facing the black community into an hour and a half of screen time, making the film seem at times forced. The symbolism seems forced as well, and the film is often unbearably heavy-handed. Also, the characterization often relies on cardboard cut-outs; every white character in the film is a one-dimensional bigot, and the black police officer with whom Tre and his father deal is even worse than his Caucasian counterparts. Still, the unevenness of the film is redeemed by some moments of true brilliance. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cuba Gooding, Jr., Morris Chestnut, (more)
Sidney Poitier stars as John Kane, a heavenly emissary who pays a visit to the Alabama town where he was born. Making it his mission to purge the community of all hatred and prejudice, "Brother John" is nothing less than the Messiah returned to earth. Trouble is, he's black, and it's Alabama-so who's going to pay attention? Will Greer costars as a local town doctor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Filmmaker John Sayles' first bonafide box-office success, Brother from Another Planet centers on a black escaped slave from a faraway planet (Joe Morton) who finds himself on the mean streets Harlem. Though the locals are put off by the slave's inability to speak, they are won over by his technical wizardry. He is adopted as a "brother" by his new friends, who protect him from pursuing white aliens played by director Sayles and David Strathairn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Morton, Darryl Edwards, (more)
A man moves to the small and racially divided town where his bar-owning brother was murdered after he refused to pay crooked white cops for "protection." When he is threatened himself, he calls in some hefty men to help him, but they instead decide to take over the town. In order to oust the baddies, the hero becomes a one-man army with a mission. This blaxploitationer features the action hero, Fred Williamson. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, (more)
MGM knew it would take a bath on its all-black musical Cabin in the Sky (few Southern theaters of 1943 would touch the film), but the studio still provided its standard A-plus production values to the film; besides, it served as a training ground for up-and-coming director Vincente Minnelli. Based on the Broadway musical by Lynn Root, John LaTouche, and Vernon Duke, the film tells the story of Joe (Eddie "Rochester" Anderson), a shantytown denizen torn between the affections of faithful wife Petunia (Ethel Waters) and slinky seductress Georgia (Lena Horne). Seriously injured in a barroom brawl, Joe dreams that he is the centerpiece of a celestial power struggle between a heavenly emissary (Kenneth Spencer) and Lucifer Jr. (Rex Ingram, who ironically had played "De Lawd" in The Green Pastures). Joe is given another chance to redeem himself on Earth, lest he fall into the clutches of the Devil's little boy. Louis Armstrong briefly shows up, appropriately cast as "The Trumpeter." Song highlights include "Taking a Chance on Love," "Happiness Is Just a Thing Called Joe," "Life's Full of Consequences," and the title song. A troubled production thanks to the on-set rivalry between Ethel Waters and Lena Horne, Cabin in the Sky is nonetheless an excellent first feature effort from Vincente Minnelli. Thanks to his careful treatment of the material, the expected patronization of the black characters does not impede latter-day enjoyment of the film as much as it might have. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ethel Waters, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, (more)
In 1943, Oscar Hammerstein Jr. took Georges Bizet's opera Carmen, rewrote the lyrics, changed the characters from 19th century Spaniards to World War II-era African-Americans, switched the locale to a Southern military base, and the result was Carmen Jones. Dorothy Dandridge stars as Carmen Jones, tempestuous employee of a parachute factory. Harry Belafonte plays Joe (originally José), a young military officer engaged to marry virginal Cindy Lou (Olga James). When Carmen gets into a fight with another girl, she is placed under arrest and put in Joe's charge. Succumbing to her attractiveness, Joe accompanies Carmen to her old neighborhood, where, after killing a sergeant sent to retrieve him, he deserts the army. Carmen tries to be faithful, but fortune-telling Frankie (Pearl Bailey) warns her that she and her soldier are doomed. Enter Joe Adams in the role of boxer Husky Miller (a play on Carmen's bullfighter Escamillo), who sweeps Carmen off her feet, ultimately with tragic consequences. Alhough both Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte were singers, their opera voices were dubbed in by LeVern Hutcherson and Marilyn Horne. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorothy Dandridge, Harry Belafonte, (more)
Writer-director Jack Hill (Spider Baby, Switchblade Sisters) managed to beat Death Wish to the screens by a year with this violent tale of a citizen touched by crime and deciding to fight back. Her little 11-year old sister is a hopeless addict, the police can't help, and poor Nurse "Coffy" Coffin (Pam Grier) has no choice but to take the law into her own hands. Posing as a Jamaican prostitute, Coffy infiltrates the lairs of pimp King George (Robert DoQui) and kingpin pusher Vitroni (Allan Arbus). Eventually, after her childhood sweetheart is beaten into a coma and she finds out her politician-lover (Booker Bradshaw) is involved, Coffy kills everyone with a shotgun. However, by having a black woman named Coffy get injected with a sugar mixture (the crooks think it's heroin), one can only imagine the filmmakers cackling about Coffy with cream and sugar. In fact, the original ad line promised "Coffy...she'll cream you!" ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pam Grier, Booker Bradshaw, (more)
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker, The Color Purple spans the years 1909 to 1949, relating the life of Celie (Whoopi Goldberg), a Southern black woman virtually sold into a life of servitude to her brutal husband, sharecropper Albert (Danny Glover). Celie pours out her innermost thoughts in letter form to her sister Nettie (Akousa Busia), but Albert has been hiding the letters Nettie writes back, allowing Celie to assume that Nettie is dead. Finally, Celie finds a champion in the don't-take-no-guff Sofia (Oprah Winfrey), the wife of Glover's son from a previous marriage. Alas, Sofia is "humbled" when she is beaten into submission by angry whites. Later, Celie is able to forge a strong friendship with Albert's mistress Shug (Margaret Avery). Emboldened by this, Celie begins rifling through her husband's belongings and finds Nettie's letters. Able at last to stand up to her husband, Celie leaves him to search for a new life on her own. A major box-office hit, The Color Purple was nominated for eleven Oscars. The film was co-produced by Quincy Jones, who also wrote the score. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, (more)
Michael Schultz directed this deeply felt recollection of adolescent life on Chicago's near North Side in 1964. Like American Graffiti, Cooley High deals with girl, school, and police troubles as a group of high-school seniors prepare for post-high-school life. The chums are Glynn Turman as "Preach," who loves to read poetry and history and wants to become a Hollywood screenwriter, but who has the worst grades in the school; and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs as Cochise, the high-school basketball star and suave lady-killer. Preach has to contend with love problems in the form of Brenda (Cynthia Davis), school problems with emphatic teacher Mr. Mason (Garrett Morris), and law problems with street toughs Stone (Shermann Smith) and Robert (Norman Gibson). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glynn E. Turman, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, (more)
A harmonious fisherman who lives his life peacefully drifting with the tides finds himself drawn into a political plot after rescuing two Americans from the wreckage of a crashed airplane. Countryman is a man of knowledge, a man who lives by the land and leads a noble life. When the solitary fisherman sees an airplane crash into a nearby swamp, he heroically comes to the rescue of the two surviving passengers. For his efforts, Countryman is not commended, but branded an enemy agent along with the two Americans from the airplane. The man responsible for transforming the selfless hero into a desperate fugitive is the power-hungry General Sinclair, a man so consumed by his quest for glory that he is willing to destroy anyone who gets in his way. Now, in order just to survive, the peace-loving Rastafarian must flee into the Jamaican wilderness and share his knowledge of the land with his new American friends. And though Countryman is a gentle soul at heart, he proves capable of unleashing a furious display of acrobatic hand-to-hand combat when forced to fight for what is right. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- The Countryman, Hiram Keller, (more)
Richard Attenborough directed this dramatic story, based on actual events, about the friendship between two men struggling against apartheid in South Africa in the 1970s. Donald Woods (Kevin Kline) is a white liberal journalist in South Africa who begins to follow the activities of Stephen Biko (Denzel Washington), a courageous and outspoken black anti-apartheid activist. Woods and his wife Wendy (Penelope Wilton) get to know Biko, and they become friends, until Biko is brutally murdered at the hands of government troops in 1977 for his activities against the country's repression of the black majority population. Donald is shocked and appalled by Biko's murder and determined that the truth about Biko will become known to the world; eventually, Donald and Wendy Woods and their children must leave South Africa (and nearly everything they have) as they spread the word about Biko's life and death to ensure that he did not die in vain. Washington received an Academy Award nomination for his performance as Biko. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Kline, Penelope Wilton, (more)
At the turn of the century, West African slaves were brought to a small island near South Carolina to labor in the indigo trade. Isolated in the swampy atmosphere, the Gullah community was built based on ancient Yoroba traditions. They spoke in a distinct dialect, a combination of English and West African languages. This unique community is explored in Julie Dash's debut feature Daughters of the Dust, a costume drama about the Peazant family, a fictional group of Gullah natives living on Ido Landing. The secluded family experiences conflicts surrounding religion, industrialization, and tradition. The mystical matriarch Nana (Cora Lee Day) holds true to the beliefs of their anscestors, while Haagar (Kaycee Moore) can't wait to move away. Yellow Mary (Barbara O) returns from a life as a prostitute in Cuba with her girlfriend, and gets morally attacked by the reformed Christian Viola (Cheryl Lynn Bruce). Meanwhile, indifferent Eula (Alva Rogers) is pregnant with a baby that may or may not be the result of a rape. While the story doesn't attempt to follow a standard Eurocentric narrative, the plot revolves around a picnic on the shore in honor of the family members who chose to move to the prosperity of the north. The narrator is a spirit called the Unborn Child, who appears sometimes as a rambunctious little girl. A photographer accompanies the group to capture the events on film. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alva Rogers, Barbara O, (more)
In this chilling made-for-cable-television outing, the population of the United States is nearly wiped out by a sexually transmitted disease. In order to stop its spread, those infected are sequestered in special camps. To make sure no infected person is allowed to go free, a group of vigilantes begins terrorizing city streets in search of carriers. The story is based on an off-Broadway play by Alan Browne. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Morgan Freeman makes an early screen appearance in this made-for-television docudrama inspired by the life and death of African-American activist Malcolm X. Book-ended by interviews with people who knew and worked with Malcolm X, the bulk of Death of a Prophet follows 24 hours in the life of a powerful but controversial civil rights spokesman referred to only as "the Prophet Minister." The minister has become a marked man since breaking ties with the religious group from which he rose, and after his family is threatened and his house is fire bombed, he knows his enemies will soon claim his life. Despite all this, the minister goes through the motions of his life on a Sunday, preparing for a speaking engagement, talking with friends and associates, and spending precious moments with his wife (Yolanda King). Legendary jazz percussionist Max Roach composed the film's musical score. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Convicts Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier escape from a chain gang. Curtis' character, John "Joker" Jackson, hates blacks, while Poitier's character, Noah Cullen, hates whites. However, the men are manacled together, forced to rely on each other to survive. Captured at one point by a lynch-happy mob, the convicts are rescued by Big Sam (Lon Chaney Jr.), himself a former convict. The men are later sheltered by a lonely, love-hungry widow played by Cara Williams, who offers to turn in Cullen if Joker will stay with her. By the time the two men are within hailing distance of a train that might take them to freedom, they have become friends. The script for The Defiant Ones is credited to Harold Jacob Smith and Nathan E. Douglas. The latter was really Nedrick Young, a blacklisted writer, whom producer Stanley Kramer hired knowing full well that Young was using an alias (when "Douglas"' credit appears onscreen, it is superimposed over a close-up of a truck driver -- played by Nedrick Young). Both the script and the photography by Sam Leavitt won Academy Awards. If you look closely, you'll notice that the actor playing Angus is former Little Rascal Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, making his last screen appearance. The Defiant Ones was remade for TV in 1986, with Robert Urich and Carl Weathers in the leads. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Curtis, Sidney Poitier, (more)
In this comedy, a charming con man teams up with a boxer fallen on hard times in hopes of making some quick money. After doing time for selling art that turned out to be forged, Gabriel Caine (James Woods) and his partner Fitz (Oliver Platt) set their sights on a village called Diggstown; Fitz arrives first and takes several well-heeled locals in a high-stakes poker game, and then Gabriel follows to make a sporting proposition to John Gillon (Bruce Dern), the city's wealthiest citizen. Gabriel tells Gillon he has a boxer that can beat any ten opponents Gillon can line up, in the same day. Gillon takes the challenge and places a big enough wager to make matters even more interesting, but now Gabriel has to convince Honey Ray Palmer (Louis Gossett Jr.), a middle-aged former boxer who has been taken for a ride by Gabriel in the past, to go along with this scheme. In the meantime, Gabriel works out a deal with gangster Victor Corsini (Orestes Matacena) to back his bets while romancing Emily (Heather Graham), the sister of a large and ill-tempered fighter Gabriel met while behind bars. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Woods, Louis Gossett, Jr., (more)
