Clifton Davis
A Jewish-American/African-American couple gives their respective families the shock of their lives when they announce their engagement and preparations begin for the big day. David and Mia are a racially-mixed couple who have found true love in looking beyond the shade of their skin. But just because these two young lovers can overlook their obvious differences doesn't mean that their respective families will be able to do the same, and when David's parents throw him a surprise engagement party the cat is finally out of the bag. The divide grows when David's family demands a traditional Jewish wedding despite the fact that Mia's parents had their hearts set on a Baptist ceremony. On the day of the wedding the tensions continue to rise, leaving some guests to wonder whether the union will implode before the bride and groom can even exchange vows. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- BernNadette Stanis, Clifton Davis, (more)
- 2007
- PG13
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A woman accused could be either a killer or a victim in this psychological drama from director Bill Duke. Valerie Maas (Aunjanue Ellis) is a God-fearing housewife and artist who one day finds herself in a situation she never imaged possible -- being questioned on murder charges by no-nonsense police detective Hicks (Lou Gossett Jr.) and Simmons (Clifton Davis), a district attorney eager to close this case. As Valerie repeatedly insists she's not a murderer, she tells the story of the last several months of her life. Valerie's husband, Dutch (Razaaq Adoti), is a psychiatrist with a practice in Atlanta who was offered a high-paying job by his old friend Monica (Paula Jai Parker), who works at a hospital in Philadelphia. Dutch takes the job and Valerie dutifully follows, and as she seeks solace in the women's support group at local church, Dutch spends more and more time with drug-abusing Monica, her wealthy but disinterested husband, Kevin (Roger Guenveur Smith), and obsessively womanizing musician Ryan Chambers (Leon). As Valerie's marriage begins to fall apart, she suspects her husband is being unfaithful, but she's shocked to discover the truth is more complicated than she imagined. Cover also stars Vivica A. Fox, Patti LaBelle, and Mya Harrison. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louis Gossett, Jr., Vivica A. Fox, (more)
Heath Freeman (Tru Calling, ER) heads an all-star cast including Clifton Davis (Any Given Sunday) Ben Vereen (Roots), Stacey Dash (Renaissance Man) and Debbie Allen (Fame) in the period drama Soldier of Change, which resurrects the turmoil and confusion of the late sixties. Travel back in time to visit a young man, Randy (Freeman) who finds himself immersed in the impassioned civil rights cause in the States, and struggles valiantly to adjust to the changing social fabric around him. But this is only the first of two worlds that Randy encounters. When he is drafted and shipped off to Asia - and the nightmare that called itself Vietnam - this inexperienced soldier must fight for his life and his convictions as he attempts to survive amid the turmoil of a war whose real nature is alien even to the country fighting it. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
An action-filled adventure drama with conservative Christian overtones, The Climb (2002) tells the story of Derrick Williams (Without a Trace's Jason George) and Michael Harris (Apollo 13's Ned Vaughn), two professional mountain climbers constantly at each other's throats. The men push their lives to the edge -- and test one another's endurance -- when they decide to scale one of the highest peaks in the Chilean Andes. Executive produced by Barry Werner (of Billy Graham's World Wide Pictures) and directed by John Schmidt (Kevin Can Wait, Wait of the World), The Climb co-stars Dabney Coleman, Clifton Davis, and Todd Bridges. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Winston George, Ned Vaughn, (more)
Based on the play Dearly Departed by David Dean Bottrell and Jessie Jones (who also penned this screenplay), this new comedy from the director of Jason's Lyric looks at a family gathering after one of their clan dies of a stroke. In the midst of a sweltering summer, the Slocumb family convenes. They include Charisse (Jada Pinkett Smith), the long-suffering, frustrated wife of philandering Junior (Anthony Anderson); there's also the Bible-spouting Marguerite (Loretta Devine), who prays to save her hard-living son Royce (Darius McCrary) from a life on welfare. Lucille (Vivica A. Fox) is the devoted family peacekeeper who is struggling with a money-grubbing funeral director, and her husband Ray Bud (L.L. Cool J) has major contempt for his family and wishes he were burying them instead. Kingdom Come also features Cedric the Entertainer as an intestinally challenged reverend and Whoopi Goldberg as the family matriarch. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- LL Cool J, Jada Pinkett Smith, (more)
After having been outmatched in the live-action family film department by rival Nickelodeon in recent years, Disney jumps back into the kid-friendly fray with this comedy about a seventh grader (Alex D. Linz) who's mercilessly picked on by his school's bullies and by his principal (Larry Miller). When his parents (Nora Dunn and Robert Carradine) inform Max that they're moving at the end of the week, he takes the opportunity to exact several forms of creative revenge on his many tormenters. When it subsequently turns out that the Keebles aren't leaving town after all, little Max is left to the mercy of those he's just humiliated. Max Keeble's Big Move is the second feature film from Tim Hill, the nephew of famed director George Roy Hill (The Sting). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alex D. Linz, Jamie Kennedy, (more)
Oliver Stone takes on professional football, a sport whose grace and delicacy are a good match for his filmmaking style. Tony D'Amato (Al Pacino), the head coach of the Miami Sharks, won back-to-back championships four years ago. But new team owner Christina Pagniacci (Cameron Diaz) has little enthusiasm for the finer points of the game and is concerned only with the bottom line. The longtime strongman of Tony's team has been "Cap" Rooney (Dennis Quaid), a 39-year-old quarterback, but Christina balks at renewing his contract. When Cap is injured during a game, third-string rookie quarterback Willie Beaman (Jamie Foxx) goes on in his place and becomes a major star. But Beaman is mostly interested in fame and money, and he has little regard for Tony and his teammates. Any Given Sunday also stars James Woods as the team's doctor, LL Cool J as a star running back, Jim Brown as a former football great turned Sharks' defensive coordinator, Ann-Margret as Christina's alcoholic mother, Bill Bellamy as a wide receiver, Elizabeth Berkley as Tony's favorite prostitute, and Charlton Heston as the football commissioner. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, (more)
- 1996
Much to the dismay of Grace (Tamara Taylor), Charlie (Matthew Fox) gets along better with her visiting parents (Joan Pringle, Clifton Davis) than she does. On a more serious note, Bailey (Scott Wolf) dresses up as a clown for his kid brother Owen's birthday party, only to utterly ruin the festivities by showing up blind, stinking drunk. And Julia (Neve Campbell) is forced to reconsider her future with Sam (Ben Browder) when he lets slip a particularly vicious racial remark. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Tempestt Bledsoe is a long way removed from The Cosby Show} in the made-for-TV Dream Date. Bledsoe plays gorgeous 16-year-old Danni Fairview, who is courted by suave Jim Parker (Kadeem Hardison). Alas, Jim's nerdish buddy Rudy (Pauly Shore) insists upon poking his nose into the proceedings. All of this is viewed with alarm by Danni's daddy Bill (Clifton Davis), who remembers what a rat with women he was in high school. Originally telecast October 9, 1989, Dream Date was re-issued on video in 1993 to cash in on the latter-day stardom of supporting player Pauly Shore. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
This TV-movie biography of legendary black ballplayer Leroy "Satchel" Paige unfortunately whitewashes and hokes up his fascinating story. Louis Gossett Jr. stars as Paige, who spends virtually his entire professional career in the Negro leagues because of the "gentlemen's agreement" barring African-Americans from the Majors. Paige's prowess as a pitcher is so famous that he becomes the highest-paid player in the Negro leagues -- but as for joining the mainstream teams, the answer is always the same: "If only you were white." When Jackie Robinson is signed by the Dodgers in 1946, the doors open for other black ballplayers; thus it is that in 1948, Satchel Paige becomes the first black pitcher in the American leagues...at the tender age of 42. Don't Look Back down-pedals Satchel Paige's tempestuous private life (his two marriages are combined into one, for example), and tends to shortchange the viewer in the crucial ball-playing scenes. Its saving grace is the towering performance by star Louis Gossett Jr., who struggles manfully to overcome the script's shortcomings. When the film was first telecast on May 31, 1981, the real Satchel Paige appeared in the prologue; one year later, Paige was dead at the (reported) age of 76. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
A big-city blackout galvanizes the plot of the made-for-TV The Night the City Screamed. Recreating recent events in New York City, the film details a crime spree that runs unchecked throughout the darkened metropolis. Mayor Raymond Burr tries to stem the tide of robberies and rapes, even as he labors to becalm the panicky citizens. An all-TV-star cast, including Robert Culp, David Cassidy, Georg Stanford Brown and Don Meredith show up in brief, interlocking vignettes of "fear, panic, greed, hostility, rage and...love" (or so says the film's press kit). The Night the City Screamed was originally telecast December 14, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raymond Burr, Robert Culp, (more)
- 1978
Obviously inspired by The Wiz, Cindy is a musical adaptation of "Cinderella" with an African-American cast. In 1943 Harlem, Cindy (Charlaine Woodard), fresh from the south, is treated harshly by her stepmother (Mae Mercer) and nasty stepsisters (Nell-Ruth Carter, Alaina Reed). In a departure from most Cinderella stories, Cindy's dad (Scoey Mitchell) is around to provide comfort but not much help against the barrage of her new mother and step-siblings. While taking a precious night off at the Sugar Hill Ball, Cindy is swept off her feet by handsome marine Joe Prince (Clifton Davis). Substituting for the glass slipper in Cindy is a dirty sneaker, but the end result is the same. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Billy Dee Williams stars as legendary ragtime pianist/composer Scott Joplin in this 1977 biopic. Despite his brilliance, Joplin (1868-1917) was confined by the color of his skin to the dregs of show business in the late 19th century. While competing in a musical contest, Joplin introduces his most famous composition, "The Maple Leaf Rag", thereby commanding the attention of a white music publisher. Offered a ridiculously low price for the song, Joplin nevertheless agrees to sell his composition, figuring that he has a better chance at fame and fortune once he's published. Before long, Ragtime music has become a national craze, and Joplin is rich beyond his wildest dreams. But the composer realizes that his brand of music is not considered respectable, and yearns to write something of more lasting value--a concerto, perhaps, or even an opera. Alas, Joplin's talents begin failing him, and by age 49 he is on the brink of death, a victim of syphilis. Originally made for television by Motown Films, Scott Joplin was released theatrically by Universal Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Dee Williams, Clifton Davis, (more)
Also known as Little Ladies of the Night, the story focuses on a teenager who runs away from home and finds herself in the sordid world of street-life prostitution. She gains help from a police officer, who is still connected to the underground since he formerly worked as a pimp. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1975
The basic premise of the ABC sitcom That's My Mama remains intact as the series enters its second season. Clifton Davis is still top-billed as Washington D.C barber Clifton Curtis, a would-be "swinging bachelor" who lives with his widowed "Mama," Eloise Curtis (Theresa Merritt). And Mama continues to urge Clifton to settle down and get married, much against his hedonistic nature. However, a couple of changes have been implemented within the series. For one, Joan Pringle has replaced Lynne Moody in the role of Tracy, Clifton's sister and the wife of straitlaced engineer Leonard Taylor (Lisle Wilson). And Earl Chambers (Theodore Wilson) has forsaken his letter-carrying job to become Clifton's partner at the barbershop, driving our hero crazy with his nonsensical get-rich-quick schemes. Having never been able to gain a toehold in the ratings thanks to the stiff competition of NBC's Little House on the Prairie, and saddled with the weak lead-in show When Things Were Rotten, That's My Mama was canceled midway through its second season, with only 13 new episodes in the manifest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clifton Davis, Theresa Merritt, (more)
Lost in the Stars was an American Film Theatre adaptation of the musical play by Maxwell Anderson and Kurt Weill--which in turn was based on the Alain Paton novel Cry the Beloved Country. Brock Peters portrays a South African minister who goes to the Big City to locate his son Raymond St. Jacques, who is now a criminal in the eyes of the white rulers. The minister forges a curious, foredoomed friendship with a white farmer (Paul Rogers). Lost in the Stars has sometimes been accused of blunting the edge of Paton's angry study of the cruelties of Apartheid; fans of musical theatre will be more politely inclined to this loving filmization of the Broadway play. On its own, Cry the Beloved Country was previously filmed in 1951, with Canada Lee, Sidney Poitier and Charles Carson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Offered up as ABC's "urban" challenge to the bucolic NBC series Little House on the Prairie, That's My Mama premiered opposite Little House on Wednesday, September 4, 1974. In typical sitcom shorthand, the series wastes no time establishing the fact that bachelor barber Clifton Curtis (Clifton Davis) runs a small neighborhood barbershop in Washington D.C. and lives with his widowed "Mama," Eloise Curtis (Theresa Merritt). Having already married off her daughter Tracy (Lynne Moody) to ambitious but stuffy engineer Leonard Taylor (Lisle Wilson), Mama sees no reason why her "swinging" son Clifton should not settle down with a wife himself. But Clifton prefers to play the field -- a habit that tends to reap variable results, as witnessed by the opening episode, in which one of Clifton's exes (played by Judy Pace) shows up at the barbershop claiming that he is the father of her child! Although Ed Bernard is seen as mail carrier Earl Chambers in the first two episodes, Theodore Wilson permanently takes over the role in episode three. Other casting choices worth noting include Berlinda Tolbert (The Jeffersons) in the episode "Clinton's Dubious Romance," Kim Hamilton (Sanford and Son) and Emestine Wade (Amos 'N' Andy) in "Clinton's Sugar Mama," Tim Reid (Sister, Sister) in "Clifton's Persuasion," and Gordon Jump (WKRP in Cincinnati) in the recurring role of Officer O'Reilly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Theresa Merritt, Clifton Davis, (more)
The only real novelty in the videotaped 90-minuter Legacy of Blood is its having a largely black cast going through the motions of a plotline that had previously been performed to death by white actors. Moses Gunn stars as Joe Mattingly, a supposedly respectable insurance agent. Short of cash, Joe utilizes the services of a loan shark. Now he's deeply in debt, and time is running out to make good his loan; perhaps a little life-insurance scam is in order. Legacy of Blood was originally telecast in 1974 on the ABC late-night anthology Wide World Mystery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
- PG
This drama examines the reaction of an African-American community to a love affair between a black man and his Caucasian girl friend. Their love is imperiled because so many of his family and friends are strongly against the match. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
