Ossie Davis Movies
A performer widely regarded as one of the most distinguished and eloquent actors of his or any generation, Ossie Davis combined an overwhelming amount of dramatic talent and instinct (evident via both stage and film work) with an indomitable fervor for social crusade. A native of Cogdell, GA, and a graduate of Howard University, Davis moved to Harlem at an early stage and trained with the Rose McClendon players. The actor then drew a considerable amount of attention -- alongside wife since 1948 Ruby Dee -- for helping to spearhead the American civil rights movement in the 1940s, over 20 years before it caught fire with the general public and mass media. Their combined efforts culminated in involvement with the triumphant March on Washington of August 1963, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech. In subsequent years, Davis also helped Dr. King raise money for the Freedom Riders and delivered a poignant eulogy at the funeral of Malcolm X.Meanwhile, Davis and Dee both established themselves as forces in theater and on film. Davis himself debuted on Broadway in 1946, and took his film bow with the 1950 No Way Out, but 13 years passed before his sophomore cinematic effort, the 1963 Gone Are the Days -- an adaptation of his own play Purlie Victorious. Unfortunately, the actor spent much of the '60s appearing in programmers that were either underappreciated (Shock Treatment, 1964) or unworthy of his talents (Sam Whiskey, 1969), and didn't fully realize his potential until he scripted and directed the 1970 Cotton Comes to Harlem, a gritty crime comedy (with a predominantly African-American cast including Godfrey Cambridge and Redd Foxx) that almost singlehandedly jump-started the blaxploitation movement and predated Sweet Sweetback and Shaft by a year. Several additional directorial projects followed throughout the 1970s and '80s and found Davis growing deeper and more profound, and setting his sights higher; these included the ambitious -- if not quite successful -- Kongi's Harvest (1971) and the finely-wrought, socially charged coming-of-age drama Black Girl (1972), arguably Davis' best film.
Unfortunately, Davis' third and fourth efforts behind the camera, Gordon's War (1973) and Countdown at Kusini (1976), disappointed on many counts, relegating him (for better or worse) back to acting. He appeared in the racially themed, made-for-television dramas Roots (1977), King: The Martin Luther King Story (1978, in which he played Dr. King Sr.), and Roots: The Next Generations (1979), then -- around a decade later -- achieved a career resurgence thanks to the intelligence and bravura of wunderkind Spike Lee, who cast Davis in six major films: School Daze (1988), Do the Right Thing (1989), Jungle Fever (1991), Malcolm X (1992, as an off-camera narrator), Get on the Bus (1996), and She Hate Me (2004). Two of those films also included Dee in the cast. Davis also enjoyed a renewed profile on television during the early '90s when he was tapped to play a regular character on the charming and laid-back Burt Reynolds sitcom Evening Shade (1990-1994); he portrayed Ponder Blue, the series' narrator and the owner of a barbecue restaurant.
Davis remained not only active but astonishingly prolific over the following ten years. Subsequent projects included small supporting roles in Grumpy Old Men (1993), The Client (1994), and Doctor Dolittle (1998), and participation in a series of documentaries, among them Christianity: The First Thousand Years (1998) and We Shall Not Be Moved (2001). Davis died in February 2005, in Miami, while shooting the movie Retirement. He was 87. Davis and Dee co-authored a dual autobiography, In This Life Together, in 1998. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 1989
Spike Lee's 1989 movie Do The Right Thing was a bombshell when it came out, particularly because of its honest and unapologetic treatment of interracial prejudices in Bedford Stuyvesant. This documentary not only explores the director's filmmaking exploits, but explores the neighborhood and its residents, to discover what effect (if any) the film is having on their lives. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, (more)
Fraternity and sorority members clash with the other students at a historically black university in this politically charged musical, which marked the sophomore feature from director Spike Lee. Dap (Laurence Fishburne) is a politically conscious brother who leads anti-apartheid demonstrations and eschews the social climbing of the Greek system. But Half-Pint (Lee), his craven young cousin, is willing to endure any humiliation to join the manly Gamma fraternity. As Half-Pint tries unsuccessfully to impress the Gammas with his inept womanizing, Dap engages in philosophical debates with Rachel (Kyme), his girlfriend. Meanwhile, the light-skinned, straight-haired sisters of the Gamma Ray sorority battle it out in a beauty parlor with their darker-skinned, Afro-headed fellow co-eds. Eventually, Half-Pint gets the chance to join the frat, but only after a degrading episode with Jane (Tisha Campbell), the soon-to-be ex-girlfriend of his house president, causes Dap to lose all respect for him. Based in part on the director's experiences at Atlanta's Morehouse College, School Daze was also written and produced by Lee. Despite production numbers that included "Straight and Nappy", a dis-fest between the "wannabes" and "jigaboos" on campus, the biggest hit on the film's soundtrack was the go-go anthem "Da Butt", E.U.'s ode to shaking one's backside. Supporting players Kadeem Hardison and Jasmine Guy also co-starred on the TV comedy A Different World, another look at life on a primarily African-American campus. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, (more)
- 1985
Betsy Russell takes over as part-time prostitute Molly Stewart in this disappointing sequel to the surprisingly good Angel (1984). Old pals Rory Calhoun and Susan Tyrrell are along for the search for the killer of the cop who saved Molly's life in the first film, joined by street magician Johnny Glitter (Barry Pearl). More brutal and hard-edged than the original, this installment is just another violent action movie, despite some slick camerawork and a fast pace. One peculiar touch is the frequent use of Bronski Beat's savage dance hit "Why?" which, although it has appropriately exciting music, it concerns gay-bashing and has no relation whatsoever to the storyline. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betsy Russell, Rory Calhoun, (more)
- 1984
This video is part of a PBS series, narrated by journalist Bill Moyers, that looks at some of the most influential ideas, events, and people of the 20th century. This program is the second episode in a two-part series that chronicles the history of the civil rights movement in the United States. Moyers discusses with Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee the development of the American education system, from the days of the "separate but equal" doctrine of segregation, to the groundbreaking desegregation case in 1954 of Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka, KS. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide
- 1984
- PG
Harry (Paul Newman), a middle-aged hardhat, has trouble communicating with his teenaged son Howard (Robby Benson). While Harry wants Howard to find a bread-and-butter job, the sensitive boy would rather pursue a writing career. Howard tries his best to please his dad, but ultimately realizes that he must march to his own beat if he's to find lasting happiness. The best scenes in this by-the-numbers domestic drama are those between Howard and his pregnant girlfriend (Ellen Barkin). Adapted from The Lost King, a novel by Don Capite, Harry and Son represents one of the rare occasions that star Paul Newman directed himself (at least officially!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Robby Benson, (more)
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
- 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
The issue of forced school busing is explored with an unfortunately heavy hand in All God's Children. Richard Widmark plays a judge who is tortured with guilt after a school bus is stolen. The robbery was a prank, committed as a reaction to the judge's ruling that selected black students must be bused to white schools, and vice versa. The vehicle was appropriated by two high schoolers, one black, one white. The film's tension arises from the fact that a burned-beyond-recognition body was found in the wreckage; the families of both boys wait in anguish to discover the identity of a victim, while the rest of the community threatens to erupt into violence no matter what the outcome of the autopsy. All God's Children was first telecast April 20, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
- PG
In this comedy a trio of undercover government cops in Miami decide that it would be a good idea to open a bogus fencing operation so they can trap criminals. When the crooks find out, trouble ensues and the fun begins. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dom DeLuise, Jerry Reed, (more)
- 1979
Muhammad Ali made his TV-movie dramatic debut in this adaptation of Howard Fast's novel Freedom Road. Though some of the names are changed, the story concerns the true-life efforts of senators Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens to bring political order and racial equality to the post-Civil War South. Ali is cast as Gideon Jackson, an ex-slave who is elected to the U.S. senate during the Reconstruction Era. Interestingly enough, the character upon whom Jackson is based was depicted as the villain of D.W. Griffith's 1915 Civil War epic Birth of a Nation. Just as Griffth offered his own biased slant on the facts, so too did Fast rewrite history to promote his own political ideology. As for Muhammad Ali, his performance is no threat to Olivier, but he acts with sincerity and a commendable lack of bravado. Made for TV, Freedom Road represented the final film effort of Czechoslovakian director Jan Kadar. It was first telecast in two parts on October 29 and 30, 1979, an event that warranted a cover story in TV Guide. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The phenomenal success of the 1977 ABC miniseries Roots all but demanded a sequel to writer Alex Haley's epic story of his African and African-American forebears. Debuting February 18, 1979, Roots: The Next Generations picked up where its predecessor left off, with Haley's slave ancestors winning their freedom in the aftermath of the Civil War. Even so, life for black Americans was wrought with hardship and oppression thanks to the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, the staunch refusal of the white power structure to pass anti-lynching laws, and the formation of the dreaded Jim Crow laws which legalized racial segregation in the South (and much of the North). Covering the period from 1882 to the mid-1970s, the miniseries first focuses on blacksmith Tom Harvey (Georg Stanford Brown), great-grandson of Kunta Kinte (the protagonist of the original Roots), and his family. Meanwhile, reacting to the marriage of his son to a black woman, anal-retentive Southern colonel Warner (Henry Fonda) begins setting the legal wheels in motion to deny blacks like Tom the right to vote and to hold "white" jobs. A few decades later, Tom's son-in-law encourages his fellow blacks to stand firm against the KKK's reign of terror. His labors on behalf of his race are rewarded when his daughter Bertha (Irene Cara) becomes the first descendant of Kunta Kinte to receive a college education. It is Bertha Palmer who weds the equally ambitious Simon Haley (Dorian Harewood), who goes on to serve in WWI and to organize farmers and sharecroppers during the Depression. Simon's son Alex (played at various ages by Kristoff St. John, Damon Evans, and finally James Earl Jones) is just as determined to succeed in a white man's world as his father, and to that end becomes a professional writer after his own service stint in the Coast Guard during WWII. At the height of his professional success (largely due to his having ghost-written the autobiography of Muslim activist Malcolm X), Alex Haley pays a visit to his boyhood hometown -- where, almost by accident, he receives the first clue to his heritage, a clue that will lead him on an odyssey of self-discovery, arriving full circle at Kunta Kinte's birthplace in Africa. Although the miniseries' "money scene" was Haley's nervous interview with American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell (Marlon Brando in a superb cameo turn), the climactic episode, in which Haley tearfully embraces the living African descendants of Kunta Kinte, is one of the most unforgettable moments in the history of network television. Running 12 episodes and 14 hours, Roots: The Next Generations concluded on February 25, 1979, playing to huge ratings all along the way and ultimately garnering several Emmy nominations (and one win). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Georg Stanford Brown, Olivia de Havilland, (more)
- 1979
In this abysmal, tasteless farce, the pitfalls of patient and staff life in a big city hospital are supposed to be the brunt of the jokes, but there are no living jokes in this film. In the first several scenes, the obnoxious know-it-all Fats (Charles Haid) introduces new interns to the hospital with an aggressive monologue that exhorts them to stay away from the patients and basically do exactly the opposite of what the Hippocratic Oath enjoins. Everything spirals downhill from there. Later on, an intern quits in disgust but returns to the hospital when one of his friends needs his medical expertise. As an example of the hilarious behavior of the protagonists, a female doctor does an autopsy while she herself is bare to the waist. Certainly her scalpel might have been put to better use by excising that scene and then transplanting another movie onto this one. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Matheson, Charles Haid, (more)
- 1978
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King: The Martin Luther King Story originated as a three-part miniseries, first telecast February 12, 13 and 14, 1978. Paul Winfield is starred as Martin Luther King, with Cicely Tyson as Coretta Scott King. The film covers the years 1954 through 1968, taking Rev. King from his first peaceful protests against segregation in Montgomery to his murder in Memphis. Scenarist/director Daniel Mann came under fire in 1978 for his adaptation of King's life, and for once the critics were right. Despite Winfield's masterful and accurate portrayal of King, the rest of the 6-hour drama compromises the truth with the hokiest of fabrications. Just a few examples: Sheriff "Bull" Connor's men walk out on him en masse when he threatens to hose down black schoolchildren; Mayor Daley warns King against protesting in Chicago, saying "We have a reputation to protect; this is the home of Al Capone"; King has a friendly meeting with Malcolm X in 1966, a full year after Malcolm X was killed....and so it goes. Martin Luther King certainly deserved a superior mini-series. Perhaps some day he'll get one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
This introduction to the theater features a collection of fourteen dramas all combined in four modules. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1977
Twenty-year-old LeVar Burton followed up his spectacular television debut in Roots with the made-for-TV film Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid. As can be gathered by the title, Billy (Burton) is a ghetto youth with little chance for a bright future. He gets his chance to escape his dead-end existence when he's hired as an assistant to veterinarian Ossie Davis. Roxie Roker of The Jeffersons fame (and the mother of pop singer Lenny Kravitz) co-stars as Billy's worn-out mom. Based on a novel by Robert C. S. Downs, Billy Portrait of a Street Kid first aired September 12, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
This program is part two in the 13-volume American Documents series and features historic contributions of black Americans. Narrated by Ossie Davis, this program highlights early black films and filmmakers through the use of rare archival footage and interviews. Many memorable entertainment industry events are included in the 52-minute documentary. ~ Kathleen Wildasin, All Movie Guide
- 1976
- PG
This drama, financed by DST Communications, a subsidiary of Delta Sigma Theta, the world's largest black sorority, centers around the revolutionary leader of a fictionalized African nation, Fahari. He is being hunted by a mercenary hired by a big corporation disgruntled by the rebel's policies because they are cutting into the company's profits. The film features a notable soundtrack by Manu Dibango, an African musician. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, (more)
A pair of blue-collar buddies use hypnosis to turn a wimpy boxer into a champ in this crime comedy, which reunites actor/director Sidney Poitier and comedian Bill Cosby, stars of the similarly themed Uptown Saturday Night. Clyde Williams (Poitier) and Billy Foster (Cosby) want to help raise funds to sustain the Sons and Daughters of Shaka Lodge, their local community group. Given that Clyde was trained as a hypnotist while in the military, the pair decide to con mobster Biggie Smalls (Calvin Lockhart) by placing a high-stakes bet on a boxing match and then using hocus-pocus to transform skinny underdog Bootney Farnsworth (Jimmie Walker) into a bruiser. When Biggie finds out about their ruse, he and his thugs move in to reclaim their money, setting the stage for further laughs and sleight-of-hand. With a supporting cast that includes Denise Nicholas and Lee Chamberlin as the protagonists' wives and Ossie Davis as an elder at their lodge, Let's Do It Again also reunited Good Times stars Walker and John Amos to the silver screen. Cosby and Poitier would return two years later with A Piece of the Action, though Lockhart, another veteran of Uptown Saturday Night, would sit out the final team-up. Hip-hop fans will note that Lockhart's character provided one of the aliases for slain '90s rap star Christopher Wallace, also known as the Notorious B.I.G. The soundtrack for Let's Do It Again featured Curtis Mayfield songs performed by the the Staple Singers. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, (more)
- 1973
- R
In this incredibly violent actioner, a soldier returns from the war in Vietnam and finds that his Harlem neighborhood has become a drug-filled war zone of its own. The final straw comes when his wife overdoses. The grief-stricken vet quickly assembles a group of vigilantes to clean up the streets and exact vengeance upon the drug dealers who sold his wife the bad stuff. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1972
- PG
This 1972 documentary tribute to the life and work of the assassinated Black Muslim leader Malcolm X was poorly received at the time of its release. However, it has grown in importance as Malcolm's place in African American history has grown. The backbone of the documentary is based on The Autobiography of Malcolm X. This documentary, made with the help of the Malcolm's wife Betty Shabazz, recounts the life and ideas of this controversial man. James Earl Jones, Ossie Davis and Steve Benderoth provide the narration. In addition to clips of Malcolm X in public interviews and speeches, numerous important civil rights figures are featured, as well as important public officials from the period. In 1992, director Spike Lee released another major film biography of Malcolm X, called Malcolm X. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1972
In this melodrama a mother tries to compensate for her feelings of inadequacy and failure as a parent to her own children by taking in a troubled foster child. As she struggles to make up for her past mistakes, her jealous daughters mistreat the girl. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1971
The dictator of a Third-World African country endeavors to bring his people into the 20th century in this drama based on a play by one of Africa's premier writers. The dictator came to power after deposing the king. His greatest challenge will be in uniting his nation which is largely comprised of different tribes. The dictator uses every means possible, not all of them honest, to attain his goal. He even seeks advice from the dethroned king. He also tries to keep his country's cultural roots intact by forcing his officials to wear traditional African clothing. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1970
The made-for-TV The Sheriff borrows a bit from the premise of the theatrical feature film Tick Tick Tick (71). Ossie Davis plays an African-American county sheriff, stationed in a small California mountain village; his wife is played by Davis' real-life spouse Ruby Dee. Kaz Garas portrays the sheriff's white deputy, and Lynda Day appears as Garas' wife. Davis' case at hand is the rape of a black coed by a white insurance salesman, which sparks racial polarization in the previously peaceful community. The Sheriff was the pilot for a TV series which was left at the gate by disinterested sponsors. A few months later, another failed pilot on similar lines was developed: Crosscurrent, starring Robert Hooks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, (more)
Ossie Davis makes his directorial debut a smashing success in the trend-setting action crime comedy Cotton Comes To Harlem. Coffin Ed (Raymond St. Jacques) and Grave Digger Jones (Godfrey Cambridge), two plainclothesmen on the Harlem detail, are assigned to investigate the goings-on of suspicious local preacher Deke O'Malley (Calvin Lockhart), whose "Back to Africa" political movement turns out to be a scam to bilk the community of their hard-earned cash, with the scam-money hidden in a bale of cotton. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques, (more)
- 1969
In the two-hour pilot film for the subsequent TV "occult" anthology, series creator Rod Serling hosts three macabre short stories, introducing each with a framed portrait in a nocturnal art gallery. The first story stars Roddy MacDowall as a covetous nephew who murders his uncle, suffering the consequence of being possessed by a family painting. The second story stars Joan Crawford as a blind, thoroughly despicable millionairess who purchases the eyes of down-and-out Tom Bosley in order to enjoy 12 precious hours of sight. The final tale involves a Nazi war criminal (Richard Kiley), who attempts to evade his pursuers by escaping into a painting in a museum. The middle sequence is by far the best, directed with youthful bravado by 21-year-old Steven Spielberg. An uneven package, Night Gallery was nonetheless infinitely superior to the series that followed, which suffered from too much network and studio interference and not enough Rod Serling. The Night Gallery pilot was first telecast November 8, 1969; the series ran from 1970 through 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
