Civil Rights Movement Films (1 Viewer)

[nikkif99uk]

I'm writing my American South dissertation on the Civil Rights Movement and it's portrayal in film.

I already own the following films and was wondering what others are available

And the Children Shall Lead
Ghosts Of Mississippi
The Long Walk Home
Malcolm X
Ruby Bridges
Selma Lord Selma

 

[Michael Elliott]

4 LITTLE GIRLS and MISSISSIPPI BURNING are two of the best. The first is a Spike Lee documentary but there aren't too many stronger films out there.

 

[Bob Graham]

Roger Corman's THE INTRUDER starring William Shatner as a drifter who instigates rate riots in the south is a must.

 

[Michael Elliott]

There's also THE BLACK KLANSMAN, which you might be interested in. The film doesn't really work but it is an interesting, alternate look at events.

 

[nikkif99uk]

I thought there would be more, I just bought a film called Boycott

 

[Sam Favate]

I'll second Alan Parker's Mississippi Burning. Great film.

Also, it's high time Eyes On The Prize was released commercially on DVD. (It is available on the PBS web site for educators, at an incredibly inflated price.)

 

[Eric Peterson]

A list of this sort without Sidney Poitier is extremely lacking. He has many films that would fit in to this category, but here are just a few.

No Way Out
The Defiant Ones
In the Heat of the Night
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

The first of which probably most closely fits what you are describing and also features Richard Widmark as a horribly vicious bigot.

 

[Martin Teller]

I'm always thrilled to give a recommendation for A Time for Burning, a remarkable 1967 documentary. A white Omaha Lutheran minister wants to ask members of his congregation to volunteer to visit with black Lutherans in the community. This harmless proposal is met with resistance and fear by the church council. There's no narration, no explanatory text, it's all filmed just as it's happening... simply meetings of people discussing racial issues. And it's all utterly riveting. It's fascinating to see the problems of integration and acceptance being discussed at the height of the civil rights movement, by people who seem to have a genuine interest in finding solutions. But they're plagued by doubt and fear, letting themselves be cowed by what appears to be a small minority of those not ready for change.

 

[nikkif99uk]

Anyone know where I could get hold of a copy of Color Of Courage starring Linda Hamilton and Lynn Whitfield or Crisis At Central High starring Charles Durning or The Ernest Green Story starring Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, as I know they are not on DVD. I'm in the UK

 

[Richard--W]

Not exactly Civil Rights documentaries, but Martin Ritt's The Great White Hope crystalizes some of the issues in a biopic of boxer Jack Johnson. Try to get hold of Joseph Sargent's THE MAN (1971) also starring James Earl Jones in a down-to-earth speculation of how the first black president would be received. Fleischer's Mandingo (1974) adapted from a best-selling historical novel is like a Cliff Notes version on why slavery had to be stopped and why the Civil War had to happen. It is calculated to offend and provoke, and whether or not you perceive it as an indictment of people's conduct in southern or an exploitation is precisely the point. Unpleasant film no matter how you look at it.

I think someone mentioned below the recent X with Denzel Washington. I learned something about character arc from that film.

 

[Charles H]

I would love it if Universal would bring out THE LOST MAN (1969) starring Poitier in his most provocative post-GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER role as a Black activist. Curiously, THE LOST MAN is a remake of Carol Reed's ODD MAN OUT (1947) in which James Mason's IRA rebel fleeing a bank robbery is the source for Poitier's characterization. Jules Dassin's UP TIGHT (1968) is a remake of John Ford's THE INFORMER (1935).
I'd also like to see William Wyler's final film THE LIBERATION OF L.B. JONES (1970) and Otto Preminger's over-the top but consistently intriguing HURRY SUNDOWN (1966) released on dvd.

 

[nikkif99uk]

Anyone seen Mr & Mrs Loving (1996) there are so many films but hardly any available on DVD

 

[Diallo B]

i wanted to buy eyes on the prize and found the price to be ridiculous as well. i simply went to a local library and checked it out for a while.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Nikki, here are a few more items you might be interested in. I just ordered one of them so I can't comment on the quality but it's probably going to be public domain stuff so don't expect remastered material. There are 40+ documentaries on it though.

Amazon.com: Black History: From Civil War Through Today: Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, Scott Joplin, Booker T. Washington, Martin Luther Jr. King, various: Movies & TV

And a smaller set:

Amazon.com: Black History: The War Years and the Civil Rights Movement: Black History-An Historical Overview: Movies & TV

 

[nikkif99uk]

Are there many films that specifically deal with children in civil rights movment other than Ruby Bridges (1998), Selma, Lord, Selma (1999) and And the Children Shall Lead (1985) as looking at importance of children within civil rights movement for my dissertation