THE LONG WAY HOME

THE LONG WALK HOME - 1990

RATED - PG for some language and some non-graphic violence toward African-Americans.

RATINGS - 41 Amazon (4.5/5), 870 IMDB (7.2/10), 82,715 Netflix (3.8/5), Roger Ebert (3.5/4).

STARRING - Whoopi Goldberg, Sissy Spacek.

THEMES - Racial discrimination, non-violent protest, loyalty, family, civil rights.

STORY - It's 1955 in Montgomery and the Rosa Parks incident has precipitated the bus strike by African-Americans against the City of Montgomery. The film BOYCOTT does an excellent job of telling the overall story of the strike and the people organizing it. THE LONG WALK HOME is the story of two people directly involved in the strike. No one thought it would go on for over a year. Most African-Americans relied on public transportation for getting to work and Odessa Cotter (Goldberg), who worked as a domestic in the home of Miriam Thompson (Spacek), paid her fare in the front of the bus and got off to enter and sit in the back of the bus to ride the 9 miles each way to the Thompson home. The Thompsons were upper middle class socialites whose lives centered around the Country Club, entertaining, and Norman Thompson's successful real estate development business. Miriam, without telling her very segregationist husband, initially picks up Dessa a couple times a week, more for her own benefit than Dessa's but as the strike wears on and it becomes more and more contentious, Miriam begins to understand the pain of the African-Americans and puts her marriage and physical safety on the line by getting involved in driving Dessa back and forth as well as driving for the car pool. Goldberg does a great job of restraining her usual overpowering personality in this film so that you really feel the pain of walking 9 miles each way only to come home and do all over what you've been doing at work all day. Even if you know the story of the boycott this is worth watching to better understand how it played out at the individual level for both whites and blacks. Another reminder of a very sad chapter in American history. Let us all pray that we never treat people as 'possessions' again and that we work to rid our world of racial discrimination wherever we find it. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 02/23/2008.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMDB, TRAILER, ROGER EBERT

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER - 1967

RATING - NR but probably PG for language and adult themes.

RATED - 118 Amazon (4.5/5), 7,545 IMBD (7.7/10), 386,582 Netflix (3.9/5), Roger Ebert (4/4)

STARRING - Sidney Poitier, Katherine Houghton, Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn.

THEME - Racial prejudice.

AWARDS - 2 Academy Awards (Best Actress & Original Screenplay) plus 6 Academy Award nominations, AFI Top 100 Passions, AFI Top 100 Movies, 1969 BAFTA Best Actress & Actor (Hepburn & Tracy).

STORY - The film begins with Joey Drayton (Houghton) and Dr. John Prentice (Poitier) arriving at San Francisco Int'l Airport and we soon learn that after meeting 10 days ago in Hawaii and falling head over heels in love they are going to inform Joey's parents (Hepburn & Tracy) of their plans to be married and ask for their blessing. The problem, of course, is that John is African-American. A perfect son-in-law in every possible way, Joey is absolutely positive her wealthy, liberal (progressive) parents will wholeheartedly endorse their 'mixed' marriage. Wrong!! Being progressive was fine as long as it was someone else's life that was affected. Can the Draytons reconcile their values and the values they raised Joey to live by and the real-life situation at hand? To complicate matters, John is leaving the country that evening and has told them privately, he will cancel the marriage plans if they do not unreservedly support their marriage before he leaves. Many, if not most, of you are familiar with the story. It was shocking at the time. No black man had ever kissed a white woman on the 'big screen'. There were 16 states with laws on the books that made interracial marriages illegal. Stanly Kramer was indeed making a social statement with this movie. As a Jewish man, he knew prejudice first hand. As a result of this movie the laws were changed in all 16 states. Do movies influence culture?? Remember GIDEON'S TRUMPET. Watch this movie for what it was-a statement about racial prejudice but also ask yourself where are the injustices today that need to be fixed? How can we become part of the solution? A great movie then and still today. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 2/17/2008.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMBD, ROGER EBERT

THE TRIAL OF OLD DRUM

THE TRIAL OF OLD DRUM - 2000

RATED - PG for some violence and brief language. VERY family friendly.

RATINGS - 4 Amazon (4/5), 15,550 Netflix (3.8/5), 112 IMBD (5.3/10)

THEMES - Family, friendship, loyalty.

STORY - Based on a true story, the movie begins with Charlie Burden, Jr. walking toward the courthouse remembering the summer of 1955 in Western Missouri when he was growing up on his father's farm. His mother had died and he lived with his father and Drum, the dog raised and trained by his mother for him. They were inseparable. As the story evolves around the adventures of Charlie and Drum, there are some sheep killings in the area. Charlie's uncle, who is still bitter at the loss of his sister, Charlie's mother, blames Drum for the killings and tries to take care of Drum his way. This results in the 'arrest' of Drum, who is put in jail pending trial to determine if he should be put away. The trial is complicated by the fact that Charlie hasn't always told the truth about Drum's activities and he can't prove that Drum was, in fact, with him when the sheep were killed. Apparently, the actual story took place in 1872 but was changed to 1955 for the movie. There were several classic lines in the movie. Charlie's dad tells him after he breaks the nose of the town bully, "Now making him your friend, that will be the hard part". The passionate final argument before the jury by George Graham Vest, who was the family's attorney and who went on to become a U.S. Senator, coined the phrase, "A dog is a man's best friend". And after hearing the final argument, the attorney for the plaintiff turns to his client and says "We'll be lucky if we're not lynched". Enjoy. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 02/03/2008.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMBD, TRAILER