Sounder.

Review #1972: Sounder.

Cast: 

Cicely Tyson (Rebecca Morgan), Paul Winfield (Nathan Lee Morgan), Kevin Hooks (David Lee Morgan), Carmen Matthews (Mrs. Rita Boatwright), Taj Mahal (Ike Phillips), James Best (Sheriff Charlie Young), Eric Hooks (Earl Morgan), Yvonne Jarrell (Josie Mae Morgan), Janet MacLachlan (Camille Johnson), Sylvia "Kuumba" Williams (Harriet), Ted Airhart (Mr. Perkins), Richard Durham (Perkins' Foreman), and Jerry Leggio (Prison Guard) Directed by Martin Ritt (#1411 - Hud)

Review: 

There were many types of films released in the 1970s that dealt with Black folks besides "blaxploitation" (which to be clear, had plenty of good films), ones that seemed to be a breadth of fresh air for making a quality family film for the whole audience. Given the notice of films such as Gordon Parks' The Learning Tree (1969), it shouldn't be too surprising to see features such as this one, which is an adaptation of the 1969 young adult novel of the same name that was written by William H. Armstrong. He had been inspired by an account told around the kitchen table by his family as a youth along with the story of Argus, a dog in Homer's Odyssey that awaited its master after twenty years (so yes, the title of the movie and book refers to a dog, but the movie is the only one that gives every character a name). Lonnie Elder III, an actor and playwright best known for his play Ceremonies in Dark Old Men (produced by the Negro Ensemble Company in 1969; by coincidence, one of the co-founders of the Company was Robert Hooks, father of Kevin Hooks) wrote the screenplay for the film, the first of four screenplays he did in screenwriting (which included the obscure Part 2, Sounder in 1976); he wanted to keep the film accurate in historical context without going off on "any present-day fantasies." Elder III became the first African American man to be nominated for an Academy Award for screenwriting, while this film became the first to have two African Americans nominated for Academy Awards with Tyson and Winfield. Made on a budget slightly under $2 million, the film was shot in St. Helena Parish and East Feliciana Perish in Louisiana. 

There is a clear sense of dignity and struggle that is shown throughout a mostly unsentimental 105-minute feature that is pretty good at the goals set out by its filmmakers (Ritt, who had directed a flop in his previous film adaptation in The Great White Hope (1970), took a massive pay cut to do this film). It manages to exceed comparisons one might have to other period dramas (such as the aforementioned Tree feature) that earns its emotional highs without strain. Whether favoring rural living or the big city, the movie works well for everyone without selling itself short in a tale of survival. Tyson was only cast for a lead role rather than a supporting role when Ritt erased his doubts of her being "too pretty" when she convinced him of her talent. She had acted in a variety of supporting roles in plays, film and television since the late 1950s after moving from acting from her first job as a fashion model (one would not suspect Tyson was fifteen years older than Winfield). She provides dignified presence in all the ways that matter in expression, one that leads the film along in eloquence you would see for a family film without artifice. Winfield had a handful of television roles and minor roles since the 1960s, but the Dallas native got his most notable moment with this film, one that shows him in warm strength that proves quite striking when seen before and after his key action in theft that doesn't erase our curiosity for him. Hooks provides the eyes of what we see for a good chunk of the film as the lead child actor of the film, which he handles quite well. when it comes to the expression of love for a pet, the love of reading or in general the love for striving for better things. It is a movie that we feel the heat and beauty of in its setting of the mid 1930s that isn't beholden to dull moments or artifice, such as when Tyson's character diffuses how the family minus Winfield will do what is needed to sharecrop. The scene where Hooks' character sees a school with all Black students and hears about the writings of W.E.B. DuBois is also an important highlight when it comes to the final decision set out by the main three involving the importance of using one's time for decision-making rather than letting things stay as they are. No matter what taste one has for films (action, suspense, you get the idea), the movie works for each side of the moviegoer, as evidenced by its staying power a half-century later. Ultimately, Sounder is a worthwhile period film of conviction and entertainment from top to bottom that shows worthwhile perspective of a Black Americans that shows compassion on its sleeve without blatantly requesting your pity.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Next up: Gordon's War.

Hud (1963).

Review #1411: Hud.

Cast: 
Paul Newman (Hud Bannon), Melvyn Douglas (Homer Bannon), Brandon deWilde (Lonnie Bannon), Patricia Neal (Alma Brown), Whit Bissell (Mr. Burris), Crahan Denton (Jesse), John Ashley (Hermy), Val Avery (Jose), George Petrie (Joe Scanlon), and Curt Conway (Truman Peters) Directed by Martin Ritt.

Review: 
"I make the kind of films that not too many people get to make in this town, though sometimes I've had to take the risk myself"

One cannot simply make a good film without some sort of sensitivity and knowledge of how to maintain a production and the aspects that go with it from cast to tone. Martin Ritt was a director known for his socially conscious films, concerned with the human condition while making sure to film with a careful hand and careful approach to his stars, which served him well over the years. Born in 1914, he grew up in New York City but attended college in North Carolina, with the latter experience shaping his vision in wanting to show the struggle of inequality. He moved to the theater not long after graduation, shifting from theatre groups (as actor and director at times) to the Federal Theater Project to the Group Theatre where he met Elia Kazan (in later years Ritt would do work at the Actors Studio when Kazan could not make a class). After serving in World War II under the US Army Air Forces, he had shifted some of his focus to television, but the prevailing fear over red influence into entertainment trapped him on the blacklist for a few years. A few years later, he directed his first feature film with Edge of the City (1957), which depicted a interracial friendship. In the course of over three decades, he would make several notable films, such as The Long, Hot Summer (1958, which also starred Newman), Sounder (1972), and Norma Rae (1979).

The film was adapted by Harriet Frank Jr and Irving Ravetch (who co-produced the film with Ritt) from the 1961 novel Horseman, Pass By from Larry McMurtry, the first of six of his works to have been adapted into film (with others being notable films like The Last Picture Show and Terms of Endearment). The key change made in adapting the novel was in expanding the character of Hud to be the main focus, as opposed to Lonnie. The film was shot over the course of four weeks, with most of it being done in the Texas Panhandle, with some time being spent beforehand to rehearse with the cast to have them delve into their roles before shooting. This is a feature with a tremendously well-rounded quartet (with Douglas and Neal winning Academy Awards for their performances), headlined by Newman. The method actor had risen from theatre work to feature film roles in the 1950s, and he had spent a couple of days in a Texas ranch working and sleeping in a bunkhouse to prepare for the role. He pulls off a magnificent performance here, a charming monster who lives for himself and the tastes that go with said figure that swaggers over the conventional lead focus for the time, sinking with ease into such a rough role. To the surprise of Newman and Ritt, audiences found a liking to this amoral character, who they thought would not be accepted as a heroic character, with Ritt believing it being a reflection of the counterculture that would engulf the latter part of the decade. Perhaps it is evident in a quote from the film that talks about how a country changes its look by who we admire, and one must make up their mind over what is right and wrong. In that sense, theatre-turned-film star Douglas matches up with principles and a weary but unbroken spirit that reflects his ranch with measured composure. When it comes to deWilde, he holds his own as a yearning youth at a crossroads that all growing youth find themselves, and he does it with plenty of conviction. Neal, a member of the Actors Studio that appears for just twenty minutes, makes the best of her time with a relentlessly compelling performance, filled with worn-out cynicism and wit. The other key highlight is James Wong Howe (a pioneer of cinematography for six decades) and his stark cinematography, which captures the depth of such a landscape like the Panhandle with tremendous contrast and shadows that make for a devastating effect for a reasonably paced 112 minutes. This is a film that sets its own trail of where one can go in their life without needing to draw it out for the audience, with four capable performances and direction to drive a film that drives hard to questions that aren't easy to get to but prove fairly worth it in the long run. It reaches most of the marks it wants to make while serving as its own kind of Western melodrama worthy of a watch for its vision of the countryside.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.