A Soldier's Story

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A Soldier's Story
Directed by Norman Jewison
Produced by Norman Jewison
Written by Charles Fuller
Starring Howard E. Rollins, Jr.
Adolph Caesar
David Alan Grier
Denzel Washington
Music by Herbie Hancock
Cinematography Russell Boyd
Editing by Caroline Biggerstaff & Mark Warner
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) September 13, 1984
Running time 101 min.
Language English
IMDb profile

The worst thing you can do in this part of the country is pay too much attention to the death of a Negro under mysterious circumstances.

A Soldier's Story is a 1984 film directed by Norman Jewison about racism and segregation in the military. It is the story of an African-American officer who investigates a murder of a black non-commissioned officer on an army base in Mississippi near the end of World War II. A black regiment with white officers deep in the Jim Crow South, this was a time and place where no one had ever seen a black officer, and Jewison and Fuller inculcate the viewer with the complexity of all the different currents of racism. Starting with a tiny but pithy clue of the sergeant's last moments and last words, the movie is a powerful thriller and historical drama.

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[edit] Filming Locations

A Soldier's Story was shot entirely in Arkansas. The "Tynin" exterior scenes were shot in three days in Clarendon. The baseball sequence was filmed in Little Rock at the historic Lamar Porter Field; Governor Bill Clinton had dropped by during the shooting. He became very enthused about the project and later helped by availing the Arkansas National Guard in full regalia for a grand scene, since Jewison could not afford to pay an army of extras. Production was completed with their help at Fort Chaffee United States Army Ready Reserve base of Fort Smith (where Elvis Presley had done his basic training), and the movie opened on September 14, 1984.

[edit] Production

The movie was adapted by Charles Fuller from his play, "A Soldier's Play," an off-Broadway play from 1981 which won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1982. The movie, first shown at the Toronto Film Festival, won the New York Drama Critics Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Theater Club Award, and three Village Voice Obie Awards. It was also nominated for three Academy Awards for Picture, Supporting Actor, and Screenplay Adaptation. Despite the accolades, Jewison and many of the cast members had worked for scale or less under a tight budget with Columbia Pictures. "No one really wanted to make this movie... a black story, it was based on World War II, and those themes were not popular at the box office" (Norman Jewison). Warner Brothers turned it down, as did Universal's president, Ned Tanen, and UA and MGM followed suit. Columbia's Frank Price read the screenplay and was deeply interested, but the studio was hesitant towards the commercial value, so Jewison offered to do the film for 5million and no salary. When the Screen Actors Guild insisted he must have a fee, he agreed to take the lowest possible amount.

Howard E. Rollins Jr had just had an Oscar nomination for his role in Ragtime and was cast as the lead. Most of the cast came from Broadway careers, but only William Allen Young appeared in both the movie and the original Broadway play with the Negro Ensemble Company in New York Broadway version.
Adolph Caesar embodies the dangers of W.E.B. DuBois' double consciousness in a Napoleonic performance which resulted in an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. A light-skinned Negro sergeant with a deep internalization of racism and pathological hatred of Southern blacks, the sergeant ruthlessly heaps abuse upon his men. He calls them all "worthless geechees" but he mostly relishes on torturing the jovial and highly talented C.J. Memphis (Larry Riley). The sergeant asks C.J.,"Whatever a low-class ignorant geechee like you has to say aint worth paying attention to, is it?" and while C.J. acquiesces, the peaceful character feels sorry for his sergeant, perceptively deducing that "Any man ain't sure where he belong gotta be in a whole lotta pain."
Art Evans plays Private Wilkie, a nervous man too acquiescent for his own good. David Alan Grier plays C.J.'s closest friend, bonded by their Mississippi roots. Robert Townsend also co-stars. Denzel Washington, in his first role in a big Hollywood production, plays the deeply embittered Pfc. Peterson.

[edit] Musical Score

Herbie Hancock supplied a score. Patti Labelle and Larry Riley wrote and performed their own songs.

[edit] Reviews

Gene Shalit of the Today show, said that "everyone in America must watch this film."

[edit] Primary cast

[edit] Awards

[edit] Won

[edit] Nominated

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