| A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Ralph Nelson |
| Produced by | Terry Nelson |
| Screenplay by | Alice Childress |
| Based on | A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich by Childress |
| Starring | Cicely Tyson Paul Winfield Larry B. Scott |
| Music by | Tom McIntosh |
| Cinematography | Frank Stanley |
| Editing by | Fred A. Chulack |
| Studio | Radnitz/Mattel Productions |
| Distributed by | New World Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 3 February 1978 |
| Running time | 107 minutes |
| Country | United States |
A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich is a 1978 film directed by Ralph Nelson. The screenplay was written by Alice Childress, based on her novel of the same name. It was shot on location in South Central Los Angeles.[1] It was Nelson's last film before his death.
Contents |
A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich opens by panning over downtown Los Angeles. The film takes place during the summertime.
Benjie (Larry B. Scott) is a likeable but troubled teen. He lives with his mother, named Sweets (Cicely Tyson), and grandmother, named Mrs. Bell (Helen Martin). Benjie has several friends and playmates within the neighborhood and his grades at school are above average. He is surprisingly normal and healthy for a teenager. However, in the midst, there is something going on inside Benjie that nobody around him knows or understands. Benjie has deep pain which stems from constantly dealing with the fact that his father left the family and the fallout since his departure. On top of it all, Benjie cannot manage to get along with his mother's new boyfriend, Butler (Paul Winfield).
Benjie deals with the emotional weight by trusting his school friends and building relationships stronger than with his own family. He soon discovers that he is happier with his pseudo-family than what he understands to be his miserable real family. Benjie conforms to the group and his behavior and outlook changes rapidly as he is engulfed by the overwhelming peer pressure.
Among Benjie’s buddies are Carwell (Erin Blunt). Carwell is the one who introduces Benjie to heroin; one day he takes him to the drug dealer’s home, named Tiger (Kevin Hooks).
Benjie is hardly a street rat; he has a loving family who is always worrying about his well being. Butler (Paul Winfield), the new man around the house is equally concerned about Benjie, but often at odds with him only to be sided against by the boy’s mother.
Benjie’s life at school is a refuge as he has two caring teachers who look after him. The first, Nigeria (Glynn Turman) is a hip and bold extrovert, asking his students to learn and recite important facts of black history, which Benjie proves he can absorb information with ease.
Benjie’s other influence is Mr. Cohen (David Groh), concerned that Nigeria’s over-emphasis on African history and desire to rid the school of non-white staff are wrong, a sort of anti-thesis. The conflict between these two polar differences in belief, a tug-of-war over education, history, and white privilege, plays a larger end-game role in the story as we see it unfold before Benji’s eyes.
The continued drug use along with the corrupted group mentality soon got Benjie hooked on heroin ultimately crumbling to the merciless drug. The story that follows are the events leading up to a family learning to come to terms with a child who has hit rock bottom and the drastic life changes that have to be made for everyone involved.
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Cicely Tyson | Sweets |
| Paul Winfield | Butler |
| Larry B. Scott | Benjie |
| Helen Martin | Mrs. Bell |
| Glynn Turman | Nigeria |
| Harold Sylvester | Doctor |
| Bill Cobbs | Bartender |
| Erin Blunt | Carwell |
Janet Maslin of The New York Times thought that the film was poorly executed but praised some of the acting:
| “ | In no time at all, though, Benjie has become a heroin addict, a development for which the screenplay lays too much groundwork and Ralph Nelson's soft-pedaling direction lays none at all. This is a tragic tale told by film makers who don't seem able to believe that such things are really possible... is a movie that spells out everything but never manages to be entirely lucid... However, Mr. Scott is a winning young actor.[2] | ” |
Arman Sheffey of Amazon.com thought that the film was weakly executed but appreciated the perspective:
| “ | Childress does an excellent job of putting the perspectives of all the characters associated with Benjie or to his problem in this novel. Point of view is a defining characteristic of this novel. Within the twenty-three first person narratives, the reader hears the dialect, different knowledge levels, and thinking processes of all the character's, from the local drug pusher to Benjie's high school teachers. This made the plot a bit harder to follow at first, but had it been written any other way it would have lost a definite sense of authenticity.[3] | ” |
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