Black Like Me (film)
| Black Like Me | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Carl Lerner |
| Produced by | Julius Tannenbaum |
| Screenplay by |
Carl Lerner Gerda Lerner |
| Based on |
Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin |
| Starring | James Whitmore |
| Music by | Meyer Kupferman |
| Cinematography |
Victor Lukens Henry Mueller II |
| Edited by | Lora Hays |
Production company |
The Hilltop Company |
| Distributed by | Continental Distributing |
Release date |
|
Running time | 107 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Black Like Me (1964) is an American drama film based on the book Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin, who passed as an African-American man for six weeks in 1959 in the Deep South, to report on life in the segregated society from the other side of the color line. The screen play was co-written (with Gerda Lerner) and the film was directed by Carl Lerner. The film stars James Whitmore, Sorrell Booke, and Roscoe Lee Browne.
The DVD was released December 11, 2012, in North America from Video Services Corp. The DVD includes a documentary titled Uncommon Vision about John Howard Griffin, the journalist on which the main character is based.[2]
Plot
John Finley Horton (James Whitmore) is a white journalist who artificially darkens his skin and passes for a black man in the deep South, from New Orleans to Atlanta, where he encounters racism from both white and black people.
Cast
- James Whitmore as John Finley Horton (Black Like Me author John Howard Griffin)
- Sorrell Booke as Dr. Jackson
- Roscoe Lee Browne as Christopher
- Al Freeman, Jr. as Thomas Newcomb
- Will Geer as truck driver
- Robert Gerringer as Ed Saunders
- Clifton James as Eli Carr
- John Marriott as Hodges
- Thelma Oliver as Georgie
- Lenka Petersen as Lucy Horton
Reception
Critical reception for the film has been mixed. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times described the film as "melodramatic and unsubtle", stating that the film failed to place the viewer inside a Negro's skin, and failed to convince the audience that the protagonist "is truly passing for black".[3]
Reviewing the film after the 2012 DVD release, Leonard Maltin awarded the film a positive 3 out of 4 stars, stating that although some aspects of the film felt dated, the film's themes were still timely.[4]
Release
The film made its DVD debut on Feb 12, 2002 by VCI Home Video. It was later re-released by Video Service Corp on Dec 11, 2012.[5]
See also
References
- ↑ Black Like Me at Rotten Tomatoes
- ↑ Hartel, Nick (February 14, 2013). "Black Like Me: DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video". DVD Talk. The DVD: The Extras. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
The film's bonus disc features a 60-min feature length documentary, Uncommon Vision: The Life and Times of John Howard Griffin on the film's real-life subject.
- ↑ Crowther, Bosley. "Black Like Me (1964) James Whitmore Stars in Book's Adaptation". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
- ↑ Maltin, Leonard (2014). Leonard Maltin's 2014 Movie Guide. New York, New York: Penguin Press. p. 138. ISBN 978-0-451-41810-4.
- ↑ "Black Like Me (1964) - Carl Lerner". Allmovie.com. AllMovie. Retrieved 8 September 2015.