Separate but Equal Analysis - Movie Review Example

Running head: MOVIE REVIEW ON SEPARATE BUT EQUAL Movie Review on Separate but Equal s Movie Reviewon Separate but Equal Introduction "Separate but Equal" was a 1991 American television movie Nominated for seven Emmy Awards. The movie portrays the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Case. Segregation was a very sensitive issue in the 1950's. On February 28 1951 it was challenged by an African- American school district in South Carolina (Rucks 1979). It demonstrates topics on segregation and how the Supreme Court worked. Plot of the Story The movie is based on the landmark case of Brown vs. the Board of Education, "Separate But Equal" is a televisions mini series which moves around Thurgood Marshall who is a young lawyer, he argues in support of the black community in the lawsuit which is racially-charged in the Supreme Court. When Clarendon County, South Carolina's the black students are not given the right for a school bus, a harsh and brave fight for justice as well as equality begins. The Thurgood Marshall is a lawyer for the NAACP and he put up a frantic fight for the civil rights and these rights were not given when slavery was abolished, the whole fight turns into a grand fight both in his private life and the court (Separate but equal. 1996). Sidney Poitier, also a DGA director member, starred in the film as Thurgood Marshall, the NAACP lawyer who successfully argued the Brown case and later himself famously served on the Supreme Court (Jerry 2004). John W. Davis is Marshall's opponent; both of them argue keenly and fluently in front a Supreme Court that is led via Chief Justice Earl Warren. Separate But Equal is a touching human performance of a very important court case in American history. Characters Thurgood Marshall The prosecuting attorney and the protagonist in the movie was Thurgood Marshall, the famous black lawyer who was played by Sidney Poitier. Defense lawyers headed by Thurgood Marshall were invited by the local black citizens of kansas so that they could represent them in NAACP. The case is lost in the Federal District Court thus they give a plea to the Supreme Court. The case is combined with three others by the supreme court from the states of Kansas, the office name of the case was Brown v. Board of Education, Delaware, as well as Virginia, all these cases had the same mission . Through strong actors such as Poitier, the movie was very well done. John W.Davis John W. Davis portrayed by Burt Lancaster,one of the top litigator, hired by school board of Clarendon County, South Carolina to argue their case before the Supreme Court, opposed Thurgood Marshall's effort to turn over the Supreme Court decision that gave the verdict of segregation being legal in public schools . The case is bought in the Court, before any decision can be made Chief Justice has a heart attack and dies. His place is taken by Earl Warren, this character is played by Richard Kiley (Goldberg 1993). Earl Warren Earl Warren, played by Richard Kiley appointed as a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court after the death of the last Chief Justice. Warren is extremely strong character, he is successful in convincing the court's other members to make a unanimous decision along with him to eliminate the tradition of segregation in the public schools all over the nation (Leonard, 1991). He had a diffcult time trying to convince one of the justices but finally he got him to agree with his decision. Kiley gives a brilliant and powerful performance, but the importance on Warren in Stevens' script seems like it is unpredictable. Harry Briggs Harry Briggs, the father of a black student in the movie. His original name was Tommy Hollis. He is sick and tired of watching his son walk long distances home from school, he feels sorry for his son, as his son is too tired too even do his home work after such a long and tiring walk (Brigid 2005). He enrolls his son's teacher to plead the local supervisor of schools to give a bus. The movie is extremely touching, and this role is acted wonderfully by Tommy Hollis, the movie is exact depiction of the proceedings which surrounded this milestone case. Biography of George Stevens Jr. George Stevens Jr. was the son of famous American director and cinematographer George Stevens, right from the when he was one year old he had become a part of the entertainment industry- although not willingly. He was sent by his father to Hal Roach studios so that he could film one close-up Wild Poses; it was obviously a sentimental gesture for Stevens, as he had started his career at Roach. After a few years , the younger Stevens was in sere shock when he found out that he'd been a nominee for Our Gang, seeing that he was not an age at which he could make decisions on his own Stevens' part was eventually edited and cut from final print. When Stevens entered film world, it was entirely on his own will. After he gradated from Occidental College, he began to work with his father as an assistant, he worked with his after on movies like the Giant (1956) and The Diary of Anne Frank (1959). Stevens was selected head the motion picture division of United States Information Agency In 1962, here he directed the assembly of John F. Kennedy: Years of Lightning - Day of Drums (1964) which was a classic documentary (Leonard 1991). From the year 1967 to 1979, he headed the American Film Institute, the independent, non-profit organization which was responsible for the maintenance and re editing of so a lot of films which were rare and were released in the Nitrate Era that is from 1895 to 1950 (Zoglin 1996). Stevens was the producer of AFI's 1976 collection America at the Movies (Herrera 2006), it was unsuccessful in reflecting the growth of America with a series of often wrongly selected clips of film. But he seemed to improve as his documentary in 1984 which as a acknowledgment to his father was names George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey, this made public realize Steven's talent as he used a number of reels of extraordinary Technicolor footage which were used in Stevens Sr. in 1944-45 (Goldberg 1993) . George Stevens Jr. also won an Emmy for his first important work which was not a documentary, he won this ward for the Separate but Equal (1991) which was a televisions miniseries. Scenes of the Movie This is best exemplified scene is during the end of the movie, when the Supreme Court made the decision to restrict segregated schools, the level of acting continued to make the audience anxious to hear the decision, even though, historically speaking, along the lines of history, Separate but Equal was historically accurate as well. From the characters used to the dates, times, and sequence of events given, the movie did follow the historical facts. There were several scenes in which Thurgood Marshall was doing some deskwork and was interrupted by his secretary or another aid and their discussion turned into a big speech by Marshall (Zoglin 1996). There is a scene Thurgood Marshall's intellect would actually be caught playing around with a small train set. Once more, the movie attempts and is unsuccessful, in adding more "intensity," to the character of Sidney Poitier. In the train set scenes Thurgood Marshall is portrayed to be a much passionate, and intelligence these scenes portray the fact that he was in favor of development. An important scene is of Kiley when he is on a journey with his chauffeur who is black, Kiley goes outside only to see that the chauffeur slept the whole night in the car as there were no hotels in the area that would accommodate blacks. In real life it was an essential moment for Earl Warren as well as in the film for Kiley. At that moment he felt that he was being given a huge chance to right a big wrong and end something which was evil. Kiley felt a great moral blow regarding segregation and by the audience as well. Political History The change in opposition to segregated schools came about by means of a great fight. Southern advocates as well as politicians opposed the decision and did a great deal to put an end to the integration. President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1957, in Little Rock High School had to send a number of National Guard troops in order to protect the black students who were entering the school for the first time. The battle was long and hard, but progress finally came. Till today, across the country efforts continue so that people can realize the vision of the NAACP as well as the families who were involved in the Brown case. The epic verdict of the Supreme Court. On May 17 in 1954 at 12:52 p.m changed the political as well as social structure of this country. Brown v. Board of Education aided in modifying America. The Cold War was a war in which no shot was fired. It was an arms race filled with propaganda on both the United States and the Russian fronts. One of our arguments for the Cold War was being equal and democratic in dealing with Berlin. This placed pressure upon the political figures in the United States because our country was being hypocritical in our own issues dealing with Brown v. Board of Ed (Steinberg, 1991). The Russians claimed that we preached equality for other nations and we didn't have it in our own country. Because of this, the United States lost a lot of ground politically. There is no direct connection between the Cold War and the Brown vs. Board of Education decision (Rucks 1979). However, one could argue that the Supreme Court decision was simply a reaction to the Cold War politics. Russia was claiming that the United States was being a hypocritical nation. The easiest way for America to prove they were being equal to all their citizens was to desegregate schools and bring together all races. Although many believe that to be true there is no proven theory stating the court decision was the result of our cold war politics. Why the Author Places the Two Characters in the Story The first character which is of great importance in the movie is Thurgood Marshall, he is a lawyer in new York for the NAACP the author placed this character in the movie because he was the one around who the whole movie revolved , he carried the entire theme of the movie . As he was the lawyer who fought for the deprived black community who had to face social injustice even after the decision made in the 1896 case (Plessy v. Ferguson) that assured them equal treatment and abolition of slavery(DeBose 2004). The second important character in the movie is Earl Warren, he is facing a severe conflict as he is the Chief Justice and because the law which was against the blacks was clearly legal--it just happened to be incorrect (Herrera, 2006). Here the author is trying to portray through this character that something which is wrong should always be changed even if you are the first one to change it. The Value Of This Movie To The Study Of American Government The movie is of value to the study of American Government as it clearly describes about how the Supreme Court of the United States determined that if legislation made judgments based on race, but did not deny anyone of their rights or privileges, it was constitutional. The court also stated that this was not a violation of the amendments, because the rail system was state owned, and the national government had nothing to do with it. Overall, the Court decided that the common practice of separation was merely an inconvenience, not something that reduced the rights of African Americans (DeBose 2004). The way the Supreme Court makes decisions is by majority. All the justices had different opinions and views. Some were strict interpreters of the constitution and some were loose. Strict means that what they wrote was exactly what they meant and how it should be read. Loose means that you could bend what it says a little bit (Rucks 1979). The president appoints justices to the Supreme Court. In this case the justices called for a re-trial asking to prove legislative intent. They wanted to know what the writers of the 14th amendment were thinking when they wrote it (Guide 1996). Some of the justices were strict interpreters of the constitution and also made use of legal precedents. That means they believed that past decisions should remain. In the end all of the justices agreed that segregation was unconstitutional and it was put to an end. This was a very good movie and an excellent learning tool. It really showed what segregation was like. It also demonstrated how the Supreme Court works. It goes along with what we are learning in class and was definitely worthwhile. References Brigid Schulte (2005), Lessons From Past Echoing In Schools. The Washington Post DeBose Brian (2004), How Brown advanced to head of the class action. Washington Times Goldberg, Ron (1993), Separate not equal. : Sound & Image, Vol. 3 Issue 2, p78 Guide (1996), New Orleans Magazine, Vol. 30 Issue 12, p94, Herrera, Camilla A. (2006), A look at two icons: Thurgood, Picasso center of new plays: James Earl Jones takes on role of Supreme Court justice Advocate, the (Stamford, CT), Jerry Roberts (2004) Separate but Equal: Dga screening event. Retrived April 14 2008 from, http://www.dga.org/news/v29_2/evnt_separate-04.php3 Leonard, J (1991), A mini-series supreme. New York, Vol. 24 Issue 14, p86, Rucks, Conway (1979), Separate but Equal, National Review, Vol. 31 Issue 15, p477-477 Separate but equal. (1996), Entertainment Weekly, Issue 327, p69, Steinberg, L. (1991), Drama of a landmark civil-rights case brings Sidney Poitier back to TV--after 36 years. : TV Guide, Vol. 39 Issue 14, p20, Zoglin, R. (1996), Go slow, Mr. Marshall. Time Magazine, Vol. 137 Issue 14, p68 Read More