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Crisis at Central High

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Wikipedia article




'Crisis at Central High' is a 1981 made-for-television movie about the Little Rock Integration Crisis of 1957, based on a draft of the memoir by the same name by former assistant principal Elizabeth Huckaby.[http://www.centralhigh57.org/news.htm News Releases] , 40th Anniversary web Site

William Link and Richard Levinson wrote the screenplay and were executive producers together with David Susskind of Time-Life Productions.John O'Connor. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D00E4DE133BF937A35751C0A967948260 TV: Little Rock, 1957: 'Crisis at Central High,'] 'The New York Times' (review), Feb. 4, 1981 The film starred Joanne Woodward as Huckaby and told the events from that character's point of view, although one obituary at the time of Huckaby's death cited her as saying the TV-movie enlarged her role.Linda S. Caillouet.[http://www.ardemgaz.com/prev/central/baxliz20.html Central High crisis diarist dies], 'Arkansas Democrat-Gazette', March 20, 1999 (retrieved November 3, 2006) Woodward was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special[http://www.emmys.com/shows/crisis-central-high Television Academy Database] - Joanne Woodward Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Special and a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV,[https://www.goldenglobes.com/tv-show/crisis-central-high Joanne Woodward] at Golden Globe Awards database in 1981 and 1982 respectively.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082215/awards Awards and Nominations for 'Crisis at Central High' (1981)] on Internet Movie Database

Composite characters



Like many docudramas, 'Crisis' included some composite characters; at least one reviewer (O'Connor) criticizes the vague disclaimer to that effect, arguing that in a piece about such controversial events, alterations to the truth should be identified more specifically. In addition to the creative license already mentioned with regard to her role in the crisis, Huckaby was reported to have said the film showed some events are out of sequence and slightly altered others.

Filming



The movie was filmed on location in Little Rock[http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=736 Elizabeth Paisley Huckaby (19051999)], 'Encyclopedia of Arkansas' and at Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas, Texas.Craig, J. B. [https://ualrexhibits.org/characters/crisis-at-central-high-book-and-movie-elizabeth-huckaby-5/ Crisis at Central High, Book and Movie (Elizabeth Huckaby-5)], Center for Arkansas History and Culture, December 19, 2017. Many local Dallas actors had featured roles in the film, including radio personality Suzie Humphreys, TV and theater actor Jerry Haynes, teacher and actress Irma P. Hall, and Theater Three director Norma Young, as well as Taylor, a native Dallasite who was attending Southern Methodist University at the time the film was being cast.

Critical reception



Reviewer John O'Connor of 'The New York Times' observed, "In the end, of course, the real heroes of this piece are the nine black students," whom O'Connor described as "played to quiet perfection." Actors highlighted for their portrayals included Calvin Levels as Ernest Green (the only senior in the group) and Regina Taylor as Minnijean Brown, launching that actress' professional career.[https://archive.today/20130126035932/http://www.hollywood.com/celebs/fulldetail/id/189938 Regina Taylor] at Hollywood.com Other principal actors in the film included Charles Durning as the principal and Henderson Forsythe as Huckaby's husband, Glenn.

See also



* Civil rights movement in popular culture

*'The Ernest Green Story'

References



Further reading



* Huckaby, Elizabeth. 'Crisis at Central High, Little Rock, 195758.' Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1980.


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