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Slaves (film)
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Wikipedia article
'Slaves' is a 1969 American drama film directed by Herbert Biberman. The film stars Dionne Warwick (in her screen acting debut), Ossie Davis, and Stephen Boyd.
Plot
Set in the 1850s South, the film follows Cassy and Luke, two black slaves who are sold to the sadistic plantation owner MacKay. He wants labor from the men and sex from the women. On this, he is determined to exploit both Cassy and Luke.[http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/90460/Slaves/full-synopsis.html TCM.com]
Cast
* Dionne Warwick as Cassy
* Ossie Davis as Luke
* Stephen Boyd as MacKay
* Marilyn Clark as Mrs. Bennett
* Nancy Coleman as Mrs. Stillwell
* Julius Harris as Shadrach
* James Heath as Luther
* David Huddleston as Holland
* Eva Jessye as Julie
* Oscar Paul Jones as Zacharious
* Aldine King as Emmeline
* Robert Kya-Hill as Jericho
* Gale Sondergaard as New Orleans Lady
* Shepperd Strudwick as Mr. Stillwell
* Barbara Ann Teer as Esther
Release
The film opened at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore on May 6, 1969. It was also entered into the 1969 Cannes Film Festival.
Reception
It received negative reviews, but was one of Continental Distributing's highest-grossing films. Lou Cedrone of the 'Baltimore Evening Sun', believed that "'Slaves,' [...] is a strong film, one likely to inflame and maybe even enlighten. But it is also a very badly done film, and that's a pity because slavery, as it 'really was' in this country, is a story that should be told, but with much more finesse than is evident here". Cedrone added that the film "at times looks as though it might have been made during the silent era, so backward are the cutting, direction and framing."Cedrone, Lou (May 8, 1969), "[https://baltimoresun.newspapers.com/clip/53896448/lou-cedrone-movie/ 'Slaves' Premieres At Hippodrome]", 'Evening Sun' (Baltimore).
Clifford Terry of the 'Chicago Tribune' dubbed the film "a kind of 'Uncle Tom's Cabin Revisted'", opening his review by calling it "a horrendous box-office exploitation of a horrendous historical exploitation" and remarking that "everyone involved with the creation of this pitiful production deserves, at the minimum, a good, sound whupping."Terry, Clifford (July 1, 1969), "The Movies", 'Chicago Tribune'. His successor, Gene Siskel, named the film as one of the worst to be released in 1969.Siskel, Gene (January 4, 1970), "[https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/clip/38539518/gene-siskellast-years-20-biggest/ Last Year's 20 Biggest Bombs From Filmland]", 'Chicago Tribune'.
Bruce Vilanch of the 'Detroit Free Press' called the film "a cheap, poorly-executed, thinly-veiled plea for black militancy", noting that "in Hollywood's former days it would have been called a 'heavy meller,' or melodrama gone sour, but in 1969 it is just a shade above sheer exploitation." He added: Vilanch did, however, praise the performances of Davis and Warwick, the latter of whom was deemed "a very stylized singer who shows that her talents may not be confined to Burt Bacharach's arrangements."Vilanch, Bruce (July 4, 1969), "[https://freep.newspapers.com/clip/53031585/detroit-free-press-movie/ Dionne Warwick's Acting Debut in 'Slaves']", 'Detroit Free Press', p. 2-B.
Kathleen Carroll's review of the film in the 'New York Daily News' contained simply five paragraphs:
in 'The New York Times', Vincent Canby described the film as "a kind of cinematic carpetbagging project in which some contemporary movie-makers have raided the antebellum South and attempted to impose on it their own attitudes that will explain 1969 black militancy. The result, which opened here yesterday at the DeMille and neighborhood theaters, is a pre-fab 'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' set in an 1850 Mississippi where everybodymasters and slaves aliketalks as if he had been weaned, at best, on the Group Theater, and, at worst, on silent-movie titles." He added:
See also
* List of American films of 1969
*List of films featuring slavery
References
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