The River Niger (film)

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This article is about the 1976 film. For the play, see The River Niger.
The River Niger
War
Distributed byCine Artists Pictures
Continental Video
Reel Media Int'l
Release date
14 April 1976
Running time
105 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The River Niger is a 1976 film adaptation of the 1972

War
, including the theme song "River Niger".

Plot

Johnny Williams (

Los Angeles, California. Though he is trying to provide for his almost stable family, times are hard. Johnny's main pride and joy, his son Jeff (played by Glynn Turman) just returned from U.S. Air Force flight school, where he finally reveals that he flunked out, causing great disillusionment. This film follows Johnny's struggle and a few who try to help, including his physician friend Dr. Dudley Stanton (Louis Gossett Jr.), who purchases Johnny's poems while treating his ailing wife Mattie (played by Cicely Tyson
), whose cancer is recurring. When Johnny's son kills a local gang member, and the gang shoots a police officer, the situation escalates to a standoff with the police and another shootout in Johnny's house.

Cast

Reception

Marc Krystal of The Herald-Journal liked but saw some flaws. He said it "is only occasionally dimmed by poor dialogue and an uncomfortable attitude toward women Walker's screenplay while usually both streetwise and lyrical sometimes goes stagy unnatural and forced The River Niger speaks to Blacks in a resounding voice But it is not without meaning for white people — not just because its themes are universal: simply because whites can learn something about Black Americans hum this movie If for some reason that isn't enough then see The River Niger for its fire and poignancy or its dazzling performances. But see it.[1]

Don Morisson of

The Minneapolis Star found it too melodramatic, and cliche, but the acting outstanding. He says that "some of the characters and situations are hard to believe because they are such obviously set-up vehicles for the playwright's arguments and desired effects admissible under stage convention, but strained by the naturalistic demands of screen narrative, which also highlight many Don Morrison artificialities of spoken language, exciting and satisfying though the speeches may be. Despite, all that, I recommend the picture for the highly personal performances of its superb all-black cast. Each one of the actors infuses so much private energy that they triumph over all but the worst shortcomings".[2]

References

  1. ^ Kristal, Marc (June 25, 1976). "He's just tired of being the super black man". The Herald-Journa. pp. Valley-11.
  2. ^ Morisson, Don (May 11, 1976). "Performances counter flow of cliches in 'River Niger'". The Minneapolis Star. pp. 4 C.

External links

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