A Soldier's Story and User talk:Paganize: Difference between pages

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Revision as of 03:14, 9 September 2006

Welcome to Wikipedia.

I'm particularly interested in your comments on the origins of the electric guitar.

Wikipedia is not the place for recording this oral history in the first place, but I'm sure there is such a place. It's really important to document it as soon as possible, before memories fade any further, and people who might collaborate them become less accessible.

If you'd like to pursue this, you can use my talk page, or email me via the link from my user page. Andrewa 03:14, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+'''Welcome to Wikipedia.'''
-{{sections}}
-{{Infobox Film  |
-  name     = A Soldier's Story|
-  image          = Asoldiersstory.jpg |
-  imdb_id       = 0088146 |
-  producer         = [[Norman Jewison]] |
-  director       = [[Norman Jewison]] |
-  writer         = [[Charles Fuller]] |
-  starring       = [[Howard E. Rollins, Jr.]]<br>[[Adolph Caesar]]<br>[[David Alan Grier]]<br>[[Denzel Washington]] |
-  music         = [[Herbie Hancock]] |
-  cinematography = [[Russell Boyd]] |
-  editing         = [[Caroline Biggerstaff]] & [[Mark Warner (film editor)|Mark Warner]] |
-  distributor    = [[Columbia Pictures]] |
-  released   = [[September 13]], [[1984]] |
-  runtime        = 101 min. |
-  language = [[English language|English]] |
-}}
+I'm particularly interested in your comments on the origins of the electric guitar.
-''The worst thing you can do in this part of the country is pay too much attention to the death of a Negro under mysterious circumstances.''
+Wikipedia is not the place for recording this oral history in the first place, but I'm sure there is such a place. It's really important to document it as soon as possible, before memories fade any further, and people who might collaborate them become less accessible.
-'''''A Soldier's Story''''' is a [[1984]] film directed by [[Norman Jewison]] about racism and segregation in the military.  It is the story of an [[African-American]] officer who investigates a murder of a black non-commissioned officer on an army base in Mississippi near the end of [[World War II]]. A black regiment with white officers deep in the Jim Crow South, this was a time and place where no one had ever seen a black officer, and Jewison and Fuller inculcate the viewer with the complexity of all the different currents of racism.  Starting with a tiny but pithy clue of the sergeant's last moments and last words, the movie is a powerful thriller and historical drama.
+If you'd like to pursue this, you can use [[user talk:andrew|my talk page]], or email me via the link from [[user:andrewa|my user page]]. [[User:Andrewa|Andrewa]] 03:14, 9 September 2006 (UTC)
-==Filming Locations==
-'''''A Soldier's Story''''' was shot entirely in Arkansas.  The "Tynin" exterior scenes were shot in three days in Clarendon. The baseball sequence was filmed in Little Rock at the historic [[Lamar Porter Field]]; Governor Bill Clinton had dropped by during the shooting. He became very enthused about the project and later helped by availing the Arkansas National Guard in full regalia for a grand scene, since Jewison could not afford to pay an army of extras. Production was completed with their help at [[Fort Chaffee]] United States Army Ready [[Reserve]] base of Fort Smith (where [[Elvis Presley]] had done his basic training), and the movie opened on September 14, 1984.
-==Production==
-The movie was adapted by [[Charles Fuller]] from his play, "''A Soldier's Play''," an off-Broadway play from 1981 which won the [[Pulitzer Prize]].  The movie, first shown at the [[Toronto Film Festival]], won the [[New York Drama Critics]] Award, the [[Outer Critics Circle]] Award, the [[Theater Club]] Award, and three [[Village Voice]] [[Obie Award]]s. It was also nominated for three [[Academy Awards]] for Picture, Supporting Actor, and Screenplay Adaptation.  Despite the accolades, Jewison and many of the cast members had worked for scale or less under a tight budget with [[Columbia Pictures]]. "No one really wanted to make this movie... a black story, it was based on [[WW2]], and those themes were not popular at the box office" ([[Norman Jewison]]).  [[Warner Brothers]] turned it down, as did [[Universal Studious|Universal]]'s president, [[Ned Tannen]], and [[UA]] and [[MGM]] followed suit. Columbia's [[Frank Price]] read the screenplay and was deeply interested, but the studio was hesitant towards the commercial value, so Jewison offered to do the film for 5million and no salary.  When the [[Screen Actors Guild]] insisted he must have a fee, he agreed to take the lowest possible amount.
-[[Howard E. Rollins Jr]] had just had an Oscar nomination for his role in [[Ragtime]] and was cast as the lead, but he is only one example of the apt and excellent casting of a great black ensemble; most of whom came from [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]], and one that did star in the Broadway version. <br/>
-Adolph Caeser embodies the dangers of [[W.E.B. DuBois]]' [[double consciousness]] in a spectacular [[Napoleonic]] performance, resulting in an Oscar nomination for [[Best Supporting Actor]]; a light-skinned Negro sergeant with a deep internalization of racism and pathological hatred of Southern blacks, the sergeant ruthlessly heaps abuse upon his men.  He calls them all "worthless [[geechee]]s" but he mostly relishes on torturing the jovial and highly talented C.J. Memphis ([[Larry Riley]]). The sergeant asks C.J.,"Whatever a low-class ignorant [[geechee]] like you has to say aint worth paying attention to, is it?" and while C.J. acquiesces, the peaceful character feels sorry for his sergeant, perceptively deducing that "Any man ain't sure where he belong gotta be in a whole lotta pain."<br/>
-[[William Allen Young]] was the only actor that appeared in both the movie and the original Broadway play with the [http://www.necinc.org/| Negro Ensemble Company] in New York.  [[Art Evans]] plays Private Wilkie, a nervous man too acquiescent for his own good.  [[David Alan Grier]] plays C.J.'s closest friend, bonded by their Mississippi roots.  [[Robert Townsend]] is his usual likeable self and Denzel Washington, in his first role in a big Hollywood production, plays the deeply embittered and aware Pfc. Peterson.
-==Musical Score==
-[[Herbie Hancock]] supplied a brilliant interpretative impromptu score.  [[Patti Labelle]] and [[Larry Riley]] wrote and performed their own songs.
-==Reviews==
-[[Gene Shalit]] of the [[Today show]], said that "everyone in America must watch this film."
-==Primary cast==
-*[[Howard Rollins|Howard E. Rollins Jr.]]  :  Capt. Davenport
-*[[Adolph Caesar]]  :  Sgt. Waters
-*[[Art Evans]]  :  Pvt. Wilkie
-*[[David Alan Grier]]  :  Cpl. Cobb
-*[[David Harris]]  :  Pvt. Smalls
-*[[Dennis Lipscomb]]  : Capt. Taylor
-*[[Larry Riley]]  :  C.J. Memphis
-*[[Robert Townsend]]  : Cpl. Ellis
-*[[Denzel Washington]]  :  Pfc. Peterson
-*[[William Allen Young]]  :  Pvt. Henson
-*[[John Hancock 1941-1992|John Hancock]]  :  Sgt. Washington
-*[[Patti LaBelle]]  :  Big Mary
-*[[Trey Wilson]]  : Col. Nivens
-==Award nominations==
-*[[Academy Award for Best Picture]]
-*[[Golden Globe|Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama]]
-*[[Directors Guild of America|Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures]] – Norman Jewison
-*[[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor]] - Adolph Caesar
-*[[Golden Globe|Golden Globe Award Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture]] - Adolph Caesar
-*[[Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay]] - Charles Fuller
-*[[Golden Globe|Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture]]  - Charles Fuller
-*[[Writers Guild of America|Writers Guild of America for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium]] - Charles Fuller
-<!-- Adolph Caesar -->
-[[Category:1984 films|Soldier's Story, A]]
-[[Category:Drama films|Soldier's Story, A]]
-[[Category:World War II films|Soldier's Story, A]]
-[[Category:Best Picture Academy Award nominees|Soldier's Story, A]]
-[[Category:Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nominated performance|Soldier's Story, A]]
-[[Category:Films directed by Norman Jewison|Soldier's Story, A]]
-[[it:Storia di un soldato]]