Watermelon Man (1970)An extremely bigoted white man finds out the hard (and somewhat humorous) way what it's like being a black man, firsthand! Director:Melvin Van PeeblesWriter:Herman Raucher |
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Watermelon Man (1970)An extremely bigoted white man finds out the hard (and somewhat humorous) way what it's like being a black man, firsthand! Director:Melvin Van PeeblesWriter:Herman Raucher |
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
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Godfrey Cambridge | ... |
Jeff Gerber
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| Estelle Parsons | ... |
Althea Gerber
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| Howard Caine | ... |
Mr. Townsend
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D'Urville Martin | ... |
Bus Driver
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Mantan Moreland | ... |
Counterman
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Kay Kimberly | ... |
Erica
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Kay E. Kuter | ... |
Dr. Wainwright
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Scott Garrett | ... |
Burton Gerber
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| Erin Moran | ... |
Janice Gerber
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Irving Selbst | ... |
Mr. Johnson
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Emil Sitka | ... |
Delivery Man
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Lawrence Parke | ... |
1st Passenger
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Karl Lukas | ... |
Policeman #2
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Ray Ballard | ... |
3rd Passenger
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Robert Dagny | ... |
2nd Passenger
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Jeff Gerber, an insurance agent, lives in a typical suburban neighborhood. He is also both racist and a fitness freak. But Jeff's bigoted world of taunting and harassing black people on and off the job is turned upside down when his skin inexplicably turns dark overnight. As Jeff tries to come to terms with this unexplained phenomenon that has befallen him, he soon becomes the victim himself when all of his friends and neighbors suddenly shun and harass him. This puts a strain on his marriage and loyal wife Althea, who begins to crack under the pressure. When all medical attempts to change his skin back to his former color fail, Jeff accepts that Kharma has caught up with him. Jeff tries to see the light of being a persecuted black man in this cruel and segregated world with the help of some of some new black friends, some of whom were people he, as a white man, taunted and harassed. Written by matt-282
I first saw this film on television about 7-8 years ago. It was part of a "Heritage Network" movie special. This was hosted by Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis. I fell in love!!! I had to own this film!!! How much were they holding the film hostage for???? $20 dollars??? $100 dollars?? And so I waited for a few years. My father would keep saying to me "Aren't you going to buy that movie?" I'd say "Yeah Soon", but just didn't want to cough up the cash for it. Then it finally arrived on DVD in 2004 or so. I purchased it at Media Play. And I have watched it several times. I think that it's ahead of its time. Godfrey Cambridge plays a very disciplined white man with a nice white family. He puts on his sneakers and runs down the hill as exercise racing with the bus. Just the like the Yuppies of the 80's that wore sneakers to work then changed shoes. He was doing this in 1969.. He was an insurance man and he believed in exercise, family, all the values that this country was raging against in 1969. Then he wakes up one day and is black. All the showers in the world can't wash off the color. His whole universe changes. Some for the worse, some for the better. I have a whole new respect for Godfrey Cambridge from this film. A highly intelligent man in real life, Godfrey lets this shine through in this film. Especially poignant is when he is selling insurance to young black families. He talks straight to them, and doesn't patronize them. You will see this in the film. No hard sell, No baloney. Another tidbit that you will find interesting is that the house interior they used is the same one that they used for another famous television family.....THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY!!!!!! There is a small barely audible directors commentary with the film, and you have to listen carefully to really understand it. Seems that the film company did not treat Mr. Van Peebles very nicely. And I am putting this nicely as i can. Anyway it's a gem of a movie!!!!