Honky (1971)

Black girl from rich family loves white boy from poor family.

Director:

William A. Graham

Writers:

Will Chaney (screenplay), Gunard Solberg (novel)

Stars:

Brenda Sykes, John Neilson, Maia Danziger

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brenda Sykes	...	Sheila Smith
John Neilson	...	Wayne 'Honky' Divine
Maia Danziger	...	Sharon
Lincoln Kilpatrick	...	Fabulous Traveling Shoes
John Lasell	...	Archer Divine
William Marshall	...	Dr. Craig Smith
John Fiedler
Elliott Street
Matt Clark
Ivor Francis
Marion Ross	...	Mrs. Divine
Paul Sorensen	...	(as Paul Sorenson)
Tony Colti
Jeff Nauser
Amentha Dymally	...	Mrs. Smith

Storyline

Black girl from rich family loves white boy from poor family.

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Plot Keywords:

love | interracial romance | cross cultural relations | racial tension | high school | 

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Taglines:

A love story...of hate

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 November 1971 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Kansas City, Missouri, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Getty & Fromkess Corporation, Stonehenge Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Grindhouse Universe (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Something More"
Lyrics by Bradford Craig
Music by Quincy Jones
Sung by Carlton Dinnall

User Reviews

Middling "checkerboard love" drama...a film of its time.

In a more enlightened age when interracial relationships are widely accepted, films like HONKY are pretty much abandoned by relevance and exist primarily as a time capsule. This is, nonetheless, a fairly decent 20th century American love story wherein the all-American blond-haired white boy finds himself quite happy in the loving arms of a spirited young ebony goddess. Predictable tensions ensue, and culminate in a surprisingly bitter resolve.

Being that this film was made in a time of social tumult and radical change in America, it probably had a fair amount of appeal to younger audiences(there is quite a bit of a "flower child" element here...in one scene, a boy on a bridge pelts swimming ducks with rocks. Our leading lady touches him softly, saying "you'd better learn how to love, boy-child". We then see him tossing picked flowers into the water- LOL!)

This is not at all a "blaxploitation" item, as its title and time-period might lead some to believe. Still, HONKY is a fairly worthy low-budget romance/drama, and though it is(or at least...*was*) a rather exploitive picture, it approaches its subject matter with at least some degree of sensitivity and purpose.

4.5/10...see also the largely neglected but groundbreaking 60s picture "ONE POTATO, TWO POTATO" which demonstrates a far more proficient handling of similar issues.