The Marva Collins Story (TV 1981)

In this touching story, a dedicated African-American teacher in an inner-city school in the midwestern United States facing tough odds helps ghetto children to succeed. Meanwhile, she faces... See full summary »

Director:

Peter Levin

Writer:

Clifford Campion

Stars:

Cicely Tyson, Morgan Freeman, Roderick Wimberly

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cicely Tyson	...	Marva Collins
Morgan Freeman	...	Clarence Collins
Roderick Wimberly	...	Martin Luther Jones
Mashaune Hardy	...	Cindy Collins
Brett Bouldin	...	Patrick Collins
Samuel Muhammad Jr.	...	Eric Collins
Dianne Kirksey	...	Cynthia Rawls
Steven Williams	...	McCloud
Frankie Hill	...	Ida Banbower
Charlie Brown	...	Boland
Marsha Warfield	...	Lela Boland
Ce Ce Thompson	...	Louise Jones
Jimmie F. Skaggs	...	Chester Boland
Mike Genovese	...	Mardesich
Kelly Crosby	...	Tina Boland

Storyline

In this touching story, a dedicated African-American teacher in an inner-city school in the midwestern United States facing tough odds helps ghetto children to succeed. Meanwhile, she faces an adversarial colleague and a principal who disapproves of her teaching methods. To top it off, some naughty youth regularly mess up the classroom after school to tick the teacher off. We watch as Tyson's character, Marva Collins, manages it all and keeps up both a personal life and her looks.

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Plot Keywords:

teacher | african american | chicago illinois | character name in title

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 December 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hallmark Hall of Fame: The Marva Collins Story (#31.1)

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions, NRW Features, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Edited into Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951)

User Reviews

Worth seeing twenty-five years later.

This is an exceptionally heartwarming story about an inner city teacher who, being fed up with the systematic discarding of our children, opened a school in her home. She encountered many obstacles from her husband thinking she had lost her mind to the city of Chicago trying to shut her down. She persevered...and the rest is history.

I highly recommend this film to parents, teachers, and anyone else who is involved in the education of our children. It's gut wrenching, exciting, even explosive at times, but it leaves you with hope and the belief that you can succeed.

Thanks Marva for being my role model and thanks Cicely for walking in her shoes.