Sister, Sister (1982) (TV)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

John Berry

Writer:

Maya Angelou (writer)

Release Date:

7 June 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Family

Plot:

Maya Angelou's story of the family stresses that occur when an older sister (Diahann Carroll) attempts to maintain a home...

Plot Keywords:

Affair | Single Mother | Ice Skater | Black Sheep | Family Secret

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Diahann Carroll	...	Carolyne Lovejoy
Rosalind Cash	...	Freida Lovejoy Burton
Irene Cara	...	Sissy Lovejoy
Paul Winfield	...	Eddie Craven
Dick Anthony Williams	...	Reverend Richard Henderson
Robert Hooks	...	Harry Burton
Diana Douglas	...	Rhoda
E. Lamont Johnson	...	Tommy (as Lamont Johnson)
Kristoff St. John	...	Danny Burton
Albert Popwell	...	The Drunk
Frances E. Williams	...	Mother Bishop
Alvin Childress	...	Mister Jacobs
Gloria Edwards	...	Mrs. Henderson

Runtime:

USA:98 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Montgomery, Alabama, USA

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

Filmed in 1979, but not aired until 1982.

Intelligent telling of a common family circumstance.

Maya Angelou's story of the family stresses that occur when an older sister (Diahann Carroll) attempts to maintain a home, left by her revered father, in an ultra-moralistic way (regardless of the fact that she is secretly having an affair with the married preacher). Nevertheless, her uptight need to maintain a sense of propriety of course goes against the wishes of her much younger sister (Irene Cara) who, as an accomplished ice skater, is striving for her own independence. And if this isn't enough, into it is suddenly thrust a third sister (Rosalind Cash), who is a single mother with a pre-teen son, who "comes home" with her boy after living for years in the ghettos of Detroit. And because she is the complete antithesis of her older sister in morals and deportment, immediately she sides with her younger sister against the strictures set down in the home. And although the conflicts can be anticipated, the level of the dialogue and the intensity of the characters which Ms. Angelou has built into her story is well worth the price of the ticket. My only regret is that the ending is much too Disney-like unbelievable, and out of character which, I feel, could have been much stronger if there hadn't been such a need for a "happy ending" resolution.