The George McKenna Story (1986) (TV)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Eric Laneuville

Writer:

Charles Eric Johnson (writer)

Release Date:

11 November 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

He Risked It All To Make The Grade

Plot Keywords:

Los Angeles California | African American | Inner City | Drugs | Community Action

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Denzel Washington	...	George McKenna
Lynn Whitfield	...	Bobbie Maxwell
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Debra Artis	...	Wilma
Edna Auguillard
Billy Jaye Banner
Earl Billings	...	Mr. Rogers
James Bowman
Ray Buktenica	...	Alan Keith
Akosua Busia	...	Cynthia Byers
Alexander Byrd
Virginia Capers	...	Margaret Wright
Travis Davis	...	Howard Smith
Greg Wayne Elam
Kirk E. Elam
Terrance Ellis	...	Robert Norris
Theresa Flores
Michael Forney
Billy Green
Irma P. Hall
Pete Harrada
Bill Henderson	...	Goodman
Bridgette Hill
Brent Jennings	...	Mr. Jackson
Israel Juarbe	...	Miguel
Fannie Belle Lebby
Richard Masur	...	Ben Proctor
Michael Matthews	...	E.J.
Bill Milburn
Michael Milburn
Gary Moody	...	Delroy
Jim Ponds
J.A. Preston	...	Mr. McKenna
Ken Sagoes	...	Mark Rogers
Elaine Taylor
Barbara Townsend	...	Aura Kruger
Royce Wallace

Also Known As:

Hard Lessons (USA) (video title)

Runtime:

USA:100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Houston, Texas, USA

Company:

Landsburg Company

Denzil Washington last t.v. movie before "Cry Freedom" Oscar nominated performance

The George McKenna Story, is a 1986 CBS fact based made for t.v. movie, that starred Denzil Washington as the title role of George McKenna. Washington plays a school principal in a tough inner city Los Angeles high school out to rid it of drugs, gangs, low moral of teachers, and restore educational values. Nothing is new in this film that has not been seen before in films like The Blackboard Jungle(1955), and later in films like The Principal (1987), Lean On Me (1988), and Dangerous Minds (1994).

This movie was Denzil Washington's last television movie before he scored big a year later with the film "Cry Freedom". The George McKenna story also starred fine stage and screen actress Lynn Whitfield, who also was in another satisfying CBS fact based movie, Johnnie Mae Gibson, F.B.I. Though the movie is clichéd at times, the producers was intelligent to cast superior actors. The George McKenna Story, without Denzil Washington would have been a typical after school special with melodramatic violence. I gave this movie *** good, but nothing exceptionally special here. Check it out, it is on video.