The Long Walk Home (1990)

Director:

Richard Pearce

Writer:

John Cork

Release Date:

March 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History

Tagline:

Their forbidden friendship changed a nation.

Plot:

Two women, black and white, in 1955 Montgomery Alabama, must decide what they are going to do in response to the famous bus boycott lead by Martin Luther King.

Plot Keywords:

Alabama | Montgomery Alabama | Bus | Boycott | Maid

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Sissy Spacek	...	Miriam Thompson
Whoopi Goldberg	...	Odessa Cotter
Dwight Schultz	...	Norman Thompson
Ving Rhames	...	Herbert Cotter
Dylan Baker	...	Tunker Thompson
Erika Alexander	...	Selma Cotter
Lexi Randall	...	Mary Catherine (as Lexi Faith Randall)
Richard Habersham	...	Theodore Cotter
Jason Weaver	...	Franklin Cotter
Crystal Robbins	...	Sara Thompson
Cherene Snow	...	Claudia
Chelcie Ross	...	Martin
Dan Butler	...	Charlie
Philip Sterling	...	Winston
Schuyler Fisk	...	Judy (Girl at Oak Park)
Nancy Moore Atchison	...	Anne (Girl at Oak Park)
Haynes Brooke	...	Policeman at Oak Park
Jim Aycock	...	Roger
Rebecca Wackler	...	Lucille
Charles Hubbard	...	Mr. Cooper
Harriet Sumner	...	Mrs. Cooper
Gleaves Azar	...	Grandma Thompson
Jim Haffey	...	Bus Driver
Stacy Fleming	...	Tall Boy
Jefferson Taffet	...	Boy #2 (as Jeff Taffet)
Jay Reed	...	Boy #3
Afemo Omilami	...	Taxi Driver
Debbie Hackett	...	Betsy
Lynne Pickering	...	Laura Ann
Fairley McDonald	...	Jeff Sewell
Graham Timbes	...	Clyde Sellers
Norman Matlock	...	Preacher
Dorrell Dorsey	...	Woman in Church
Bobby Howard	...	Clipboard Man
Cynthia B. Wilson	...	Black Maid
Dan Jenkins	...	Auburn Fan #1
Katherine Conely	...	Mrs. Midgley
Sherwood 'Ric' Pearson	...	George Millo
Kevin Thigpen	...	Worker #1
Everett McCorvey	...	Church Speaker
T. Clifford Bibb	...	Choir Leader
A. Bernard Sneed	...	Organist
David E. McCorvey	...	Older Black Man
Carl Stephens	...	Newscaster
Perry Carter	...	Sammy Chancelor
Henry Marcus Jr.	...	Cliff
Troy La Don Pate	...	Party Guest
Michael Sansom	...	Angry Man (Eugene)
Dorothy Love Coates	...	Lead Singer at Car Lot
Christine Windham	...	Singer #1 at Car Lot
Gladys Bozwell	...	Singer at Car Lot
Betty Jean Washington	...	Singer at Car Lot
Minnie Stringer	...	Singer at Car Lot
Callie Graham	...	Singer at Car Lot
Lillian Luddington	...	Singer at Car Lot
Fidella Earls	...	Singer at Car Lot
Cynthia King	...	Singer at Car Lot
Mary Steenburgen	...	Narrator (voice)

Directed by
Richard Pearce

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
John Cork

Produced by
Edwin 'Itsi' Atkins	....	associate producer
Dave Bell	....	producer
Stuart Benjamin	....	executive producer
Taylor Hackford	....	executive producer
Hawk Koch	....	producer (as Howard W. Koch Jr.)

Original Music by
George Fenton

Cinematography by
Roger Deakins

Film Editing by
Bill Yahraus

Casting by
Jo Doster
Shari Rhodes

Production Design by
Blake Russell

Art Direction by
Margery Z. Gabrielson

Set Decoration by
Gretchen Rau

Costume Design by
Shay Cunliffe

Makeup Department
Marietta Carter-Narcisse	....	makeup artist
Coree Lear	....	makeup artist
Susan 'Star' Orr	....	hair stylist
Julia L. Walker	....	key hair stylist

Production Management
Edwin 'Itsi' Atkins	....	production manager
Lyda Blank	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Nandi Bowe	....	third assistant director
Randy Fletcher	....	second assistant director
Victoria E. Rhodes	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Tom Lawson	....	second assistant props
Jean-Paul Menard	....	set dresser
Ken Nelson	....	construction coordinator (as Kenneth D. Nelson)
Stephen Andrew Schwartz	....	property master
Eloise Crane Stammerjohn	....	assistant to construction coordinator
Harrod Blank	....	set dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department
George Berndt	....	adr supervisor
Arnold Finkelstein	....	sound effects recordist
Christopher Flick	....	foley editor
Sarah Goldsmith	....	dialogue editor (as Sarah Rothenberg)
Nick Hammond	....	boom operator
Alan Holly	....	foley mixer
Charles R. Hunt	....	boom operator
Paul Massey	....	sound re-recording mixer
Andy Nelson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tom Nelson	....	sound mixer
Nic Ratner	....	foley editor
Jerry Ross	....	supervising sound editor
Joan Rowe	....	foley artist
Hamilton Sterling	....	sound effects editor
Jerry Trent	....	foley artist
Christopher Weir	....	assistant sound editor
Hugo Weng	....	dialogue editor
Don White	....	sound re-recording mixer
Linda Yeaney	....	assistant sound editor
Martin Lenhart	....	sound technician (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Mack Chapman	....	special effects

Stunts
Al Wyatt Jr.	....	stunt coordinator (as Alan Wyatt Jr.)

Camera and Electrical Department
Allen Barnwell	....	electrician
Bonnie S. Blake	....	second assistant camera
Toulouse Holliday	....	grip
Jeremy Knaster	....	electrician
David Lee	....	still photographer
Robin Melhuish	....	film loader
Bill O'Leary	....	gaffer
Peter Pearce	....	photographer: second unit
Eric Swanek	....	first assistant camera
Keith Talley	....	key grip
Jeffery J. Tufano	....	first assistant camera
Scott Williams	....	best boy electric
Bob Boccaccio	....	EPK camera (uncredited)
Henry DeBardeleben	....	grip (uncredited)
Michael L. Smith	....	rigging key grip (uncredited)

Casting Department
Shirley Fulton Crumley	....	location casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Linda N. Robinson	....	additional costumer
Taryn Weaver	....	costumer (as Taryn Walsh)

Editorial Department
Gary Burritt	....	negative cutter
Doreen A. Dixon	....	director of post-production
John Nicolard	....	color timer
Michael E. Polakow	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Charles Martin Inouye	....	supervising music editor

Transportation Department
Albert B. Cooper IV	....	transportation coordinator
Larry E. Henderson	....	transportation
Michael J. Mulvaney	....	transportation coordinator
Mike Robinson	....	captain

Other crew
Robert Dawson	....	title designer
Chappy Hardy	....	unit publicist
Joel Heller	....	assistant to executive producer
R. Scott Loughran	....	production assistant
Craig A. McCraw	....	location manager
Mamie Mitchell	....	script supervisor
Leigh Anne Sides	....	production assistant
L.J. Van Cleave	....	post-production accountant
Merle L. Jackson	....	production office coordinator (uncredited)

Thanks
Scott W. Anderson	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Dave Bell Associates
• New Visions Pictures

Distributors

• Cineplex-Odeon Films (1990) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Metropolitan Filmexport (1994) (France) (theatrical)
• Artisan Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Avid Video (1991) (USA) (video)
• Cineplex-Odeon Home Video (1991) (Canada) (VHS)
• Gativideo (1992) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Lionsgate Home Entertainment (2013) (USA) (DVD)
• Live Home Video (1991) (USA) (video)
• Look Filmes (199?) (Brazil) (VHS)
• MCA Home Video (1991) (Canada) (VHS)
• Miramax Films
• Platinum Disc (2002) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:PG | Argentina:13 | Iceland:L | South Korea:15

Filming Locations:

Alabama, USA

Company:

Dave Bell Associates

Trivia:

One of the buses used in the background is the actual bus #2857 that Rosa Parks was arrested for not moving to the back of.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the beginning of the story, the narrator (the adult Mary Katherine) says that she was 7 years old at the time of the story. Later, when Mrs. Thompson is angrily calling the police, she says "Tell Clyde Sellers that one of his policeman threw my 9-year-old daughter out of Oak Park" when talking to the secretary.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert: Oscar Nomination Surprises" (1991)

Soundtrack:

PICNIC

A hidden gem.

I saw this film by chance, was flipping through the movie channels one day and the description of it appealed to me. Goldberg is absolutely superb in this powerful film showing what it was like for black people at that time in Montgomery, Alabama. A good lesson to young people, or any person that does not fully know what black people had to put up with.