Sally Hemings: An American Scandal (2000) (TV)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Charles Haid

Writer (WGA):

Tina Andrews (written by)

Release Date:

13 February 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Romance

Plot:

The story of the extraordinary, controversial thirty-eight-year relationship between Thomas Jefferson and his slave mistress...

Plot Keywords:

Mistress | President | Slave Girl | Declaration Of Independence | Interracial Romance

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Sam Neill	...	Thomas Jefferson
Carmen Ejogo	...	Sally Hemings
Diahann Carroll	...	Betty Hemings
Mare Winningham	...	Martha 'Patsy' Jefferson Randolph
Mario Van Peebles	...	James Hemings
Rene Auberjonois	...	James Callender
Zeljko Ivanek	...	Thomas Mann Randolph
Klea Scott	...	Critta Hemings
Jessica Townsend	...	Maria 'Polly' Jefferson
Larry Gilliard Jr.	...	Henry Jackson
Kevin Conway	...	Thomas Paine
Amelia Heinle	...	Harriet Hemings
Peter Bradbury	...	Samuel Carr
Chris Stafford	...	Peter Carr
Kelly Rutherford	...	Lady Maria Cosway

Also Known As:

Monticello (USA) (working title)
The Memoirs of Sally Hemings (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

251 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Maymount Park - 2201 Shields Lake Drive, Richmond, Virginia, USA

Company:

CBS Productions

Quotes:

[first lines]
Sally Hemings: I was born a slave, but destined to scandal.

Carmen Ejogo made this movie worth watching!

I liked this movie, I didn't love it, however. I don't think that the relationship between Sally and Jefferson was particularly startling, I don't understand why the relationship would be a shock to anybody. Slaves are people too, so of course, people can fall in love with a slave, it's not impossible. I happen to be a black girl who likes white men, shocking? I think not. I do think that this movie did not concentrate on family, enough, I wouldn't have expected Jefferson to have long chats with his biracial children, but Sally too hardly said anything to them. And I so wish that people would quit calling Sally Hemings black, or colored. Sally was white AND black, a simple blood test would show that. Most blacks don't choose to believe that blacks should be considered less than a whole human, but they'll go for that one-drop-of-black-blood crap in a second! Carmen Ejogo didn't play Sally as well as Thandie Newton did to me, but she did a fine job!