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Native Son

  • 19511951
  • 1h 31m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
453
YOUR RATING
Native Son (1951)
Watch NATIVE SON - official 2020 re-release trailer
Play trailer1:25
1 Video
98 Photos
DramaFilm-Noir
In 1940s Chicago, a young black man takes a job as a chauffeur to a white family, which takes a turn for the worse when he accidentally kills the teenage daughter of the couple and then trie... Read allIn 1940s Chicago, a young black man takes a job as a chauffeur to a white family, which takes a turn for the worse when he accidentally kills the teenage daughter of the couple and then tries to cover it up.In 1940s Chicago, a young black man takes a job as a chauffeur to a white family, which takes a turn for the worse when he accidentally kills the teenage daughter of the couple and then tries to cover it up.
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
453
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Pierre Chenal
  • Writers
    • Richard Wright(adapted from the novel by)
    • Pierre Chenal(screen play)
  • Stars
    • Richard Wright
    • Jean Wallace
    • Gloria Madison
  • Director
    • Pierre Chenal
  • Writers
    • Richard Wright(adapted from the novel by)
    • Pierre Chenal(screen play)
  • Stars
    • Richard Wright
    • Jean Wallace
    • Gloria Madison
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 15User reviews
    • 21Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 2 nominations

    Videos1

    NATIVE SON - official 2020 re-release trailer
    Trailer 1:25
    Watch NATIVE SON - official 2020 re-release trailer

    Photos98

    Gloria Madison and Richard Wright in Native Son (1951)
    Jean Wallace and Richard Wright in Native Son (1951)
    Native Son (1951)
    Native Son (1951)
    Native Son (1951)
    Jean Wallace in Native Son (1951)
    Jean Wallace in Native Son (1951)
    Richard Wright in Native Son (1951)
    Native Son (1951)
    Native Son (1951)
    Native Son (1951)
    Native Son (1951)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Richard Wright
    Richard Wright
    • Bigger Thomas
    Jean Wallace
    Jean Wallace
    • Mary Dalton
    Gloria Madison
    • Bessie Mears
    Nicholas Joy
    Nicholas Joy
    • Henry Dalton
    Charles Cane
    • Britten
    George Rigaud
    George Rigaud
    • Ralph Farley
    George D. Green
    • Panama
    • (as George Green)
    Willa Pearl Curtis
    • Hannah Thomas
    • (as Willa Pearl Curtiss)
    Gene Michael
    • Jan Herlone
    Don Dean
    • Max
    Ned Campbell
    • Buckley
    Ruth Roberts
    • Helen Dalton
    • (as Ruth Robert)
    George Nathanson
    • Joe
    Georges Roos
    • Scoop
    • (as George Roos)
    Lewis MacKenzie
    • Stanley
    Cecile Lezard
    • Peggy
    Charles Simmonds
    • Ernie
    Leslie Straughn
    • Buddy Thomas
    • Director
      • Pierre Chenal
    • Writers
      • Richard Wright(adapted from the novel by) (screen play) (dialogue)
      • Pierre Chenal(screen play)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Canada Lee was set to star as Bigger Thomas (He had shot to fame in Orson Welles's Broadway production of Native Son.), but he was stuck in limbo with South African customs agents during the filming of Cry, the Beloved Country (1951), not to mention his failing health eventually caused Lee to back out of the project.
    • Goofs
      When Bigger is at the beach with Bessie, a twin-engine prop plane flies overhead, but the sound of jet engines is heard.
    • Connections
      Referenced in Biography: Dorothy Dandridge: Little Girl Lost (1999)
    • Soundtracks
      The Dreaming Kind
      By Lilian Walker Charles

      Performed by the Vocal Quintette of Katherine Dunham Company by special arrangement

      [Bessie (Gloria Madison) sings the song at the club]

    User reviews15

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    An interesting and odd little film...
    ... partially because the subject matter at the time it was made prevented it from being produced in the United States. Instead, much of it was shot in Argentina with Argentine actors and actresses who later had to be dubbed because you couldn't have people with South American accents in a film that was set in Chicago.

    This is based on the novel by Richard Wright, and he adapted it for the screen and played the lead, African American Bigger Thomas, the oldest of three children of a widow woman whose husband was lynched in the South. The family fled to Chicago, and is living in squalor.

    Bigger is a bitter fellow, considering the hopeless poverty the family is living in, and immediately he is established as a gray character. He procures a hand made gun and with his "gang", plans the armed robbery of a white owned establishment. This never goes off, basically because the group chickens out at the last minute. Yet when he is offered a job opportunity, chauffeur for the wealthy Dalton family, he accepts and shows up for the job.

    But events overtake Bigger on the first day. He is supposed to drive the Daltons' college age daughter to the university library and wait for her, but she demands that he instead pick up her date, a labor leader and a radical, and drive them to black Chicago night spots. What is he to do? If he refused, Mary could get him fired. If he obeys, her dad could get him fired. He takes the path of least resistance and takes them to the night spots. When he returns home with Mary, she is so drunk she cannot stand up. If dad finds out what Bigger did, he is fired, so he carries her to her bedroom. Trying to get out of one bad situation leads to a worse situation which leads to Bigger accidentally killing Mary. He then disposes of her body in the most gruesome way possible. Her total disappearance the next morning has the wealthy parents believing she's been kidnapped. What happens from there? Watch and find out.

    The point is, Bigger's behavior, at every turn, has been completely dominated by fear, and warranted fear at that - the fear of what happens to a black man if he is even suspected of having harmed a white girl at this point in history. He had my complete sympathy in this situation, but then he does some things that somewhat made me lose that sympathy. It really does take some unexpected turns.

    The production values were actually quite good. Time was taken to make buildings, the mansion, and the nightclubs look authentic. Perhaps lots of it was shot on location or the equivalent of it in Argentina. One of the big problems is that Richard Wright is 43 years old and playing somebody 20 years younger. And although he does look young for his age he does not look like he is in his twenties. Another problem is that some of the actors are stiff and the dialogue a bit stilted. Yet it is very much worth seeing. Kino Lorber recently restored this film to its original length since almost half of it was missing from what was allowed to be seen in America because of the censorship of the era.
    helpful•13
    3
    • AlsExGal
    • Feb 23, 2021

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 2, 1951 (Argentina)
    • Countries of origin
      • Argentina
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Son av sitt land
    • Filming locations
      • Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina(Studio)
    • Production company
      • Argentina Sono Film S.A.C.I.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 31 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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