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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
    6/10
    Better Than I Expected
    As an admirer of Wright's written work - especially "Native Son" - I had incredibly low expectations for several reasons: there was next to no budget, the cast and crew (including the starring role) were all amateurs, the director was not American and had never made an American film before this, the film had to be shot in Argentina, and "Native Son" is such a dense, complex, psychological piece of work to begin with.

    But, if you look at this as a simple B-movie melodrama with a racial subtext that was badly missing from almost all of the films of its day, it isn't bad. In film, you don't get motivation, you get action, and the novel "Native Son" was all about hidden motivations and desires. Maybe it was a bad idea to even attempt to make Wright's novel into a film, but one must give him and the filmmakers credit for trying. In the era just before the McCarthy hearings and the blacklist, a feature film released to the public that was even half as potent as Wright's novel would have been commendable.

    An idea actually occurred to me while watching this: someone should make a feature film about the making of "Native Son." From what I've read, the production faced many obstacles and setbacks, both physical and ideological, and I think the story behind this would be fascinating - especially the difficulty of an author playing his own creation while trying to maintain his artistic integrity. Of course, Wright's life was fascinating in and of itself. Spike Lee, are you listening?
    helpful•13
    3
    • Sturgeon54
    • Feb 5, 2010

    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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