Nothing But a Man (1964)

A black man and his school-teacher wife face discriminatory challenges in 1960s America.

Director:

Michael Roemer

Writers:

Michael Roemer, Robert M. Young (as Robert Young)

Stars:

Ivan Dixon, Abbey Lincoln, Julius Harris

4 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ivan Dixon	...	Duff Anderson
Abbey Lincoln	...	Josie
Julius Harris	...	Will Anderson
Gloria Foster	...	Lee
Martin Priest	...	Mill Worker
Leonard Parker	...	Frankie
Yaphet Kotto	...	Jocko
Stanley Greene	...	Rev. Dawson
Helen Lounck	...	Effie Simms
Helene Arrindell	...	Doris
Walter Wilson	...	Car Owner
Milton Williams	...	Pop
Mel Stewart	...	Riddick (as Melvin Stewart)
Marshal Tompkin	...	Revivalist (as Rev. Marshal Tompkin)
Alfred Puryear	...	Barney

Storyline

Born in Birmingham, Duff Anderson, the father of a male toddler, who lives with a nanny, re-locates to a small town to work on the railroad. He meets with and is attracted to Josie much to the chagrin of her preacher father. The marriage does take place nevertheless, both re-locate to live in their own house and he gets a job in a mill. He decides not to bring his son to live with them. Challenges arise when the Mill Foreman finds out that Duff is attempting to unionize the workers, forcing Duff to quit, and look for work elsewhere. Unable to reconcile himself to working on a daily wage of $2.50 picking cotton nor even as a waiter, he gets a job at a garage. He is enraged at a customer for belittling him and Josie, and is let go. Unemployed, unable to support his wife and son, he gets abusive and leaves - perhaps never to return.

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Plot Keywords:

african american | independent film | national film registry | father | 1960s | 

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Taglines:

Nothing But a Man has the violence, passion, tenderness of a Negro man and a girl in a smoldering southern town!

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

14A

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film debut of Julius Harris.

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Quotes

Duff Anderson: It's just that, seems to me us colored folks do a whole lot of church-going, it's the white folks that need it real bad.

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: Amos & Andrew/Swing Kids/Shadow of the Wolf/Mac/Nothing But a Man (1993)

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Soundtracks

That's The Way I Feel
Written by Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson
Performed by The Miracles

User Reviews

The Raging Bull of the 1960s

Here's an American neo-realist masterwork that captures the temper of black consciousness in the south just prior to the mass upheavals of the era. Long before Scorsese made "Mean Streets" and "Raging Bull," Michael Roemer had made this great film. No other film dramatizes so profoundly the plight of a man whose basic human pride will not be compromised under any circumstances. Ivan Dixon as Duff gives one of the greatest performances in the history of cinema and Abbey Lincoln as Josie, the preacher's daughter he tries to settle down with, is just about perfect in control of nuance. These characters are extraordinary "ordinary" people, truly heroic; yet the tragedy that stalks them may or may not be hopeless at this time in history, due to an apparent shift in black consciousness, a general "fed-up-with-it-all" attitude that needs men like Duff to inspire itself. The entire cast is uniformly excellent and there are too many classic scenes to mention here. The film seems cut directly from the fabric of real life in semi-documentary-Rossellini-style. It is pure. "Little Fugitive" and "Medium Cool" are the only other pre-70s American films I've seen that feel this real. In terms of the subtlety with which racial politics and power relations are exposed through simple gestures and acts rather than rhetoric and melodrama, Martin Ritt's "Sounder" and Paul Schrader's "Blue Collar" are the only films I've seen that come close. Charles Burnett's "Killer of Sheep," also comes to mind. There are a lot of lessons to be learned here, especially by directors like Spike Lee, who I'm sure has seen this movie, and who has made decent films in the past (Do the Right Thing, She's gotta have it), but now wastes his time making laughable, "really hardcore," "I want to transcend puny barriers with overloads of style" cartoons like "Summer of Sam." "Nothing but a Man" is light years away from the nonsense they call "realism" these days. Over and out.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 September 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kun et menneske

Filming Locations:

Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$160,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,466, 11 November 2012

Gross USA:

$13,063

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$13,063

Company Credits

Production Co:

DuArt Film and Video, Nothing But a Man Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1