Cast overview: | |||
Cicely Tyson | ... | Mattie Williams | |
James Earl Jones | ... | Johnny Williams | |
Louis Gossett Jr. | ... | Dr. Dudley Stanton (as Lou Gossett) | |
Glynn Turman | ... | Jeff Williams | |
Jonelle Allen | ... | Ann Vanderguild | |
Roger E. Mosley | ... | Big Moe Hayes | |
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Ralph Wilcox | ... | Al |
Teddy Wilson | ... | Chips | |
Charles Weldon | ... | Skeeter | |
Shirley Jo Finney | ... | Gail | |
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Hilda Haynes | ... | Wilhelmina Geneva Brown |
Zakes Mokae | ... | Dutch | |
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Ed Crick | ... | White Police Lieutenant |
Tony Burton | ... | Black Policeman |
An intimate look at life in the ghetto: Johnny Williams is a house painter who moonlights as a poet, struggling to financially and emotionally support his cancer-ridden wife Mattie. But times are tough and the poverty-troubled streets are even tougher, and it takes every ounce of Johnny's love and courage for the couple to make it through their strife, finding redemption in the River Niger. Written by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment
"The River Niger" is very much a time capsule of the mid-1970s. There's a lot of good acting, some bad acting, and some pretty much middle of the road direction. The director, Krishna Shah, is probably the main thing which keeps this good film from being great. He just doesn't have a real vision for this sort of thing. As you might expect from a stage adaptation, Joseph A. Walker's script is why this is worth watching. He writes excellent dialogue, characters, and best of all - poetry. Then again, there's a bit too much emphasis on the self-conscious black identity stuff, even for 1976.
James Earl Jones, who plays the poet, is the best thing about "The River Niger". He is very compelling, intense, and instantly likable. His performance, along with that of Louis Gossett Jr. (credited here as Lou Gossett), makes one wish there was a better made film to frame it. Definitely worth seeing, though.