White Mama (1980)

A poor, elderly white woman living in a tenement in a black ghetto is befriended by a neighborhood boy, and the two of them form a mutually beneficial relationship: he provides her ... See full summary »

Director:

Jackie Cooper

Writer:

Robert C.S. Downs

Stars:

Bette Davis, Ernest Harden Jr., Eileen Heckart

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bette Davis	...	Adele Malone
Ernest Harden Jr.	...	B.T. Williamson
Eileen Heckart	...	Three Bag Lady
Virginia Capers	...	Gorilla Sydney
Anne Ramsey	...	Heavy Charm
Lurene Tuttle	...	Mrs. McIntyre
Tony Burton	...	Black Fighter
Peg Shirley	...	Judge Alice Quentin
Ernie Hudson	...	Counsellor
Dan Mason	...	Father Gannon
Vincent Schiavelli	...	Medic
Cheryl Harvey	...	Probabtion Woman
Jesse D. Goins	...	Intern
John Hancock	...	Tall Black Man
Lanyard A. Williams	...	Young Man

Storyline

A poor, elderly white woman living in a tenement in a black ghetto is befriended by a neighborhood boy, and the two of them form a mutually beneficial relationship: he provides her companionship and protection, and she becomes the mother he never had.

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Plot Keywords:

neighborhood | poor | new york city | respect | race relations | 

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Taglines:

A proud widow. A frightened homeless kid. Nobody cared about them until they cared enough to fight for each other.

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 March 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Biala mama

Filming Locations:

East Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tomorrow Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

White Mama will adapt on stage in 2018.

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Quotes

Adele Malone: I'm being evicted from my home, and I don't know what to do.
Father Gannon: Surely you've got relatives... friends?
Adele Malone: Haven't anybody.
Father Gannon: I see... Of course you've applied to Welfare.
Adele Malone: I won't take Welfare. I'm not indigent. I'm not poor. I... I just run out of money.
Father Gannon: Perhaps one of the women in the parish will take you in... at least for a time.
Adele Malone: And then what? For thirty-five years, I've haven't missed a Sunday Mass. Every year, Easter duty. A dollar in every collection plate that was passed. And I come to you for...
[...]

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Connections

Featured in No Small Parts: Anne Ramsey (2014)

User Reviews

Unusual friendship

An unusual tale of friendship is told in White Mama where Bette Davis plays the title role and Ernest Harden, Jr. is the one who's in need of one of any pigmentation.

If you can imagine Bette Davis's character from The Catered Affair some 20 years after that film came out. Her children are married and gone, her husband has died some time ago and she's having trouble making ends meet, but won't go on welfare. But she will take in a troubled youth and supervise his probation until he's of age.

Davis and Harden are one unlikely pair to bond and not just because of race. But strangely enough they do and prove to be of invaluable assistance in moments of crisis.

No bigger crisis for Davis can be in that she lost her apartment she cannot find a place to live and is forced to become a bag lady. Harden happens to know them from the street and they're an interesting new circle of friends, Eileen Heckart and Virginia Capers being two of them. And there's a deadly Anne Ramsey who carries a switchblade for protection and knows how to use it.

Davis and Harden have a real good chemistry between them and that's half the enjoyment of watching White Mama. Those bag ladies are good support and I also can't forget Lurene Tuttle her long time neighbor in that apartment building she lives in who says she's found a good living situation with one of her children. No matter how good it is it ain't the same as being on your own.

I was lucky to see this on YouTube, hopefully it will come out on DVD at some point.