Eyes on the Prize 

A documentary about the American Civil Rights Movement from 1952 to 1965.

Stars:

Julian Bond, Unita Blackwell, James Hicks

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 10 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Julian Bond	...	Narrator 14 episodes, 1987-1990

Storyline

This is a documentary series about the glory years of the American Civil Rights Movement, starting in 1952 with the murder of Emmit Till and the subsequent trial and ending with the civil rights march to Selma in 1965. Along the way, the series touches on the major figures of the movement such as Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks and major incidents such as the Little Rock school riots and Montgomery, Alabama Transit Boycott.

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Plot Keywords:

civil rights | civil rights movement | boycott | racial prejudice | race relations | 

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Genres:

Documentary | History

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 January 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Eyes on the Prize II

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Blackside

Technical Specs

Runtime:

360 min

Color:

Black and White Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The segment about the murder of Medger Evers states that Evers' killer has never been brought to justice. In 1989, a few years after this documentary was made, attorney Bobby DeLaughter reopened the murder case and brought Evers' killer Byron de la Beckwith (who had been tried twice resulting in a hung jury) to trial for the murder. Beckwith was convicted and sentence to life in prison. He died in prison of heart failure in 2001. (These events were dramatized in Ghosts of Mississippi (1996).)

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Connections

Referenced in The Critic: Eyes on the Prize (1994)

User Reviews

Copyright Issues

The "Trivia" listing for this says that it is no longer being shown due to copyright issues, I am happy to report that they have all been resolved and it is playing on PBS again. The is a really great series and is currently being considered for inclusion in an upcoming series of community screenings and discussions sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, called Tracking the American Dream. This will examine the concept of economic upward mobility and the problems of this historical belief and the idea that anyone can grow up to become whatever one wants. It will focus on how mainstream images of the "ideal American life" shifted during various decades of the twentieth century.