Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored (1995)

A narrator tells the story of his childhood years in a tightly knit Afro-American community in the deep south under racial segregation.

Director:

Tim Reid

Writers:

Clifton L. Taulbert (book), Paul W. Cooper (screenplay)

Stars:

Al Freeman Jr., Phylicia Rashad, Leon

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Al Freeman Jr.	...	Poppa
Phylicia Rashad	...	Ma Ponk
Leon	...	Uncle Melvin
Paula Kelly	...	Ma Pearl
Salli Richardson-Whitfield	...	Miss Alice (as Salli Richardson)
Anna Maria Horsford	...	Miss Annie
Bernie Casey	...	Mr. Walter
Isaac Hayes	...	Preacher Hurn
Ray J	...	Cliff (12 Yrs.) (as Willis Norwood Jr.)
Karen Malina White	...	Mary
Damon Hines	...	Cliff at 16
Iona Morris	...	Nila Fontaine
Phill Lewis	...	Sammy (19 Yrs.) / Narrator
Taj Mahal	...	Mr. Will
Polly Bergen	...	Miss Maybry

Storyline

This film relates the story of a tightly connected Afro-American community informally called Colored Town where the inhabitants live and depend on each other in a world where racist oppression is everywhere, as told by a boy called Cliff who spent his childhood there. Despite this, we see the life of the community in all its joys and sorrows, of those that live there while others decide to leave for a better life north. For those remaining, things come to a serious situation when one prominent businessman is being muscled out by a white competitor using racist intimidation. In response, the community must make the decision of whether to submit meekly like they always have, or finally fight for their rights.

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Plot Keywords:

segregation | rural setting | race relations | prejudice | mississippi | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic elements including mild violence, language, and sensuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 January 1996 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Wilmington, North Carolina, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$3,375,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

BET Pictures,United Image Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Isaac Hayes (Preacher Hurn) and Richard Roundtree (Uncle Cleve) were both noted for their work on the "Shaft" films; Roundtree portraying the titular character and Hayes writing and recording the infamous theme song. The song included the popular catch phrase "Shut yo' mouth!" Hayes used this name line in character when Melvin was exclaiming to the older group of gentlemen all the benefits of living up North, he stated that Colored men even drive buses. I disbelief, Preacher Hurn interjected "Shut yo' mouth!"

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Quotes

narrator: Everyone clung to the idea that if you worked hard, you get a piece of the American dream.

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Screamers/Richard III/Bed of Roses/Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored/Angels and Insects (1996)

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Soundtracks

Maybe Tomorrow
Written and Performed by Lionel Cole

User Reviews

Too Nice!

This was a very nice, scaled down version of how it really was in the Deep South. The movie did not even begin to depict the real horror Blacks faced each day. There was just a hint of the KKK, Jim Crow and the plantation mentality Blacks had to endure. I kept waiting for those historical, explosive events, we all knew to be the law of the land, to explode onto the screen, but it never happened.

Life was unbearable; Blacks were looked upon as animals and treated as such. I walked away from this movie feeling like life was almost a bowl of cherries.

I find it so odd that people are tired of hearing about the Black experience but never get tired of all the holocaust movies. 6 million Jews were slaughtered over a 6 year period (approx) -- hundreds of thousand Blacks were hung, beaten, raped, shot, humiliated and abused to death over a period of 150+ years, not to mention the suicides that took place on the slave ships in route to America. Admittedly, the holocaust was an atrocity, hopefully never to be repeated, while discrimination of Blacks is still a reality. Too bad there are no great movies that tell the Black Plight the way it should be told.