The Long Walk Home
Encyclopedia
The Long Walk Home is a 1990
film starring Sissy Spacek
and Whoopi Goldberg
.
. While a student at USC
, Cork submitted his script for consideration by the Cinema Department, hoping to also direct. While his script was selected for production, USC assigned another person, Beverlyn E. Fray to direct it. Despite winning several awards, including first place at the Black American Cinema Society, Cork was unhappy with the finished project and unsuccesfully tried to block exhibition of the short film.
, United States
, during the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott
, and features Whoopi Goldberg as Odessa Cotter, an African-American maid, employed by a well-to-do white woman, Miriam Thompson, played by Spacek. The story is told through the eyes of Miriam's young daughter Mary Catherine, for whom Odessa is a nanny. Odessa and her family are faced with all of the social problems typical of African Americans at the time: poverty, racism, violence, and discrimination based solely on the color of their skin. When a boycott of the city buses prevents Odessa from riding the bus to work, she is left with no other choice but to walk. Her employer, Miriam Thompson, offers to give her a ride two days a week in order to ensure she makes it to work on time and alleviate the effect the “long walk home” is having on her. However, as the boycott progresses, tensions rise and giving Odessa a ride to work becomes an issue with the white prominent members of her community, as well as with her husband. Miriam is faced with the choice between doing what she believes is right or succumbing to pressure from her husband and friends. After a fight with her husband, Miriam decides to follow her heart and becomes involved in a carpool group for other workers like Odessa. In the film's emotional final scene, Miriam and Mary Catherine join Odessa and the other protesters in standing against oppression.
was riding in when she was famously arrested. The bus was in poor condition by the time the film was made. It was given a partial repaint and was towed by a cable for its scenes in the movie.
. In 2002, the film was released twice on DVD by Platinum Disc and Artisan Entertainment
, both presented in fullscreen and lacking any bonus features. Both DVDs are now discontinued and as of February 26, 2010, Lions Gate Home Entertainment has yet to announce any plans for a new region 1 DVD release of the film. A widescreen DVD is available in Spain.
1990 in film
The year 1990 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall .* The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2....
film starring Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek is an American actress and singer. She came to international prominence for her for role as Carrie White in Brian De Palma's 1976 horror film Carrie for which she earned her first Academy Award nomination...
and Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...
.
Origins
The feature film is based on a short screenplay of the same name, written by John CorkJohn cork
John Cork is an author, screenwriter, and documentary film director and producer.-Career:An avid James Bond fan, Cork has produced, wrote and directed thirty documentaries along with Bruce Scivally for MGM's releases of the James Bond films on DVD...
. While a student at USC
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
, Cork submitted his script for consideration by the Cinema Department, hoping to also direct. While his script was selected for production, USC assigned another person, Beverlyn E. Fray to direct it. Despite winning several awards, including first place at the Black American Cinema Society, Cork was unhappy with the finished project and unsuccesfully tried to block exhibition of the short film.
Plot
The film is set in Montgomery, AlabamaMontgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, during the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a political and social protest campaign that started in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, USA, intended to oppose the city's policy of racial segregation on its public transit system. Many important figures in the civil rights movement were involved in the boycott,...
, and features Whoopi Goldberg as Odessa Cotter, an African-American maid, employed by a well-to-do white woman, Miriam Thompson, played by Spacek. The story is told through the eyes of Miriam's young daughter Mary Catherine, for whom Odessa is a nanny. Odessa and her family are faced with all of the social problems typical of African Americans at the time: poverty, racism, violence, and discrimination based solely on the color of their skin. When a boycott of the city buses prevents Odessa from riding the bus to work, she is left with no other choice but to walk. Her employer, Miriam Thompson, offers to give her a ride two days a week in order to ensure she makes it to work on time and alleviate the effect the “long walk home” is having on her. However, as the boycott progresses, tensions rise and giving Odessa a ride to work becomes an issue with the white prominent members of her community, as well as with her husband. Miriam is faced with the choice between doing what she believes is right or succumbing to pressure from her husband and friends. After a fight with her husband, Miriam decides to follow her heart and becomes involved in a carpool group for other workers like Odessa. In the film's emotional final scene, Miriam and Mary Catherine join Odessa and the other protesters in standing against oppression.
Development
One of the three GM "old-look" transit buses used in this film was the actual Montgomery Bus Lines bus #2857 that Rosa ParksRosa Parks
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an African-American civil rights activist, whom the U.S. Congress called "the first lady of civil rights", and "the mother of the freedom movement"....
was riding in when she was famously arrested. The bus was in poor condition by the time the film was made. It was given a partial repaint and was towed by a cable for its scenes in the movie.
Release
The film was released theatrically on December 21, 1990. After the film's theatrical run, it was released to videocassette by Live Home Video in the United States and in Canada that same year by Cineplex OdeonCineplex Odeon
Cineplex Odeon Corporation was one of North America's largest movie theatre operators, with theatres in its home country of Canada and the United States...
. In 2002, the film was released twice on DVD by Platinum Disc and Artisan Entertainment
Artisan Entertainment
Artisan Entertainment Inc. was a privately held independent American movie studio until it was purchased by a Canadian studio, Lionsgate, in 2003. At the time of its acquisition, Artisan had a library of thousands of films developed through acquisition, original production, and production and...
, both presented in fullscreen and lacking any bonus features. Both DVDs are now discontinued and as of February 26, 2010, Lions Gate Home Entertainment has yet to announce any plans for a new region 1 DVD release of the film. A widescreen DVD is available in Spain.