''A Father for Charlie'' (alternate title: ''High Lonesome''), is a

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

that premiered on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

on January 1, 1995. The film was directed by

Jeff Bleckner Jeff Bleckner (born August 12, 1943) is an American theatre and television director. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York, Bleckner made his directorial debut off-Broadway with ''The Unseen Hand/Forensic and the Navigators'', an evening of one-a ...

and written by H. Haden Yelin. It stars

Louis Gossett Jr. Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (born May 27, 1936) is an American actor. Born in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, He had his stage debut at the age of 17, in a school production of '' You Can't Take It with You.'' Shortly after he successfully ...

as Walter Osgood, the only black farmer in the highly-prejudiced town of High Lonesome in the

Ozarks The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant port ...

, at the height of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

in 1932. Despite the racist abuse he endures from the townspeople and the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

, Walter forms an unlikely friendship with Charlie, the 10-year-old son of his white tenant farmer.

Cast

as Walter Osgood *

Joseph Mazzello Joseph Francis Mazzello III (born September 21, 1983) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Tim Murphy in '' Jurassic Park'', Eugene Sledge in the HBO miniseries '' The Pacific'', Dustin Moskovitz in ''The Social Network'', a ...

as Charlie * James Greene as Sam *

Don Swayze Donald Carl Swayze (born August 10, 1958) is an American character actor, noted for acting in dramatic series and soap operas as well as several feature films, and theatrical work. Early life Swayze was born in Houston, Texas, the middle child of ...

as Reuben Cantwell * David Hart as Woodrow *

William Lucking William Lucking (June 17, 1941 – October 18, 2021) was an American film, television, and stage actor, best known for his role as Piney Winston in ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–2011), and for his movie roles in '' The Magnificent Seven Ride!'' ( ...

as Argus *

Jack Kehler Jack Kehler (May 22, 1946 – May 7, 2022) was an American character actor. He was best known for his role of Marty, a landlord in ''The Big Lebowski''. He also appeared in ''Men in Black II'', ''The Last Boy Scout'', ''Point Break'', ''Wyatt Ear ...

* Mark Cabus *

Patrick Labyorteaux Patrick Francis Labyorteaux (born July 22, 1965) is an American actor, television producer and television writer. In many of his earlier credits, his last name is spelled as "Laborteaux". He is best known for his roles of Andrew "Andy" Garvey on ...

as the Postmaster *

William Fichtner William Edward Fichtner (born November 27, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as Sheriff Tom Underlay on ''Invasion'', Alexander Mahone on ''Prison Break'', Carl Hickman on ''Crossing Lines'', and Adam Janikowski on ...

as the Sheriff *

Evan Rachel Wood Evan Rachel Wood (born September 7, 1987) is an American actress and activist. She is the recipient of a Critics' Choice Television Award as well as three Primetime Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations for her work in ...

as Tessa

Production

''A Father for Charlie'' was filmed in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

Critical reception

Marion Garmel of ''

The Indianapolis Star ''The Indianapolis Star'' (also known as ''IndyStar'') is a morning daily newspaper that began publishing on June 6, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It has been the only major daily paper in the city since 1999, when the ''Indianap ...

'' gave the film a favorable review, writing that it has "a wonderful spunkiness that makes you cheer for the human spirit." Also giving the film a positive review in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', Ray Loynd praised Yelin's writing for "turn ngmaterial that appears to be dangerously fraught with sentiment and giv ngit thrust and life." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

''s Alan Rich found the film highly unoriginal, but noted that " e very predictability lends the viewers a comforting caress." John Voorhees of ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington (s ...

'' praised Gossett Jr.'s performance which he felt made the film worth watching. ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

''s Sid Smith thought the portrayal of racism was "heavy-handed," but found the film "ultimately irresistible."

Ratings

''A Father for Charlie'' earned a 14.8 national

Nielsen rating Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...

, equalling 14.1 million households, making it the eighth highest-rated

prime time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

program for the week of December 26, 1994 to January 1, 1995. In terms of total viewers, the film was the sixth most-watched prime time program with an audience of 22.9 million.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Father for Charlie, A 1995 television films CBS network films Films about racism in the United States Films about the Ku Klux Klan Great Depression films Films set in 1932 Films shot in California Films directed by Jeff Bleckner Films scored by David Shire Films set in the Ozarks