''Chameleon Street'' is a 1989

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

written by, directed by and starring

Wendell B. Harris, Jr. Wendell B. Harris Jr. (born March 5, 1954), is a Juilliard School, Juilliard- and Interlochen Center for the Arts, Interlochen-trained American filmmaker and actor. ''Chameleon Street'' He is known as the writer, director and lead actor of ''Ch ...

It tells the story of a social chameleon who impersonates reporters, doctors and lawyers in order to make money.

Summary

The film is a satire based on the life of Detroit con artist and high-school drop-out William Douglas Street, Jr., who successfully impersonated professional reporters, lawyers, athletes, extortionists, and surgeons, going so far as to perform more than 36 successful

hysterectomies Hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the uterus. It may also involve removal of the cervix, ovaries (oophorectomy), Fallopian tubes (salpingectomy), and other surrounding structures. Usually performed by a gynecologist, a hysterectomy may be ...

Cast

* Wendell B. Harris Jr. as William Douglas Street * Timothy Alvaro as Brian Whitaker * Dave Barber as Self * Marti Bowling as Marti * Alfred Bruce Bradley as Smooth * Mano Breckenridge as Neelish Ratnayaka * Anthony Ennis as Curtis * Amina Fakir as Amina Tatiana

Reception and legacy

Despite winning the Grand Jury Prize at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

in early 1990, the film went without distribution for more than a year. The original theatrical release was minimal and reviews were polarizing. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' found the film disappointing: "What we have here is a brilliant concept, but unfortunately, Harris just isn't a filmmaker -- not even in the most rudimentary sense. His failures are all on the most basic level. He can't plot or shape scenes; he can't draw out his actors; he can't write dialogue or mount it; he can't create any consistent rhythms or sense of pace." Similarly, the''

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...

'' wrote "''Chameleon Street'' feels like a series of improvised skits, some imaginative and funny, some hackneyed...

arris In architecture, an arris is the sharp edge formed by the intersection of two surfaces, such as the corner of a masonry unit; the edge of a timber in timber framing; the junction between two planes of plaster or any intersection of divergent a ...

writes with élan and wit, but his sense of structure is minimal, so ''Chameleon Street'' feels jumpy and disjointed." On the other hand, ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' was more generous: "Though, like its subject, the film goes on some pretty strange tangents, ''Chameleon Street'' is largely successful as the diary of a compulsive trickster whose marks are suckered by Street's confidence and instinct for telling people what they want to hear. Harris' truth-is-stronger-than-fiction rap is both funny and insightful."

Jonathan Rosenbaum Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for ''The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has ...

of ''

The Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by ...

'' praised it as a "highly original existential dark comedy," writing that "it took two years for this provocative independent feature to reach Chicago, yet it’s as intellectually ambitious as any new American picture I’ve seen this year...Harris explores his subject in a number of ways: as an essay of sorts on the mysteries and paradoxes of acting, as the source of some very funny comedy, as an exploration of the invisibility of blacks in America that often suggests

Ralph Ellison Ralph Waldo Ellison (March 1, 1913 – April 16, 1994) was an American writer, literary critic, and scholar best known for his novel ''Invisible Man'', which won the National Book Award in 1953. He also wrote ''Shadow and Act'' (1964), a collecti ...

’s ''

Invisible Man ''Invisible Man'' is a novel by Ralph Ellison, published by Random House in 1952. It addresses many of the social and intellectual issues faced by African Americans in the early twentieth century, including black nationalism, the relationship b ...

'', and as a disturbing yet compelling rogue’s progress that often calls to mind an 18th-century picaresque novel." Film critic

Armond White Armond White (born ) is an American film and music critic who writes for ''National Review'' and ''Out''. He was previously the editor of '' CityArts'' (2011–2014), the lead film critic for the alternative weekly ''New York Press'' (1997–201 ...

was also an early supporter of the film, comparing it to Ellison’s ''Invisible Man'' as well. In the years since its original release, the film's reputation has grown, with

Richard Brody Richard Brody (born 1958) is an American film critic who has written for ''The New Yorker'' since 1999. Education Brody grew up in Roslyn, New York, and attended Princeton University, receiving a B.A. in comparative literature in 1980. He first ...

of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' calling it an "overlooked masterpiece" while lamenting Harris's subsequent struggles in Hollywood, observing that "the very exclusions

dramatized in this great film were inflicted on him in real life."

Accolades

''Chameleon Street'' won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1990

. In 2008, a festival press release described it as "one of the first films to examine how mellifluously race, class, and role-playing morph into the social fabric of America."

References

External links