Malcolm X (1992 Film)
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''Malcolm X'' (sometimes stylized as ''X'') is a 1992 American epic
biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
about the African-American activist
Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Is ...
. Directed and co-written by
Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...
, the film stars
Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been described as an actor who reconfigured "the concept of classic movie stardom". Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Washington ha ...
in the title role, as well as Angela Bassett,
Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no governm ...
,
Al Freeman Jr. Albert Cornelius Freeman Jr. (March 21, 1934 – August 9, 2012) was an American actor, director, and educator. A life member of The Actors Studio, Freeman appeared in a wide variety of plays, ranging from Leroi Jones' ''Slave/Toilet'' to Joe P ...
, and Delroy Lindo. Lee has a supporting role, while
Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...
co-founder
Bobby Seale Robert George Seale (born October 22, 1936) is an American political activist and author. Seale is widely known for co-founding the Black Panther Party with fellow activist Huey P. Newton. Founded as the "Black Panther Party for Self-Defense", ...
, the Rev.
Al Sharpton Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democrati ...
, and future South African president
Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
make
cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...
s. It is the second of four film collaborations between Washington and Lee. ''Malcolm X's'' screenplay, co-credited to Lee and
Arnold Perl Arnold Perl (April 14, 1914 – December 11, 1971) was an American playwright, screenwriter, television producer and television writer. Perl briefly attended Cornell University, but did not graduate. He had written for the television series '' ...
, is based largely on Alex Haley's 1965 book, ''
The Autobiography of Malcolm X ''The Autobiography of Malcolm X'' was published in 1965, the result of a collaboration between civil and human rights activist Malcolm X and journalist Alex Haley. Haley coauthored the autobiography based on a series of in-depth interviews he ...
''. Haley collaborated with Malcolm X on the book beginning in 1963 and completed it after Malcolm X's death. The film dramatizes key events in Malcolm X's life: his criminal career, his incarceration, his conversion to Islam, his ministry as a member of the
Nation of Islam The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A black nationalist organization, the NOI focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African ...
and his later falling out with the organization, his marriage to Betty X, his
pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...
to
Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
and reevaluation of his views concerning
whites White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as ...
, and his
assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...
on February 21, 1965. Defining childhood incidents, including his father's death, his mother's
mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
, and his experiences with racism are dramatized in flashbacks. ''Malcolm X'' was distributed by
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
and released in the United States on November 18, 1992. The same year, Denzel Washington won the
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor is one of the awards given by the New York Film Critics Circle to honor the finest achievements in film-making. Winners * † = Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor * ‡ = Nominate ...
for his performance. At the
65th Academy Awards The 65th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 1992 in the United States and took place on March 29, 1993, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beg ...
, the movie was nominated for two Oscars including the
Academy Award for Best Actor The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. The ...
for Washington and Best Costume Design for
Ruth E. Carter Ruth E. Carter (born April 10, 1960) is an American costume designer for film and television, with over 40 films to her credit, who is widely regarded as having mastered the look of multiple periods and genres in envisioning the clothing and ove ...
. In 2010, the film was selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception i ...
by the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".


Plot

Malcolm Little is raised in a poor household in rural
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
by his Caribbean mother and African-American father. When Malcolm is a young boy, their house is burnt down and his father, an activist for black rights, is killed by a chapter of the Black Legion. His death is registered as a suicide and the family receives no compensation. Malcolm's mother's mental state deteriorates and she is admitted to a
mental institution Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...
. Malcolm and his siblings are put into protective care. Malcolm performs well in school and dreams of being a lawyer, but his teacher discourages it due to his skin color. In 1944, Malcolm, now a teenager, lives in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. One night, he catches the attention of the white Sophia, and the two begin dating. Malcolm travels to
Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
with Sophia, where he meets "West Indian" Archie, a gangster who runs a local
numbers game The numbers game, also known as the numbers racket, the Italian lottery, Mafia lottery or the daily number, is a form of illegal gambling or illegal lottery played mostly in poor and working class neighborhoods in the United States, wherein a be ...
, at a bar. The two become friends and start co-operating an illegal numbers racket. One night at a club, Malcolm claims to have bet on a winning number; Archie disputes this, denying him a large sum of money. A conflict ensues between the two and Malcolm returns to Boston after an attempt on his life. Malcolm, Sophia, Malcolm's friend Shorty, and a woman named Peg decide to perform robberies to earn money. By 1946, the group has accrued a large amount of money from thievery. However, they are later arrested. The two girls are sentenced to two years as first offenders in connection with the robberies, while Malcolm and Shorty are sentenced to 8–10 years in jail. While incarcerated, Malcolm meets Baines, a member of the
Nation of Islam The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A black nationalist organization, the NOI focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African ...
, who directs him to the teachings of the group's leader
Elijah Muhammad Elijah Muhammad (born Elijah Robert Poole; October 7, 1897 – February 25, 1975) was an African American religious leader, black separatist, and self-proclaimed Messenger of Allah, who led the Nation of Islam (NOI) from 1934 until his deat ...
. Malcolm grows interested in the
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
religion and lifestyle promoted by the group, and begins to resent white people for mistreating his race. Malcolm is
parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
d from prison in 1952 after serving six years, and travels to the Nation of Islam's headquarters in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
. There, he meets Muhammad, who instructs Malcolm to replace his surname "Little" with "X", which symbolizes his lost African surname that was taken from his ancestors by white slavemasters; he is rechristened as "Malcolm X". Malcolm returns to Harlem and begins to preach the Nation's message; over time, his speeches gather large crowds of onlookers. Malcolm proposes ideas such as African-American separation from white Americans. In 1958, Malcolm meets nurse Betty Sanders. The two begin dating, quickly marry and become the parents of four daughters. Several years later, Malcolm is now in a high position as the spokesperson of the Nation of Islam. During this time, Malcolm learns that Muhammad had fathered numerous children out of wedlock, contradicting his teachings and Islam. After President
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
is assassinated in November 1963, Malcolm comments that the assassination was the product of the white violence that has been prevalent in America since its founding, comparing the killing to "the chickens coming home to roost." This statement damages Malcolm's reputation and Muhammad suspends him from speaking to the press or at temples for 90 days. In early 1964, Malcolm goes on a pilgrimage to
Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
where he meets Muslims from all races, including white. Malcolm, having lost his faith in the Nation of Islam, publicly announces that is founding the
Organization of Afro-American Unity __NOTOC__ The Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) was a Pan-Africanist organization founded by Malcolm X in 1964. The OAAU was modeled on the Organization of African Unity, which had impressed Malcolm X during his visit to Africa ...
, which teaches tolerance instead of racial separation. He is exiled from the Nation of Islam, and his house is firebombed in early 1965. On February 21, 1965, Malcolm prepares to speak before a crowd at the
Audubon Ballroom The Audubon Theatre and Ballroom, generally referred to as the Audubon Ballroom, was a theatre and ballroom located at 3940 Broadway at West 165th Street in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1912 a ...
in Harlem, but tragically, disciples of the Nation of Islam shoot him several times. One of Malcolm's bodyguards shoots one of the shooters,
Thomas Hagan Thomas Hagan (; born March 16, 1941) is a former member of the Nation of Islam who was convicted for assassinating Malcolm X in 1965. For a while he also went by the name Talmadge X Hayer, and his chosen Islamic name is Mujahid Abdul Halim. Ass ...
, in the leg before a furious crowd beats Hagan. Malcolm is transported to a hospital, but is pronounced dead on arrival. The film concludes with a series of clips showing the aftermath of Malcolm's death.
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
delivers a eulogy to Malcolm, and
Ossie Davis Raiford Chatman "Ossie" Davis (December 18, 1917 – February 4, 2005) was an American actor, director, writer, and activist. He was married to Ruby Dee, with whom he frequently performed, until his death. He and his wife were named to the NAACP ...
recites a speech at Malcolm's funeral.
Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
delivers a speech to a school, quoting an excerpt from one of Malcolm's speeches.


Cast

Political activists
Bobby Seale Robert George Seale (born October 22, 1936) is an American political activist and author. Seale is widely known for co-founding the Black Panther Party with fellow activist Huey P. Newton. Founded as the "Black Panther Party for Self-Defense", ...
and
Al Sharpton Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democrati ...
make
cameo appearances A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...
as a pair of street preachers. Civil rights attorney
William Kunstler William Moses Kunstler (July 7, 1919 – September 4, 1995) was an American lawyer and civil rights activist, known for defending the Chicago Seven. Kunstler was an active member of the National Lawyers Guild, a board member of the American Civil ...
appears as the judge who sentences Malcolm and Shorty to prison. Future South African President
Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
appears as a
Soweto Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a s ...
school teacher delivering a lecture on X. Spike Lee regular
Nicholas Turturro Nicholas Turturro Jr. (born January 29, 1962) is an American actor, known for his roles in New York City based films and on the television series '' Blue Bloods'' and ''NYPD Blue''. He has collaborated with director Spike Lee since the late 1980s ...
has a minor role as a Boston police officer.
Michael Imperioli Michael Imperioli (born March 26, 1966) is an American actor, writer, and musician. He is best known for his role as Christopher Moltisanti in the HBO crime drama ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007), which earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Out ...
briefly appears as a news reporter.
Vincent D'Onofrio Vincent Philip D'Onofrio (; born June 30, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his supporting and leading roles in both film and television. He has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. His roles include Private Leonar ...
appears as a witness to the Kennedy assassination. Film director
John Sayles John Thomas Sayles (born September 28, 1950) is an American independent film director, screenwriter, editor, actor, and novelist. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, for ''Passion Fish'' (1992) and '' ...
appears as an FBI agent surveilling Malcolm. Washington's then-eight-year-old son
John David Washington John David Washington (born July 28, 1984) is an American actor and former professional football player. He played college football at Morehouse College and signed with the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2006. Professionally, Wash ...
appears as a Harlem elementary school student; John David would later go on to star as the lead of Lee's 2018 film ''
BlacKkKlansman ''BlacKkKlansman'' is a 2018 American biographical black comedy crime thriller film directed by Spike Lee and written by Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Lee, based on the 2014 memoir ''Black Klansman'' by Ron Stallworth. ...
''.
Ossie Davis Raiford Chatman "Ossie" Davis (December 18, 1917 – February 4, 2005) was an American actor, director, writer, and activist. He was married to Ruby Dee, with whom he frequently performed, until his death. He and his wife were named to the NAACP ...
provides voiceover narration over the film's closing sequence, reading the eulogy he had originally performed at the real Malcolm's funeral.


Production

"It's such a great story, a great American story, and it reflects our society in so many ways. Here's a guy who essentially led so many lives. He pulled himself out of the gutter. He went from country boy to hipster and semi-hoodlum. From there he went to prison, where he became a Muslim. Then he was a spiritual leader who evolved into a humanitarian."— Producer Marvin Worth on his 25-year effort to make a film about the life of Malcolm X.Bernard Weinraub
A Movie Producer Remembers The Human Side of Malcolm X
, ''The New York Times'', November 23, 1992; retrieved June 18, 2008.
Producer
Marvin Worth Marvin Worth (June 6, 1925 – April 22, 1998) was an American film producer, screenwriter and actor. His efforts to bring the biography of Malcolm X to the big screen started in 1967, when he purchased the rights to ''The Autobiography of Malco ...
acquired the rights to ''The Autobiography of Malcolm X'' in 1967. Worth had met Malcolm X, then called "Detroit Red," as a teenager selling drugs in New York City. Worth was fifteen at the time, and spending time around
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
clubs in the area. As Worth remembers: "He was selling grass. He was sixteen or seventeen but looked older. He was very witty, a funny guy, and he had this extraordinary charisma. A great dancer and a great dresser. He was very good-looking, very, very tall. Girls always noticed him. He was quite a special guy." Early on, the production had difficulties telling the entire story, in part due to unresolved questions surrounding Malcolm X's assassination. In 1971, Worth made a well-received documentary, ''
Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Is ...
'', which received an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
nomination in that category. The project remained unrealized. However, several major entertainers were attached to it at various times, including
Richard Pryor Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, and is widely regarded as on ...
,
Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. Murphy has als ...
, and director
Sidney Lumet Sidney Arthur Lumet ( ; June 25, 1924 – April 9, 2011) was an American film director. He was nominated five times for the Academy Award: four for Best Director for ''12 Angry Men'' (1957), ''Dog Day Afternoon'' (1975), ''Network'' (1976), ...
.


Screenplay

In 1968, Worth commissioned a screenplay from novelist
James Baldwin James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer. He garnered acclaim across various media, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'', was published in 1953; de ...
, who was later joined by
Arnold Perl Arnold Perl (April 14, 1914 – December 11, 1971) was an American playwright, screenwriter, television producer and television writer. Perl briefly attended Cornell University, but did not graduate. He had written for the television series '' ...
, a screenwriter who had been a victim of McCarthy-era blacklisting.Sheila Rule
FILM; Malcolm X: The Facts, the Fictions, the Film
, ''The New York Times'', November 15, 1992; accessed May 23, 2008.
However, the screenplay took longer to develop than anticipated. Perl died in 1971. Baldwin developed his work on the screenplay into the 1972 book ''One Day, When I Was Lost: A Scenario Based on Alex Haley's The Autobiography of Malcolm X''. In 1976, Baldwin wrote of his experience, "I think that I would rather be horsewhipped, or incarcerated in the forthright bedlam of Bellevue, than repeat the adventure". Baldwin died in 1987. Several authors attempted drafts, including
David Mamet David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and '' Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first gained cri ...
, David Bradley, Charles Fuller and
Calder Willingham Calder Baynard Willingham Jr. (December 23, 1922 – February 19, 1995)Alex MacaulayBiographical entry of Calder Willinghamfrom the New Georgia Encyclopedia was an American novelist and screenwriter. Before the age of 30, after three novels ...
.David Ansen and Spike Lee
The Battle For Malcolm X
, ''Newsweek'', Retrieved May 31, 2010.
Once Spike Lee took over as director, he rewrote the Baldwin-Perl script. Due to the revisions, the Baldwin family asked the producer to take his name off the credits. Thus ''Malcolm X'' only credits Perl and Lee as the writers and Malcolm X and Alex Haley as the authors of ''The Autobiography of Malcolm X''.


Production difficulties

The production was considered controversial long before filming began. The crux of the controversy was Malcolm X's denunciation of whites before he undertook his
hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...
. He was, arguably, not well regarded among white citizens by and large; however, he had risen to become a hero in the African-American community and a symbol of blacks' struggles, particularly during the presidencies of
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
and
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
. In the three years before the movie's release, sales of ''The Autobiography of Malcolm X'' had increased 300 percent, and four of his books had a nine-fold increase in sales between 1986 and 1991. Once
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
agreed to the project, they initially wanted
Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...
-nominated Canadian film director
Norman Jewison Norman Frederick Jewison (born July 21, 1926) is a retired Canadian film and television director, producer, and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. He has directed numerous feature films and has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best D ...
to direct the film. Jewison, director of the seminal civil rights film '' In the Heat of the Night'', was able to bring Denzel Washington into the project to play Malcolm X. Jewison and Washington previously worked together in the 1984 film '' A Soldier's Story''. A protest erupted over the fact that a white director was slated to make the film. Spike Lee was one of the main voices of criticism; since college, he had considered a film adaptation of ''The Autobiography of Malcolm X'' to be a dream project. Lee and others felt that it was appropriate that only a black person should direct ''Malcolm X.Scott Tobias
Malcolm X
, The Onion A/V Club, February 15, 2005, Retrieved February 19, 2014.
'' After the public outcry against Jewison, Worth concluded that "it needed a black director at this point. It was insurmountable the other way...There's a grave responsibility here." Jewison left the project, though he noted he gave up the movie not because of the protest, but because he could not reconcile Malcolm's private and public lives and was unsatisfied with Charles Fuller's script. Lee confirmed Jewison's position, stating, "If Norman actually thought he could do it, he would have really fought me. But he bowed out gracefully." Jewison and Denzel Washington would reunite several years later for '' The Hurricane'', in which Washington played imprisoned boxer
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter Rubin "Hurricane" Carter (May 6, 1937 – April 20, 2014) was an American-Canadian middleweight boxer, wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for murder, until released following a petition of habeas corpus after almost 20 years in prison. I ...
, who spent nearly twenty years in prison for a murder he claimed he did not commit before his conviction was overturned in 1985. Spike Lee was soon named the director, and he substantially edited the script. "I'm directing this movie and I rewrote the script, and I'm an artist and there's just no two ways around it: this film about Malcolm X is going to be my vision of Malcolm X. But it's not like I'm sitting atop a mountain saying, 'Screw everyone, this is the Malcolm I see.' I've done the research, I've talked to the people who were there." Soon after Spike Lee was announced as the director and before its release, ''Malcolm X'' received criticism by black nationalists and members of the United Front to Preserve the Legacy of Malcolm X, headed by poet and playwright Amiri Baraka, who were worried about Lee's portrayal of Malcolm X. One protest in Harlem drew over 200 people.Evelyn Nieves
Malcolm X: Firestorm Over a Film Script
, ''The New York Times'', August 9, 1991; retrieved May 15, 2008.
Some based their opinion on dislike of Lee's previous films; others were concerned that he would focus on Malcolm X's life before he converted to Islam.Lena Williams

, ''The New York Times'', May 20, 1992; retrieved May 15, 2008.
Baraka bluntly accused Spike Lee of being a " Buppie", stating "We will not let Malcolm X's life be trashed to make middle-class Negroes sleep easier", compelling others to write the director and warn him "not to mess up Malcolm's life." Some, including Lee himself, noted the irony that many of the arguments made against him mirrored those made against Norman Jewison. Although Washington agreed to play Malcolm X while
Norman Jewison Norman Frederick Jewison (born July 21, 1926) is a retired Canadian film and television director, producer, and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. He has directed numerous feature films and has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best D ...
was scheduled to direct the film, Lee stated he never envisioned any actor other than Washington in the role. The two had previously worked together on '' Mo' Better Blues'' (1990), and Lee noted that Washington had "really captured Malcolm" in his Off Broadway performance as him.Lena Williams
Playing With Fire
, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', October 25, 1992; retrieved May 15, 2008.


Budget issues

Spike Lee also encountered difficulty in securing a sufficient budget. Lee told Warners and the bond company that a budget of over US$30 million was necessary; the studio disagreed and offered a lower amount. Following advice from fellow director Francis Ford Coppola, Lee got "the movie company pregnant": taking the movie far enough along into actual
production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...
to attempt to force the studio to increase the budget. The film, initially budgeted at $28 million, climbed to nearly $33 million. Lee contributed $2 million of his own $3 million salary. Completion Bond Company, which assumed financial control in January 1992, refused to approve any more expenditures; in addition, the studio and bond company instructed Lee that the film could be no longer than two hours, fifteen minutes in length. The resulting conflict caused the project to be shut down in
post-production Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments. The ...
. The film was saved by the financial intervention of prominent black Americans, some of whom appear in the film:
Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...
,
Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...
,
Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...
, Magic Johnson,
Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...
,
Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
,
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, and
Peggy Cooper Cafritz Peggy Cooper Cafritz (born Pearl Alice Cooper; April 7, 1947 – February 18, 2018) was an American art collector, educator, civil rights activist, philanthropist, and socialite. Early life and education Family life Born Pearl Alice Cooper, P ...
, founder of the
Duke Ellington School of the Arts The Duke Ellington School of the Arts (established 1974) is a high school located at 35th Street and R Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., and dedicated to arts education. One of the high schools of the District of Columbia Public School syst ...
. Their contributions were made as donations; as Lee noted: "This is not a loan. They are not investing in the film. These are black folks with some money who came to the rescue of the movie. As a result, this film will be my version. Not the bond company's version, not Warner Brothers'. I will do the film the way it ought to be, and it will be over three hours." The actions of such prominent members of the African American community giving their money helped finish the project as Lee envisioned it. The dissatisfaction Warners had for how Lee funded the film by completing it through the help of his African American friends later resulted in Warner Bros. blocking out Lee from participating in the development of ''
Space Jam ''Space Jam'' is a 1996 American live-action/animated sports comedy film directed by Joe Pytka, with animation sequences directed by Bruce W. Smith and Tony Cervone, and written by Leo Benvenuti, Steve Rudnick, Timothy Harris, and Herschel ...
'', as Lee had approached
Joe Pytka Joe Pytka (born November 4, 1938) is an American film, television, commercial and music video director born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He holds the record for the most nominations for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Direct ...
about polishing the film's script.


Request for black interviewers

A month before the film was released, Lee asked that media outlets send black journalists to interview him. The request proved controversial. While it was common practice for celebrities to pick interviewers who were known to be sympathetic to them, it was the first time in many years in which race had been used as a qualification. Lee clarified that he was not barring white interviewers from interviewing him, but that he felt, given the subject matter of the film, that black writers have "more insight about Malcolm than white writers." The request was turned down by 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 ...
'', but several others agreed including ''
Premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...
'' magazine, ''
Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...
'', ''
Interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...
'' and ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
''. The ''Los Angeles Times'' explained they did not give writer approval. The editor of ''Premiere'' noted that the request created internal discussions that resulted in changes at the magazine: "Had we had a history of putting a lot of black writers on stories about the movie industry we'd be in a stronger position. But we didn't. It was an interesting challenge he laid down. It caused some personnel changes. We've hired a black writer and a black editor."


Filming

Malcolm X's widow, Dr. Betty Shabazz, served as a consultant to the film. The
Fruit of Islam The Fruit of Islam (FOI) is the security and disciplinary wing of the Nation of Islam (NOI). It has also been described as its paramilitary wing. The Fruit of Islam wear distinctive blue, brown or white uniforms and caps and have units at all NOI ...
, the defense arm of the Nation of Islam, provided security for the movie. When Denzel Washington took the role of Malcolm X in the play, ''When the Chickens Come Home to Roost'', which dealt with the relationship between Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad, he admitted he knew little about Malcolm X and had not yet read ''The Autobiography of Malcolm X''. Washington prepared by reading books and articles by and about Malcolm X and went over hours of tape and film footage of speeches. The play opened in 1981 and earned Washington a warm review by
Frank Rich Frank Hart Rich Jr. (born 1949) is an American essayist and liberal op-ed columnist, who held various positions within ''The New York Times'' from 1980 to 2011. He has also produced television series and documentaries for HBO. Rich is curren ...
, who was at the time the chief theater critic of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. Upon being cast in the film, he interviewed people who knew Malcolm X, among them Betty Shabazz and two of his brothers. Although they had different upbringings, Washington tried to focus on what he had in common with his character: during the making of the movie Washington was close to Malcolm X's age when he was assassinated, both men were from large families, both of their fathers were ministers, and both were raised primarily by their mothers. ''Malcolm X'' is the first non-documentary, and the first American film, to be given permission to film in
Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
(or within the Haram Sharif). A second unit film crew was hired to film in Mecca because non-Muslims, such as Lee, are not allowed inside the city. Lee fought very hard to get filming in Mecca but Warners initially refused to put up the money for location shooting. New Jersey was considered for filming the Mecca segments. In the end, Lee got money and permission together for filming in Mecca. In addition to Nelson Mandela, the film featured cameos by
Christopher Plummer Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage, and television. He received multiple accolades, inc ...
(as the prison's Catholic chaplain), Peter Boyle (as a police officer),
William Kunstler William Moses Kunstler (July 7, 1919 – September 4, 1995) was an American lawyer and civil rights activist, known for defending the Chicago Seven. Kunstler was an active member of the National Lawyers Guild, a board member of the American Civil ...
(as a judge), as well as activists
Al Sharpton Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democrati ...
and
Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...
co-founder
Bobby Seale Robert George Seale (born October 22, 1936) is an American political activist and author. Seale is widely known for co-founding the Black Panther Party with fellow activist Huey P. Newton. Founded as the "Black Panther Party for Self-Defense", ...
(as street preachers).Vincent Canby
Review/Film; 'Malcolm X', as Complex as Its Subject
, ''The New York Times'', November 18, 1992, Retrieved May 23, 2008.
The film was made shortly after Mandela's 1990 release from prison and during the
negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa The apartheid system in South Africa was ended through a series of bilateral and multi-party negotiations between 1990 and 1993. The negotiations culminated in the passage of a new interim Constitution in 1993, a precursor to the Constitution ...
. Lee explained that he made "the connection between
Soweto Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a s ...
and Harlem, Nelson and Malcolm, and what Malcolm talked about:
pan-Africanism Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement exte ...
, trying to build these bridges between people of color. He is alive in children in classrooms in Harlem, in classrooms in Soweto." Mandela ends the film with a quote from Malcolm X himself, with Malcolm in a film clip saying the last four words. The quote goes: "We declare our right on this earth, to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being, in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence ''by any means necessary''."


Music


Release

''Malcolm X'' was released in North America on November 18, 1992. The film released overseas in 1993, between February and March in Europe.


Home media

''Malcolm X'' was released by
The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...
on
Ultra HD Blu-ray Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray) is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray. Ultra HD Blu-ray discs are incompatible with existing standard Blu-ray players, though a traditional Bl ...
and
Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and c ...
on November 22, 2022.


Box office

In the United States and Canada, the film grossed in its opening weekend, finishing third after '' Home Alone 2: Lost in New York'' ($30 million) and '' Bram Stoker's Dracula'' ($15 million).Bernard Weinraub
A Movie Producer Remembers The Human Side of Malcolm X
, ''The New York Times'', November 23, 1992; retrieved June 8, 2008.
According to ''
Box Office Mojo Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon. History Brandon Gray began ...
'', the film ended its domestic run with a gross of $48,169,910. Due to the budget issues and costs of promotion, Warner Bros. claimed the film lost over $30 million in 1992. Upon its United Kingdom release in 1993, it grossed (). Limited UK re-releases sold 136 tickets in 2016 and 172 tickets in 2017. The film also sold 594,984 tickets in France, 127,306 tickets in Germany, and 133,798 tickets in Spain. In South Korea, it sold 28,159 tickets in the capital city of
Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
. The film grossed $24,933,000 internationally in its original release, for a worldwide total of .


Critical reception

Upon release, the film received widespread critical acclaim. On review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
the film holds an approval rating 88% based on 69 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The critics' consensus states: "Anchored by a powerful performance from Denzel Washington, Spike Lee's biopic of the legendary civil rights leader brings his autobiography to life with an epic sweep and a nuanced message." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film holds a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "A" on an "A+" to "F" scale. Critic
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
of ''The Chicago Sun-Times'' ranked the film No. 1 on his Top 10 list for 1992 and described the film as "one of the great screen biographies, celebrating the sweep of an American life that bottomed out in prison before its hero reinvented himself." In 1999, Ebert and director
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...
, the latter sitting in for Ebert's late co-host
Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...
, both ranked ''Malcolm X'' among the ten best films of the 1990s.


Accolades

Denzel Washington's portrayal of Malcolm X was widely praised and he was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Actor The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. The ...
. Washington lost to
Al Pacino Alfredo James Pacino (; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he has received numerous accolades: including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy ...
('' Scent of a Woman''), a decision which Lee criticized, saying "I'm not the only one who thinks Denzel was robbed on that one." * In 2010, ''Malcolm X'' was selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception i ...
by the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".


American Film Institute

The film is recognized by the
American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...
in several lists: * 2003: AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains: **
Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Is ...
– Nominated Hero * 2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes: ** Malcolm X: "We didn't land on Plymouth Rock -- Plymouth Rock landed on us!" – Nominated * 2006: AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – Nominated * 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10: ** Nominated Epic Film


See also

*
Civil rights movement in popular culture The history of the 1954 to 1968 American civil rights movement has been depicted and documented in film, song, theater, television, and the visual arts. These presentations add to and maintain cultural awareness and understanding of the goals, tact ...
*
List of Islam-related films This is a list of films, television serials and programmes related to Islamic civilization, i.e. Islam, History of Islam, Islamic history and Islamic culture. For ease of classification this article defines the following terms as such: *"Documenta ...


References


External links

* * * * * * *
Ann Hornaday, "The 34 best political movies ever made" ''The Washington Post'' Jan. 23, 2020
ranked No. 15 *''Malcolm X'' essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy, 2009-2010: A Viewer's Guide to the 50 Landmark Movies Added to the National Film Registry in 2009–10, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2011, pages 181-18

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malcolm X (Film) 1992 films 1992 drama films 1990s biographical drama films 1990s English-language films 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks films African-American biographical dramas American epic films American films based on actual events American political drama films Cultural depictions of Martin Luther King Jr. Cultural depictions of Nelson Mandela Films about Islam Films about Malcolm X Films about race and ethnicity Films about racism in the United States Films about racism Films based on autobiographies Films directed by Spike Lee Films scored by Terence Blanchard Films set in the 1920s Films set in the 1930s Films set in the 1940s Films set in the 1950s Films set in the 1960s Films set in 1944 Films set in 1952 Films set in 1958 Films set in 1964 Films set in 1965 Films set in Chicago Films set in Egypt Films set in Harlem Films set in Massachusetts Films set in Michigan Films set in New York City Films set in Saudi Arabia Films set in Columbia University Films shot in Egypt Films shot in New Jersey Films shot in Saudi Arabia Films with screenplays by Spike Lee United States National Film Registry films Warner Bros. films 1990s American films