''Sounder'' is a 1972 American
period
Period may refer to:
Common uses
* Era, a length or span of time
* Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Period (music), a concept in musical composition
* Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...
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 ...
directed by
Martin Ritt
Martin Ritt (March 2, 1914 – December 8, 1990) was an American director and actor who worked in both film and theater, noted for his socially conscious films.
Some of the films he directed include ''The Long, Hot Summer'' (1958), '' The Black ...
and adapted by
Lonne Elder III
Lonne Elder III (December 26, 1927 – June 11, 1996) was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. Elder was one of the leading African American figures who informed the New York theater world with social and political consciousness ...
from the 1969
novel of the same name by
William H. Armstrong. The story concerns an
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
sharecropper
Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land.
Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...
family in the
Deep South
The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the war ...
, who struggle with economic and personal hardships during 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 ...
. It stars
Cicely Tyson
Cicely Louise Tyson (December 19, 1924January 28, 2021) was an American actress. In a career which spanned more than seven decades in film, television and theatre, she became known for her portrayal of strong African-American women. Tyson recei ...
,
Paul Winfield
Paul Edward Winfield (May 22, 1939 – March 7, 2004) was an American stage, film and television actor. He was known for his portrayal of a Louisiana sharecropper who struggles to support his family during the Great Depression in the landmark fi ...
, and
Kevin Hooks
Kevin Hooks (born September 19, 1958) is an American actor, and a television and film director; he is notable for his roles in ''Aaron Loves Angela'' and '' Sounder'', but may be best known as Morris Thorpe from TV's '' The White Shadow''.
Ear ...
.
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...
composed the film's
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
-inspired soundtrack, and also appears in a supporting role.
The film was both a critical and box office success, and the
National Board of Review
The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...
ranked it as one of the
Top 10 best films of 1972. Cicely Tyson and Paul Winfield both received
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), ...
nominations for their performances, and the film was nominated for
Best Picture
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
and
Best Adapted Screenplay. Taj Mahal's score was nominated for a
BAFTA and
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
, and 13-year old Hooks earned a
Golden Globe
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
nomination for
Most Promising Newcomer – Male.
In 2021, 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
In 1933, the Morgans are an
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
family living as
sharecropper
Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land.
Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...
s in rural
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, raising
sugar cane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks t ...
for their white landlord. David Lee, the oldest son, is a bright boy who loves to hunt with his father, Nathan Lee, and their dog Sounder, but is only able to attend school sporadically in between helping his mother Rebecca on the farm. Nathan and David lose the raccoon they are hunting one evening, leaving the family without meat to eat, but the children awaken the next morning to the smell of ham cooking and happily eat it.
When they return home after a community baseball game, which Nathan helps his team win, they find the sheriff and his deputies waiting to arrest Nathan for stealing the ham from a nearby
smokehouse
A smokehouse (North American) or smokery (British) is a building where meat or fish is cured with smoke
Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with t ...
. As they take him away, Sounder runs after their wagon and one of the deputies shoots him, though Nathan partially deflects the shot by kicking the gun. The injured Sounder runs away, and David cannot find him. He looks for him for days, but is unable to continue the search because with their father gone, he and his little brother and sister must help Rebecca farm and harvest the crops. Rebecca shares her faith with David that Sounder is alive and will return home eventually.
The family is restricted from visiting Nathan at the local jail while he awaits shipment to the work camp. Only David is allowed to visit, and he brings a chocolate cake that Rebecca baked for Nathan, and they enjoy a piece together despite their worries over not knowing where Nathan will be taken. Mrs. Boatwright, a sympathetic local woman who employs Rebecca to do her laundry and often gives the children books to read, promises David she will find out the location of the work camp Nathan has been taken to. When the sheriff refuses to tell her, she goes through his filing cabinet to find the information.
Despite the sheriff's threats, she tells the Morgan family that Nathan has been taken to the distant Wishbone prison camp and helps Rebecca plot the route there on the map. Sounder returns home, though he does not bark like he used to, and accompanies David on a long journey on foot to find the camp and try to visit his father.
David makes it to the Wishbone camp, but is unable to find Nathan and is ignored by the guards when he inquires after him. When he tries to ask the prisoners, a guard strikes his hand with an iron rod and chases him off the camp. On his journey home, he comes across a school with all black students, where the kind, outspoken teacher, Miss Camille, bandages his injured hand and has him stay at her house and attend class at the school for several days before he starts for home again. One night, she shares books from her collection about important African-American historical figures with him and reads to him from the work of
W.E.B. DuBois.
After returning home, David longs to attend the distant school, but has largely given up on the dream when one day Sounder runs barking like he used to, to greet the returning Nathan, who was released from the work camp early after his leg was injured in a dynamite explosion. Seeing his father's depleted strength, David resolves to stay and work the farm in his place, but after learning of the school, Nathan is adamant that David go to attend it full-time. They have a heart-to-heart about how Nathan wishes for his children to escape the dead-end life of sharecropping and aspire to better things, and the next day, Rebecca and his siblings cheerfully see David off as he and Nathan head into town to buy clothes and school supplies, accompanied by Sounder.
Cast
*
Cicely Tyson
Cicely Louise Tyson (December 19, 1924January 28, 2021) was an American actress. In a career which spanned more than seven decades in film, television and theatre, she became known for her portrayal of strong African-American women. Tyson recei ...
as Rebecca Morgan
*
Paul Winfield
Paul Edward Winfield (May 22, 1939 – March 7, 2004) was an American stage, film and television actor. He was known for his portrayal of a Louisiana sharecropper who struggles to support his family during the Great Depression in the landmark fi ...
as Nathan Lee Morgan
*
Kevin Hooks
Kevin Hooks (born September 19, 1958) is an American actor, and a television and film director; he is notable for his roles in ''Aaron Loves Angela'' and '' Sounder'', but may be best known as Morris Thorpe from TV's '' The White Shadow''.
Ear ...
as David Lee Morgan
*
Carmen Matthews as Mrs. Rita Boatwright
*
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...
as Ike Phillips
*
James Best
Jewel Franklin Guy (July 26, 1926 – April 6, 2015), known professionally as James Best, was an American television, film, stage, and voice actor, as well as a writer, director, acting coach, artist, college professor, and musician. Duri ...
as Sheriff Charlie Young
*Eric Hooks as Earl Morgan
*Yvonne Jarrell as Josie Mae Morgan
*
Janet MacLachlan
Janet Angel MacLachlan (August 27, 1933 – October 11, 2010) was an American actress who had roles in such television series as ''The Rockford Files'', ''Alias (TV series), Alias'' and ''The Golden Girls''. She is best remembered for her key s ...
as Camille Johnson
*Sylvia "Kuumba" Williams as Harriet
*Ted Airhart as Mr. Perkins
*
Richard Durham
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...
as Perkins' Foreman
*
Jerry Leggio as Prison Guard
*Spencer Bradford as Clarence
*Judge William Thomas Bennett as Judge
*Reverend Thomas N. Phillips as Minister Garth
Soundtrack
Taj Mahal recorded a soundtrack to the film, released in 1972 by
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
. According to music journalist
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
, it was "the first soundtrack ever patterned after a
field recording
Field recording is the term used for an audio recording produced outside a recording studio, and the term applies to recordings of both natural and human-produced sounds. It also applies to sound recordings like electromagnetic fields or vibra ...
", featuring a "suite/montage/succession of hums, moans, claps, and plucked fragments", all performed in the
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
of the
gospel blues
Gospel blues (or holy blues) is a form of blues-based gospel music that has been around since the inception of blues music. It combines evangelistic lyrics with blues instrumentation, often blues guitar accompaniment.
According to musician and ...
song "Needed Time" by
Lightnin' Hopkins
Samuel John "Lightnin" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its list o ...
. Fellow critic
Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus (born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics.
Biography
Marcus wa ...
regarded it as Mahal's "most eloquent music", although Christgau said "even Greil doesn't know anybody who agrees. I've always regarded field recordings as study aids myself." He gave the soundtrack album a C-plus in ''
Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981).
Release
''Sounder'' opened September 24, 1972 at the Embassy and Plaza theaters in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
Home media
When the film was released on
VHS,
Paramount Home Video
Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, and originally Paramount Home Video) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures, a division of Paramount Global.
The division oversees PPC's home entertainme ...
assumed distribution rights.
Sterling Entertainment
United American Video (or in short: UAV) Corporation, and more commonly known as UAV Home Video or UAV Entertainment was an American entertainment company founded in 1984 as a small local company originally located in Charlotte, North Carolina. ...
currently has DVD distribution rights.
Reception
Critical reception
''Sounder'' received critical acclaim, with reviewers praising it as a welcome antidote to the contemporaneous wave of
black films, most of which were considered of low quality and budget and exploitative. The film's depiction of a loving family was hailed as a banner accomplishment for black filmmakers and audiences. ''Variety'' wrote that the picture had been "for good or ill, singled out to test whether the black audience will respond to serious films about the black experience rather than the 'super black' exploitation features."
["Sounder"](_blank)
''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 ...
''. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
Some of ''Sounders success was due to its innovative marketing strategy. Fox focused on group sales in major cities and targeted religious organizations and schools. Radnitz personally visited 35 cities and held over 500 screenings, with 60 simultaneous sneak previews held in New York City. The religious establishment came out in favor of the film, with an endorsement by the
Catholic Film Office and a study guide for religious educators created by the
National Council of Churches
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, usually identified as the National Council of Churches (NCC), is the largest ecumenical body in the United States. NCC is an ecumenical partnership of 38 Christian faith groups in the Uni ...
. The ''Variety'' article noted that Fox wrote a study guide, prepared by Dr.
Roscoe Brown
Roscoe Conkling Brown Jr. (March 9, 1922 – July 2, 2016) was one of the Tuskegee Airmen and a squadron commander of the 100th Fighter Squadron of the 332nd Fighter Group.
Career
He was appointed to this position in June 1945, which was after ...
, Jr., director of Afro-American Affairs at New York University. 20th Century Fox spent over $1 million promoting the film, according to ''Variety''.
John Simon wrote "Sounder is a rare honest movie about people who work the soil under conditions of extreme rigor. Sounder is also a rare honest Hollywood movie about blacks, making it virtually unique'.
Based on 20 reviews, ''Sounder'' holds a 90% "Fresh" score (and an average of 7.7/10) on
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 ...
. In his ''Family Guide to Movies on Video'',
Henry Herx
Henry Herx (June 29, 1933 – August 15, 2012) was an American film critic who specialized in creating brief capsule reviews intended for Roman Catholic moviegoers. During his 35-year career, Herx reviewed thousands of films for the Media Review O ...
wrote: "''Sounder'' captures the humanity of
tscharacters and a fine, distanced sense of its sleepy Southern locale. The movie earns a deep emotional response from its audience because its
ppealingstory and characters are believable. Not only a valid examination of the black experience in America, it is also a fine family experience." He added that the boy's search for his father "provides additional drama".
Film 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 ...
gave the film four stars out of four, stating that "This is a film for the family to see." Both
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 ...
and Ebert placed the film on their 10-best lists of 1972.
Box office
Despite popular skepticism that the film would not be a financial success, and the belief that "the black film market is exclusively an action and exploitation market", the picture was a major box-office hit.
The film grossed $27,045 from 2 theaters in its opening week and grossed 30% more the following week.
[ Made for less than $1 million, it grossed just under $17 million, generating $9 million of theatrical rentals in the United States and Canada in 1973,] the 10th highest-grossing film of 1972.
Awards and nominations
''Sounder'' was the first film to feature Oscar-nominated performances by two black actors, with Winfield nominated for Best Actor and Tyson for Best Actress. The next film with black actors receiving nominations for Best Actor and Best Actress was ''What's Love Got to Do with It'' in 1993, 21 years later (with Laurence Fishburne
Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor. He is a three time Emmy Award and Tony Award winning actor known for his roles on stage and screen. He has been hailed for his forceful, militant, and authoritative charact ...
and Angela Bassett
Angela Evelyn Bassett (born August 16, 1958) is an American actress. She had her breakthrough with her portrayal of singer Tina Turner in the biopic ''What's Love Got to Do with It'' (1993), which garnered her a nomination for the Academy Award ...
). The third film to achieve this was ''Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'' in 2020, another 27 years later (with Chadwick Boseman
Chadwick Aaron Boseman (; November 29, 1976August 28, 2020) was an American actor. During his two-decade career, Boseman received two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award, ...
and Viola Davis
Viola Davis (; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Tony Awards, she is the only African-American to achieve the Triple Crow ...
).
Sequel
A sequel, '' Part 2, Sounder'', was released in 1976. Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...
and Ted Airhart were the only returning cast members from the first film.
Remake
In 2003, ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
's ''Wonderful World of Disney
The Walt Disney Company has produced an anthology television series since 1954 under several titles and formats. The program's current title, ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', was used from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1991 to the present. The pr ...
'' aired a new film adaptation, reuniting two actors from the original: Kevin Hooks (who played the son) directed, and Paul Winfield (who played the father) played the role of the teacher. Walt Disney Home Video
Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., doing business as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, is the home entertainment distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films, television series, an ...
has released the television version on DVD.
See also
* List of American films of 1972
This is a list of American films released in 1972.
''Cabaret'' won 8 Academy Awards including Best Director and Best Actress. ''The Godfather'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
__TOC__ A–C
D–G
H–M
N–S
T–Z
See also
* ...
Notes
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sounder
1972 films
1972 drama films
1970s coming-of-age drama films
20th Century Fox films
American historical drama films
American coming-of-age drama films
African-American drama films
African-American films
1970s English-language films
Films about farmers
Films based on children's books
Films based on American novels
Films directed by Martin Ritt
Films set on farms
Films set in Louisiana
Films set in the 1930s
Films shot in Louisiana
Great Depression films
United States National Film Registry films
1970s American films