''The Harlem Globetrotters'' is a 1951

Sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

film about the famous

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 ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team

The Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name ''Harlem'' because of ...

released by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

. The film stars

Thomas Gomez Thomas Gomez (July 10, 1905 – June 18, 1971) was an American actor. Life and career Born Sabino Tomás Gómez, Jr., in New York City, Gomez began his acting career in theater in 1923, studying under actor Walter Hampden in a production of Cy ...

, Bill Walker,

Dorothy Dandridge Dorothy Jean Dandridge (November 9, 1922 – September 8, 1965) was an American actress, singer and dancer. She is the first African-American film star to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, which was for her performance in ''Ca ...

, Angela Clarke, and Peter M. Thompson.

Broadcast

The film premiered on television on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) on May 29, 2012.

Plot

Cast

as Coach Abe Saperstein *Bill Walker as Prof. Turner *

as Ann Carpenter *Angela Clarke as Sylvia Saperstein *Peter M. Thompson as Martin *Billy Brown as Billy Townsend (Globetrotter) *

Roscoe Cumberland Roscoe Franklin "Duke" Cumberland (1913 – October 23, 1966) was a member of the Harlem Globetrotters. He averaged 6.9 points per game in the National Basketball League for the Chicago Studebaker Flyers. See also * The Harlem Globetrotters ...

as Roscoe (Globetrotter) * William 'Pop' Gates as 'Pop' Gates (Globetrotter) *

Marques Haynes Marques Haynes (March 10, 1926 – May 22, 2015) was an American professional basketball player and member of the Harlem Globetrotters, notable for his ability to dribble the ball and keep it away from defenders. According to the 1988 film ''Harl ...

as Marques (Globetrotter) * Louis 'Babe' Pressley as 'Babe' Pressley (Globetrotter) *

Ermer Robinson Ermer Robinson was a native of San Diego. He graduated from high school in 1942. Robinson was a member of the Harlem Globetrotters. Robinson shot the game winning basket when the Globetrotters beat the Lakers. Robinson was Head Coach of the Oa ...

as Elmer Robinson (Globetrotter) *

Ted Strong Theodore Reginald Strong, Jr. (January 2, 1914 – March 1, 1978), was an American Negro league baseball player who played from 1936 to 1942 and again from 1946 to 1951 for the Chicago American Giants, Indianapolis Athletics, Kansas City Monarch ...

as Ted Strong (Globetrotter) * Reece 'Goose' Tatum as 'Goose' Tatum (Globetrotter) *

Frank Washington Frank Washington (4 April 1921 - 24 January 2013) was an American basketball player. He was born and raised in Germantown and graduated from Germantown High School. Washington was a 6'4" guard from Wilberforce, Ohio. Before joining the US Navy, he ...

as Frank Washington (Globetrotter) * Clarence Wilson as Clarence Wilson (Globetrotter)

External links

*
A link to the feature on TCM's website
1951 films American basketball films Cultural depictions of the Harlem Globetrotters Columbia Pictures films 1950s biographical drama films 1950s sports drama films American sports drama films African-American biographical dramas Biographical films about sportspeople 1951 drama films American black-and-white films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films {{sport-film-stub