Bright Road
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''Bright Road'' is a 1953 low-budget film adapted from the
Christopher Award The Christopher Award (established 1949) is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, films and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit". It is given by The Christophers, a Christian organization ...
-winning short story "See How They Run" by
Mary Elizabeth Vroman Mary Elizabeth Vroman (c. 1924 – April 29, 1967) was an American author of several books and short stories, including "See How They Run", a short story published in 1951. Background Vroman was born circa 1924 in Buffalo, New York, and was rai ...
. Directed by Gerald Mayer and featuring a nearly all-black cast, the film stars
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 ...
as an idealistic first-year elementary school teacher trying to reach out to a problem student. The movie is also notable as the first feature film appearance by
Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...
, who co-stars as the principal of the school.


Plot

Jane Richards (Dandridge) is a new teacher, beginning her career at a rural black elementary school in
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
. One of the students in her fourth-grade class is C.T. Young (Philip Hepburn), who although bright and generally not a troublemaker, is nonetheless markedly uninterested in school and has become accustomed to taking two years to advance through each grade level. He is one of nine children of a semi-employed laborer. Miss Richards becomes determined to get through to C.T. and have her class be the first that does not take him two years to complete, though the school's other teachers have given up on him as "a backward child". The school's principal Mr. Williams (Belafonte) also harbors his doubts about C.T., but he admires Miss Richards' enthusiasm and endorses her efforts, including putting the boy on their free lunch list. She is also shown teaching children's Sunday School. Miss Richards' efforts with C.T. begin to pay dividends and his grades improve somewhat, but all of her progress with him seems to be undone when C.T.'s classmate and closest friend Tanya ( Barbara Ann Sanders) dies after being stricken with
viral pneumonia Viral pneumonia is a pneumonia caused by a virus. Pneumonia is an infection that causes inflammation in one or both of the lungs. The pulmonary alveoli fill with fluid or pus making it difficult to breathe. Pneumonia can be caused by bacteria, vir ...
. Devastated at the loss, C.T. runs away from school for a time, and upon his return, he immediately starts a schoolyard fight. Insistence that he apologize for his actions causes him only to completely withdraw and isolate himself from his teacher and classmates. Frustrated and saddened, Miss Richards must return to giving C.T. the failing marks that had been his previous pattern. One day, however, she overhears C.T. helping another student with arithmetic. This proves that despite his stubborn refusal to participate in class since returning to school, he has actually continued to learn. Seeing this demonstration of knowledge, she is heartened and quietly changes his most recent failing grade to an 'A'. C.T.'s reintegration into the class is completed when he calmly handles a situation in which a swarm of bees invades the classroom, following the queen bee that had flown in. As the other students and even Miss Richards panic and swat at the bees, C.T. calmly collects the queen and carries it outside with the swarm following him. The school year ends with Miss Richards' class observing a caterpillar emerge from its cocoon transformed into a butterfly. Miss Richards notes that it is reborn, "just as you and I will be born again someday, and everyone we've ever known or loved", and that witnessing the butterfly's first flight represents "a wonderful promise of things to come." As he leaves to begin his summer vacation, C.T. offers Miss Richards a final validation of the time she had invested in him by stopping to tell her that he loves her.


Cast

*
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 ...
- Jane Richards * Robert Horton - Dr. Mitchell * Philip Hepburn - C.T. Young *
Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...
- Mr. Williams, School Principal * Barbara Ann Sanders - Tanya *
Maidie Norman Maidie Ruth Norman (October 16, 1912 – May 2, 1998) was an American radio, stage, film, and television actress as well as an instructor in African-American literature and theater. Early life Norman was born Maidie Ruth Gamble on a plantat ...
- Tanya's Mother * Rene Beard - Booker T. Jones * Howard McNeeley - Boyd * Robert McNeeley - Lloyd * Patti Marie Ellis - Rachel Smith * Joy Jackson - Sarahlene Babcock * Fred Moultrie - Roger * James Moultrie - George * Carolyn Ann Jackson - Mary Louise *
Clarence Nash Clarence Charles "Ducky" Nash (December 7, 1904 – February 20, 1985) was an American voice actor. He was best known as the original voice of the Disney cartoon character Donald Duck. He was born in the rural community of Watonga, Oklahoma, and ...
- Bird Whistling Solo (voice, Uncredited) *
Vivian Dandridge Vivian Alferetta Dandridge (April 22, 1921 – October 26, 1991) was an American singer, actress and dancer. Dandridge is best known for being the older sister of actress and singer Dorothy Dandridge and the daughter of actress Ruby Dandridge. ...
- Miss Nelson


Production

''Bright Road'' was produced at MGM by Sol Baer Fielding. "See How They Run" was Mary Elizabeth Vroman's first published short story, written while she was a schoolteacher in rural Alabama. First published in ''
Ladies' Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States. In 18 ...
'' in 1951, it also appeared in ''
Ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus ''Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when pol ...
'' magazine in 1952. When
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
purchased the rights to adapt the story to film, Vroman helped write the screenplay, and as a result, became the first black member of the
Screen Writers Guild The Screen Writers Guild was an organization of Hollywood screenplay authors, formed as a union in 1933. In 1954, it became two different organizations: Writers Guild of America, West and the Writers Guild of America, East. Founding Screenwriter ...
. Belafonte and Dandridge were known to audiences for their singing talents and ''Bright Road'' showcases each of these talents. Early in the film, Belafonte gives the debut performance of his song " Suzanne (Every Night When the Sun Goes Down)". Later, Dandridge briefly sings words from the
Alfred Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...
poem "The Princess: Sweet and Low" to the tune of a lullaby. Belafonte and Dandridge co-starred again the following year in the musical film ''
Carmen Jones ''Carmen Jones'' is a 1943 Broadway musical with music by Georges Bizet (orchestrated for Broadway by Robert Russell Bennett) and lyrics and book by Oscar Hammerstein II which was performed at The Broadway Theatre. Conceptually, it is Bizet's op ...
'' (1954).


Reception

''Bright Road'' was not commercially successful and was criticized for having "dealt too timidly with racial and economic questions." Dandridge, however, had been specifically attracted to the lack of racial conflict in ''Bright Roads story. She wrote that she was "profoundly fond of ... a theme which showed that beneath any color skin, people were simply people. I had a feeling that themes like this might do more real good than the more hard-hitting protest pictures. I wanted any black girl in the audience to look at me performing in this film and be able to say to herself, 'Why, this schoolteacher could be me.'"Dandridge, Dorothy and Earl Conrad. ''Everything and Nothing: The Dorothy Dandridge Tragedy'', New York: Abelard-Schuman, 1970.


Box office

According to MGM records, the film only earned $179,000 in the US and Canada and $73,000 elsewhere, resulting in a loss of $263,000.


References


External links

* * * * {{Portalbar, Film, United States, 1950s 1953 films 1953 drama films African-American drama films American black-and-white films American coming-of-age drama films 1950s English-language films Films about educators Films based on short fiction Films scored by David Rose Films set in Alabama Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1950s coming-of-age drama films 1950s American films