''My Sweet Charlie'' is a 1970 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Lamont Johnson. The

teleplay A teleplay is a screenplay or script used in the production of a scripted television program or series. In general usage, the term is most commonly seen in reference to a standalone production, such as a television film, a television play, or a ...

Richard Levinson Richard Leighton Levinson (August 7, 1934 – March 12, 1987) was an American screenwriter and producer who often worked in collaboration with William Link. Life and career Levinson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended the Univ ...

and

William Link William Theodore Link (December 15, 1933 – December 27, 2020) was an American film and television screenwriter and producer who often worked in collaboration with Richard Levinson. Biography Early life Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ...

is based on the novel of the same name by

David Westheimer David Westheimer (April 11, 1917, in Houston, Texas – November 8, 2005) was an American novelist best known for writing the 1964 novel ''Von Ryan's Express'', which was adapted as a Von Ryan's Express, 1965 film starring Frank Sinatra and Trevor ...

. Produced by

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a division of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#Universal Studio Group, Universal Studio Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which, in turn, is ...

and broadcast by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

on January 20, 1970, it later had a brief theatrical release. It is considered a landmark in television films. The film was made on location in Port Bolivar, Texas.

Synopsis

Set during the Civil Rights Movement, Charlie Roberts is a militant

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

attorney from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

falsely accused of

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

during a demonstration in

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Escaping from his captors, Charlie breaks into a vacant coastal vacation home, where he encounters white Marlene Chambers, an uneducated,

prejudice Prejudice can be an affect (psychology), affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived In-group and out-group, social group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classifi ...

d, unwed pregnant teenager who has been shunned by her father and boyfriend due to her pregnancy and who sought refuge in the vacant home a few weeks before Charlie arrives. Realizing their survival depends upon their willingness to help each other, their relationship, at first defined by mutual contempt, prejudice, and hostility, slowly evolves into a touching friendship.

Production notes

In 1966, Westheimer adapted his novel for a play that opened at

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

Longacre Theatre The Longacre Theatre is a Broadway theater at 220 West 48th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1913, it was designed by Henry B. Herts and is named for Longacre Square, the former ...

with

Bonnie Bedelia Bonnie Bedelia (born Bonnie Bedelia Culkin; March 25, 1948) is an American actress. After beginning her career in theatre in the 1960s, Bedelia starred in the CBS daytime soap opera '' Love of Life'' and made her film debut in '' The Gypsy Moths ...

and Louis Gossett in the leading roles. It ran for 12 previews and 31 performances. The television production was filmed on location in Port Bolivar, Texas in 1968 and was plagued by almost as many racial tensions as those depicted in the film. According to Patty Duke in her autobiography, her friendship with Freeman led to rumors of an affair.

Marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

was planted in Duke's Galveston hotel room by locals, though it was quickly determined not to belong to Duke. Texas governor

John Connally John Bowden Connally Jr. (February 27, 1917June 15, 1993) was an American politician who served as the 39th governor of Texas from 1963 to 1969 and as the 61st United States secretary of the treasury from 1971 to 1972. He began his career as a Hi ...

intervened with local authorities to stop harassment of the production company and Duke.

Principal cast

Patty Duke Anna Marie Duke (December 14, 1946 – March 29, 2016), known professionally as Patty Duke, was an American actress. Over the course of her acting career, she was the recipient of an Academy Awards, Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three ...

..... Marlene Chambers *

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 ...

..... Charlie Roberts *

Ford Rainey Ford Rainey (August 8, 1908 – July 25, 2005) was an American film, stage, and television actor.Myrna Oliver ''Los Angeles Times'', July 26, 2005. Early life Rainey was born in Mountain Home, Idaho, the son of Vyrna (née Kinkade), a teacher, ...

..... Treadwell

Principal production credits

* Producers ..... Bob Banner, Richard Levinson, William Link * Original Music ..... Gil Melle *

Cinematography Cinematography () is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens (optics), lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sen ...

.....

Gene Polito Eugene Emmanuel Polito (September 13, 1918 – November 28, 2010) was an American cinematographer, mechanical engineer and academic. His numerous film and television credits included ''Futureworld'', '' Up in Smoke'' and '' Lost in Space''. Biog ...

Art Direction Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to super ...

..... Robert Luthardt *

Costume Design Costume design is the process of selecting or creating clothing for a performers. A costume may be designed from scratch or may be designed by combining existing garments. "Costume" may also refer to the style of dress particular to a nation, a ...

..... Charles Waldo

Reception

The film earned very high ratings, with a

Nielsen rating Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the #Nielsen TV ...

of 31.7, an audience share of 48% and a record audience for a TV movie with 18.5 million homes watching. Both leading actors were nominated for

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

, and Patty Duke won.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{EmmyAward DramaWriting 1970s 1970 television films 1970 films 1970 drama films NBC original films Emmy Award–winning programs Films directed by Lamont Johnson Films based on American novels Films shot in Texas Films set in Texas Universal Pictures films American drama television films 1970s American films 1970s English-language films English-language drama films