Black Girl

i caught this movie on showcase awhile ago and absolutely loved it! i thought the relationship between the siblings was fairly realistic, especially considering their situation, and it really showed how jealousy brings the worst out of people no matter how good a person the victim may be. it also gives you a pretty good feel of what it was like to be a black girl living in the slums of America back in the 70's. anyway, it wasn't amazing, but it appealed to me mainly because i enjoyed that time period and i loved the way they spoke, the slang and the language sounded really cool. and billy jean is a really good dancer. there is a fight scene as well that was really intense. "girl you better turn her loose!" is this ten lines yet?

This was the first time I realized Ossie Davis had directed movies!! This is one of the best, angst-filled, coming of age stories I have ever seen. It should rank right up there with "A Member of the Wedding" and "To Kill A Mockingbird" as far as young girls seeking answers to life and trying to find their way. I miss Ossie Davis. He was an amazing talent to have been able to coalesce the right mood and tone for this movie from the perspective of a young girl. The cast was one of the most perfect I've seen since "A Raisin in the Sun" (Sidney Poitier version) and definitely, each actor seemed to squeeze the blood out of their respective roles. What perfection!

This film essentially revolves around a woman by the name of "Mama Rose" (Louise Stubbs) who has three teenage daughters named "Norma" (Gloria Edwards), "Ruth Ann" (Rhetta Greene), "Billie Jean" (Peggy Pettit). The first two were fathered by a man named "Earl" (Brock Peters) who Mama Rose kicked out of the house because he cheated on her. Billie Jean, on the other hand, had a different father who apparently ran off when she was younger and as a result Mama Rose has had to raise all of her children with her own mother who everyone calls "Mu' Dear" (Claudia McNeil). Also living in this small house is Mu' Dear's elderly male companion by the name of "Herbert" (Kent Martin) who pays half the rent. It should also be noted that Mama Rose also has a foster daughter named "Netta" (Leslie Uggams) who she took in when she was quite young and who is currently in college trying to become a teacher. In that regard, both Norma and Ruth Ann have acquired a great dislike for her because she is trying to make something of herself. Likewise, neither of these two young women like their half-sister Billie Jean either because she is trying to pursue her own dream of becoming a dancer--while they feel destined for a life of poverty and hopelessness. As a result, both Norma and Ruth Ann do everything they can to make life miserable for Billie Jean and diminish Mama Rose's love for Netta. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this turned out to be a deep and interesting film which sheds a glimmer of light upon the struggles of ordinary people within the black community trying to make it in urban America in the early 70's. Admittedly, there were some scenes which seemed a bit too gloomy at times and the film is rather dated as well. Even so, I thought it was worth the time spent and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

I have seen Black Girl about 4 or 5 times, and I enjoy it each time I see it. TV One runs it quite a bit. I'm a product of the 70's and I just love the 70's. I love all the old movies from the 70's. The part of Netta was played by Leslie Uggams (did you notice how knock-kneed she is? LOL) I was surprised to learn that the father in the movie was a pimp. I didn't even realize that, but he did have a Caddy and was throwing money around like it was just plain old paper. A few of the cast members are deceased: Gloria Edwards, Claudia McNeill, the lady who played the mother. Did anyone know that Gloria Edwards was married to the actor Dick Anthony Williams?

This is a very interesting movie to me.I don't remember seeing it back when it came out and I would have.Claudia McNeil(Mu'Dear) is a favorite of mine ever since I saw her in the movie version of "A Raisin in the Sun."With all the shouting and bickering through this film it was nice to have her calm everything down at the end.I couldn't figure out where al the anger came from in the household.It seemed like the movie started in the middle of the story being told.The youngest daughter has quit school and is dancing in a bar,the mother(Mama Rose) is working as a maid to support the household yet everybody is grown.The two oldest daughters don't live at home,the grandmother has a man living with her and btw that seemed very out of character like something the mother would be doing instead.Also for all the preaching Mama Rose did when the father(a pimp?) of the two oldest comes back for a visit he makes a vulgar comment about the youngest(Billie Jean)saying he'd take her to Detroit and turn her out. She isn't his child and everybody except the boarder thinks it's funny.Billie Jean wants to study dance and buy her mother a house while the two oldest are the meanest and most hateful characters and both got on my nerves throughout the whole film.Neither were doing anything but having children and talking about their husbands yet both were very jealous of Billie Jean and Netta(college student) who their mother had taken in.They seem to exist to spew poison about both girls and use Netta to drag Billie Jean down to their hateful level which happens.A basic cable channel that features African-Americans shows this movie regularly and I'm sad to find out after he passed this week that Ossie Davis directed it.His wife Ruby Dee plays Netta disturbed mother that couldn't care for her.Netta comes into the movie so late you almost forget she's involved.The plot is Mama Rose can only talk about how proud she is of her daughter Netta and with mother's day coming up she's looking forward to her coming home.Her three daughters are sick of their mother praising a stranger while having nothing good to say about her blood children.All three hide Netta's letters to Mama Rose and she has no idea about it.Norma and Ruth Ann tell Billie Jean their mother is giving Netta her room and that she'll probably have to move out.Turns out Billie Jean had already been hiding Netta's letters to her mother and all three hide the last one annoucing Netta's homecoming.From then on it's a lot of bickering between them all and Earl(father) when he gets there that really about how all of them did nothing with their lives like Netta did.Earl throws money around and even asks Rose to take him back but she's too proud and he leaves.Netta comes home and finds out she needs her real mother after all and helps Billie Jean find get on the path to an education and dance career.The movie showed mainly what was the normal acting style in the 70's for blacks.Eyes popping,pronoucing every syllable,shouting and glaring at the other actor.This movie should be viewed by students that want to be actors to see how far we've come.Or have we? I said it was interesting because in the 70's every black movie was a drug/prostitute/pimp/police/detective plot movie. mojo2004