If I were you baby, I wouldn't go 'round sticking out that jugular vein.

Nothing But A Man
Michael Roemer 1964 USA
Starring: Ivan Dixon, Abbey Lincoln, Stanley Green, Gloria Foster, Julius Harris

Duff Anderson lives in Alabama. His alcoholic father doesn't recognise him, a child who might be his son is being cared for by a wet-nurse after his ex-girlfriend "found herself a husband" and any attempt at improving his situation is met with the ingrained racism of the state, although the north isn't seen as much of an alternative either. The only good thing in his life is Josie, a schoolteacher and preacher's daughter who sees good in him even if her father can't. If that sounds pessimistic it's because it is but it's also the basis of one of the most sensitive, intense portraits of American racism I can remember. The words 'historically and culturally important' are overused when it comes to film, often by those who mistake controversy for intelligent comment, but Nothing But A Man really deserves that moniker. Before 1964 the work of many black filmmakers like the great Oscar Micheaux had been purposefully created for the audiences of black-only theatres; there were even 'all-coloured' musical westerns like Harlem On The Prairie. Nothing But A Man was the first film featuring a largely black cast created for an integrated audience and, rather pleasingly, it's also an exceptional piece of work with a fast-talking yet quietly dramatic script and stunning acting all around, particularly from the debuting Julius Harris whose worn-out, powerless drunkard may be the best performance of both the film and possibly his career. Leads Ivan Dixon and Abbey Lincoln are excellent too and, in Dixon's case, in a role that could easily come off as stereotypical and preachy. It never does though, his Duff never being anything less than compelling as he fights for normality amongst seemingly insurmountable odds, be it against racist co-workers or his respectable father-in-law who's "been stooping so long he doesn't know how to stand straight anymore". Despite all this the film does end on a mildly hopeful note though (albeit not a happy one) and tops off what's a gritty, unpretentious, subtle masterwork that really should be better known.