Sounder (1972)

It was last year that the classic film Sounder (1972) was finally added to the National Film Registry. Many people, myself included, were shocked that it had not been added years ago. Sounder is a classic film that received critical acclaim upon its release and is still acclaimed now. It was nominated for four Academy Awards and was nominated for yet other awards. It won the National Board of Review Award for Best Actress for Cicely Tyson and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress for Miss Tyson as well. Released at the height of the Blaxpoitation cycle, Sounder has come to be regarded as a major achievement in Black Cinema. The movie celebrates its 50th anniversary on September 24 of this year.

Sounder was based on the young adult novel of the same name by William H. Armstrong. Sounder centred on an African American boy, his sharecropper family, and their dog. Sounder. In the novel , Sounder is the only character whose name is given. The boy is simply called "the boy," the father "the father," and so on. The time period is also kept vague. References to "mule-drawn wagons" make it clear Sounder is set before automobiles became common. The fact that the family use a chunk stove also make it clear that the novel is set sometime before electricity was commonplace. References to "chain gangs" make it clear it was set before 1955, when the practice was abolished. As to the place, references to Bartlow County and Gilmer County make it clear it is set in Georgia.

Sounder was critically acclaimed upon its publication in 1969, and it won the Newbery Medal in 1970. At the time it should have come as no surprise that Robert B. Radnitz, a producer known for such family films as A Dog of Flanders (1960), Misty (1961), and My Side of the Mountain (1969), decided to adapt the novel Sounder as a movie. Robert B. Radnitz called director Martin Ritt and sent him a copy of the novel. While Martin Ritt had seen some success with such movies as Hud (1963) and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965), his last two films, The Great White Hope (1970) and The Molly Maguires (1970) had failed at the box office. Martin Ritt did not want to make another big motion picture, so he agreed to direct Sounder for an eighty percent cut because Robert B. Radnitz could not afford to pay him anything.

To write the screenplay African American playwright Lonne Elder III was contacted. He initially turned it down, but producer Robert B. Radnitz and director Martin Ritt convinced him to work on the film. Mr. Elder wanted to keep the film historically accurate. The film would see some changes from the novel. While the novel appears to be set in Georgia, the film is set in Louisiana, where it was shot on location (St. Helena Parish and East Feliciana Parish, to be exact). Here it must be pointed out the movie was set to film in Macon, Georgia, but reportedly did not do so due to racial tensions. While the time of the novel is vague as to when it set, the film is set in the year 1933. While human characters are unnamed in the novel, in the movie they are given names (for example, the family of sharecroppers are the Morgans). The film also centres more on the Morgan family and  less on the dog Sounder than the novel had.

As mentioned earlier, Sounder was shot on location in Louisiana. Both director Martin Ritt and cinematographer John A. Alonzo elected to film Sounder as realistically as possible. They took inspiration from photographers Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange, who both documented sharecroppers and farmers during the Great Depression.

As hard it might be to believe, initially Cicely Tyson was not cast as the mother, Rebecca Morgan. Initially she was cast as the schoolteacher. Martin Ritt offered the role to another actress, who turned it down. Cicely Tyson then approached Mr. Ritt about playing the role of the mother. Martin Ritt was reluctant to cast Cicely Tyson in the role, thinking she was "too beautiful." Fortunately, he eventually cast her in the role. Paul Winfield, who had guest starred on several television shows and appeared in the films The Lost Man (1969) and R.P.M. (1970), was cast in the role of the father, Nathan Lee Morgan. Many of the non-supporting roles were played by local people from around St. Helena Parish and East Feliciana Parish. In fact, the judge and the preacher in the film were a judge and a preacher in reality (Judge William Thomas Bennett and Reverend Thomas N. Phillips).

As mentioned earlier, Sounder would be nominated for several awards. It was the first film in which two Black actors (Paul Winfield for the Best Actor award and Cicely Tyson for the Best Actress award) were nominated for Oscars. This would not happen again until  What's Love Got to Do with It (1993), for which both Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett were nominated for Oscars.

A sequel, Part 2, Sounder was released in 1976. While Robert B. Radnitz produced the film and Lonne Elder III wrote the screenplay, Martin Ritt did not return as the film's director. Of the original cast, only Taj Mahal as Ike and Ted Airhart as Mr. Perkins returned. The film did not repeat the success of Sounder. Part 2, Sounder received poor reviews and did badly at the box office. In 2003 The Wonderful World of Disney aired a television adaptation of the novel Sounder. Kevin Hooks, who played David in the 1972 film, directed the movie, while Paul Winfield played the teacher in the film.

Sounder was released on September 24 1972 to nearly universal critical acclaim. It also did well at the box office. Made for only $1.9 million, Sounder made $16.9 million. What is more, Sounder has maintained its reputation over the years. The film was included AFI's list AFi's 100 Years...100 Cheers. It also made the list of Filmsite's Greatest Tearjerkers and Movie Moments of All-Time. As mentioned earlier, it was added to the National Film Registry last year.

Sounder has been one of my favourite movies since childhood. I grew up on a farm outside a small town, and I have always had plenty of Black friends. The movie largely appealed to me because it portrayed an African American family living in a rural area at a time when most Black characters in the media were portrayed as living in big cities. Despite being set in the 1930s and lacking much of the technology my friends and I grew up with (the average person did not own a TV set in 1933), the movie's milieu then seemed much more familiar to me than New York City, Chicago, or Los Angeles. Even as a boy, I could identify with David Lee Morgan (Kevin Hooks), his love for his dog Sounder, and his love of reading. As I got older I also appreciated its fine writing, its excellent performances, and it historical accuracy. Indeed, while Sounder is suitable viewing for older children, it does not shy away from the brutal realities of racism in the era. Sounder isn't only a landmark achievement in Black Cinema, it is a landmark achievement in American cinema and cinema all over the world.