An Overlooked Ossie Davis Classic

Have you ever seen someone laugh so hard that it caused a happy tear or two to roll down the person's face? Well, I did. And the first person I saw hit with such a strong fit of laughter was my father. This was back in South Central Los Angeles when I was boy. I was sitting on the living room floor, Dad was sitting in his favorite chair and he was watching a movie on local Channel 9 -- then KHJ TV -- one Friday night. On Friday nights, independent station Channel 9 would air indie movies such as ONE POTATO, TWO POTATO, Judy Garland and Burt Lancaster in A CHILD IS WAITING and NOTHING BUT A MAN. On that particular night, the movie airing was a comedy. A Civil Rights era comedy based on a Broadway play written by and starring Ossie Davis. In the play and in the film version, he played a character inspired by his friend, Dr. Martin Luther King. The play was called PURLIE VICTORIOUS, the name of the clever preacher played by Davis. Reverend Purlie returns to his Georgia hometown to build an integrated church and preach some fresh ideas. His main obstacle is the white man who runs the local cotton plantation.

The title of the 1961 play was changed to GONE ARE THE DAYS! for the 1963 film adaptation. All the original Broadway cast members repeated their roles in the movie. The cast included Ossie's wife, Ruby Dee, plus Beah Richards, Godfrey Cambridge and Alan Alda. After one Broadway performance, the cast was visited by and photographed backstage with Dr. Martin Luther King. Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee were with Dr. King at the historic March on Washington in 1963.

My dad was a quiet, reserved guy. Not outgoing and chatty like Mom. He was kind of shy. To this day, I'm surprised our neighbors on East 124th Street and Central Avenue were not startled hearing Dad's loud bellows of laughter at some of the lines delivered by Godfrey Cambridge. Cambridge plays the resident stuck in his cotton pickin' ways which frustrates the young preacher. Ruby Dee, remarkable dramatic actress of stage and screen, proved that she could do comedy with her performance as the luscious and slightly ditzy Lutiebelle. Ossie Davis wrote the screenplay. 

Ossie Davis's GONE ARE THE DAYS! should be added to the respected Criterion Collection. The fabulous Carla Hayden of the Library of Congress should have Ossie Davis's GONE ARE THE DAYS! added to the National Film Registry.  

I want you to take time to watch this preview clip that runs 7 1/2 minutes. It has Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Godfrey Cambridge and Hilda Haynes in GONE ARE THE DAYS! based by the Broadway play PURLIE VICTORIOUS written by Osssie Davis. This indie movie has been an overlooked gem for too long a time. If he was alive today, my dad would agree.

PURLIE VICTORIOUS, the 1961 play written by Ossie Davis, was adapted into a hit 1970 Broadway musical called PURLIE. The late Cleavon Little won a Tony Award for his performance as Purlie. Melba Moore took on the role originated by Ruby Dee. Melba won a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award and a Theatre World Award.

In the 1960s and 70s, Hollywood was scooping up hit Broadway musicals to turn into movies. But Hollywood ignored the hits starring Black actors. Famous Rodgers & Hammerstein Broadway shows such as OKLAHOMA!, SOUTH PACIFIC, FLOWER DRUM SONG and THE SOUND OF MUSIC got the Hollywood treatment. After the death of Oscar Hammerstein, Richard Rodgers scored a musical by himself. It was NO STRINGS, the 1962 musical that gave us the great song "The Sweetest Sounds." It was a sophisticated musical set in Paris with an interracial love story at its heart. A romance between a Black high fashion model from New York and a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Paris, glamorous fashions, romance, music. History was made when its female lead, Diahann Carroll, became the first Black woman to win the Tony for Best Actress in.a musical. Leslie Uggams starred on Broadway in the 1967 musical HALLELUJAH, BABY! about a talented Black woman, like Lena Horne, determined to have equality in a showbiz career. The story occurs in an America that was changing in its embrace of Civil Rights. It made a star of Ms. Uggams. It won Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Score. The music was by Jule Style (later of FUNNY GIRL fame) with the celebrated Betty Comden and Adolph Green (ON THE TOWN, BELLS ARE RINGING). Sammy Davis, Jr played a prizefighter from Harlem in a musical version of GOLDEN BOY, based on the classic play by Clifford Odets. The 1939 film version starred Barbara Stanwyck with William Holden as the boxer. The musical made the romance between those two characters a controversial interracial one. The score was by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams. Those two also wrote the score to BYE BYE BIRDIE.

Melba Moore wowed audiences when she sang "I Got Love" in PURLIE. Did Hollywood gives us big musical screen versions of NO STRINGS, HALLELUJAH, BABY!, GOLDEN BOY and PURLIE like it did with BYE BYE BIRDIE, THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN, HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, THE MUSIC MAN, FUNNY GIRL and SWEET CHARITY? No. Hollywood ignored the Broadway musicals starring Black talent.

Here's Melba Moore singing "I Got Love" from PURLIE based on a play and film written by Ossie Davis.

Thanks for taking time to read this post and watch the clips. I truly appreciate it. And let's bring some attention to that Ossie Davis classic. Happy New Year.