A Soldier's Story

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For the 2015 Nigerian film, see A Soldier's Story (2015 film).
A Soldier's Story
Soldiers story poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byNorman Jewison
Produced by
Screenplay byCharles Fuller
Based onA Soldier's Play
1981 play
by Charles Fuller
Starring
Music byHerbie Hancock
CinematographyRussell Boyd
Edited by
Production
company
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • September 13, 1984 (1984-09-13)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$6 million
Box office$21,821,347[1]

A Soldier's Story is a 1984 American drama film directed by Norman Jewison, adapted by Charles Fuller from his Pulitzer Prize-winning 1981 Off Broadway production A Soldier's Play. A black military officer, who is also a lawyer, is sent to investigate the murder of a black sergeant in Louisiana near the end of World War II. It is a story about racism in a segregated regiment of the U.S Army commanded by white officers and training in the Jim Crow South, in a time and place where a black officer is unprecedented and bitterly resented by nearly everyone.

The film was first shown at the Toronto International Film Festival. It won the New York Drama Critics Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Theater Club Award, and three Village Voice Obie Awards. It won the Golden Prize at the 14th Moscow International Film Festival.[2] It was nominated for three Academy Awards: for Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Adolph Caesar), and Screenplay Adaptation (Fuller).

Plot[edit]

In 1944 during World War II, Vernon Waters, a master sergeant in a company of black soldiers, is shot to death with a .45 caliber pistol outside Fort Neal, a segregated United States Army base in Louisiana.

Captain Richard Davenport, a black officer from the Judge Advocate General's Corps, is sent to investigate, against the wishes of commanding officer Colonel Nivens. Most assume Waters was killed by the local Ku Klux Klan, but others are doubtful.

Nivens gives Davenport three days to conduct his investigation. Even Captain Taylor, the only white officer in favor of a full investigation, is uncooperative and patronizing, fearing a black officer will have little success. While some black soldiers are proud to see one of their own wearing captain's bars, others are distrustful and evasive.

Davenport learns that Waters' company was officially part of the 221st Chemical Smoke Generator Battalion; though eager to serve their country, they are assigned menial jobs in deference to their white counterparts. Most are former players from the Negro baseball league, grouped as a unit to play ball with Waters as manager. Their success against white soldiers gives them a good deal of popularity, with talk of an exhibition game against the New York Yankees.

James Wilkie, a fellow sergeant Waters demoted for being drunk on duty, initially describes Waters as a strict disciplinarian, but also a fair, good-natured NCO who got on well with the men, especially the jovial and well-liked C.J. Memphis. Davenport uncovers Waters' true tyrannical nature and his disgust with fellow black soldiers, particularly those from the rural South.

Private Peterson reveals he stood up to Waters when he berated the men after a winning game. Waters challenged Peterson to a fight and beat him badly. Interviewing other soldiers, Davenport learns that Waters charged C.J. with the murder of a white MP, after a search conducted by Wilkie turned up a recently discharged pistol under C.J.'s bunk. Waters provoked C.J. into striking him, whereupon the weapons charge was dismissed and C.J. was charged with striking a superior officer.

When C.J.'s best friend Corporal Cobb visits him in jail, C.J. is suffering from intense claustrophobia and tells Cobb of a visit from Waters, who admitted it was a set-up Waters had done to others. Davenport learns from Cobb that C.J., awaiting trail, hanged himself. In protest, the platoon deliberately lost the season's last game, and Waters was shaken by the suicide. Taylor disbanded the team, and the players were assigned to the 221st.

Davenport learns that white officers Captain Wilcox and Lieutenant Byrd had an altercation with Waters shortly before his death. Both officers admit to assaulting Waters when he confronted them in a drunken tirade, but deny killing him as they had not been issued .45 ammunition. Though Taylor is convinced Wilcox and Byrd are lying, Davenport releases them.

Privates Peterson and Smalls go AWOL, and Davenport forces Wilkie to admit he planted the gun under C.J.'s bunk on Waters' orders. Waters had divulged his internalized racism to Wilkie, revealing that during World War I, he helped lynch a black soldier who acted as an Uncle Tom to French civilians. Davenport asks why Waters did not target Peterson because of their fight, and Wilkie explains that Waters liked Peterson. Davenport has Wilkie arrested just as an impromptu celebration begins and as the platoon is to join the fight overseas.

Realizing Peterson and Smalls were on guard duty the night of Waters' murder, and thus had been issued .45 ammunition for their pistols, Davenport interrogates Smalls, found by the MPs. Smalls confesses Peterson killed Sergeant Waters, as revenge for C.J.'s death. Captured and brought to the interrogation room, Peterson confesses to the murder, saying "I didn't kill much. Some things need getting rid of."

Taylor congratulates Davenport, admitting that he will have to get used to Negroes being in charge. Davenport assures Taylor that he will get used to it – "You can bet your ass on that," he adds, as the platoon marches in preparation for their deployment to the European theatre.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

Jewison and many of the cast members worked for scale or less under a tight budget with Columbia Pictures. "No one really wanted to make this movie... a black story, it was based on World War II, and those themes were not popular at the box office", according to Jewison. Warner Bros. turned it down, as did Universal and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Columbia's Frank Price read the screenplay and was deeply interested, but the studio was hesitant about its commercial value, so Jewison offered to do the film for a $5 million budget and no salary. When the Directors Guild of America insisted he must have a fee, he agreed to take the lowest possible amount. The film ended up grossing $22.1 million.[3]

Howard E. Rollins, Jr. just received an Oscar nomination for his role in Ragtime and was cast as the lead. Most of the cast came from Broadway careers, and Adolph Caesar, Denzel Washington, Larry Riley and William Allen Young appeared in both the movie and the original off-Broadway play with the Negro Ensemble Company in the New York City version.

A Soldier's Story was shot entirely in Arkansas. The "Tynin" exterior scenes were shot in three days in Clarendon. The baseball sequence was filmed in Little Rock at the historic Lamar Porter Field.[4]

Bill Clinton (then governor of Arkansas) dropped by during the shooting. He became enthused about the project and later helped by providing the Arkansas Army National Guard in full regalia for a grand scene because Jewison could not afford to pay an army of extras. Production was completed with their help at Fort Chaffee United States Army Ready Reserve base at Fort Smith.

Reception[edit]

The film holds a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from an average of 24 critics with the consensus: "A meticulously-crafted murder mystery with incisive observations about race in America, A Soldier's Story benefits from a roundly excellent ensemble and Charles Fuller's politically urgent screenplay."

Accolades[edit]

Award Category Recipient Result
Academy Awards Best Picture Norman Jewison, Patrick Palmer and Ronald L. Schwary Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Adolph Caesar Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay Charles Fuller Nominated
Golden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture – Drama Nominated
Best Screenplay Charles Fuller Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Adolph Caesar Nominated
Directors Guild of America Outstanding Directing Norman Jewison Nominated
Edgar Award Best Motion Picture Screenplay Charles Fuller Won
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actor Adolph Caesar Won
Moscow International Film Festival Golden Prize[2] Won
NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Motion Picture Won
Writers Guild of America Best Adapted Screenplay Charles Fuller Nominated

References[edit]

  1. ^ "A Soldier's Story (1984)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  2. ^ a b "14th Moscow International Film Festival (1985)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 2013-03-16. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
  3. ^ "A Soldier's Story - Box Office Data, DVD Sales, Movie News, Cast Information". The Numbers. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  4. ^ Gordon, William A. (1996). Shot on This Site. Citadel Press. p. 146. ISBN 0-8065-1647-X.

External links[edit]

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