A Gathering of Old Men (1987) (TV)

Director:

Volker Schlöndorff

Writers:

Ernest J. Gaines (novel)
Charles Fuller (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 May 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

A Lifetime of Injustice...A Moment of Vengeance.

Plot:

A regular day in a Louisiana sugarcane plantation changes course when a local white farmer is shot. A group of old...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Louis Gossett Jr.	...	Mathu
Richard Widmark	...	Sheriff Mapes
Holly Hunter	...	Candy Marshall
Joe Seneca	...	Clatoo
Will Patton	...	Lou Dimes
Woody Strode	...	Yank
Tiger Haynes	...	Booker
Papa John Creach	...	Jacob
Julius Harris	...	Coot
Rosanna Carter	...	Beulah
Walter Breaux	...	Charlie
Joe 'Flash' Riley	...	Jameson (as Jay 'Flash' Riley)
Danny Barker	...	Chimley
Howard 'Sandman' Sims	...	Uncle Billy
P. Jay Sidney	...	Gable
Arthur Shilling	...	Griffin (as Art Shilling)
Lenore Banks	...	Miss Merle
Al Shannon	...	Luke Will
Stocker Fontelieu	...	Fix
Richard Whaley	...	Beau
Lucille McKay	...	Bea Marshall
Eliott Keener	...	Herman (as Elliott Keener)
Carol Sutton	...	Janey
Pat Perkins	...	Aunt Glo
Jerome Reddick	...	Snookum
Dave Petitjean	...	Deputy Russell
Dwayne Jones	...	Leroy
James Michael Bailey	...	Alcee
Adam Storke	...	Gil
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mistie Adams	...	Granddaughter (uncredited)

Directed by
Volker Schlöndorff

Writing credits
Ernest J. Gaines		(novel: "A Gathering of Old Men")
Charles Fuller		(screenplay)

Produced by
James Bigwood	....	executive producer
Michael Deeley	....	supervising producer
Gower Frost	....	producer
Eberhard Junkersdorf	....	co-producer
Hans Prescher	....	producer: HR

Original Music by
Ron Carter

Cinematography by
Edward Lachman		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Nancy Baker
Craig McKay

Production Design by
Thomas A. Walsh

Art Direction by
Jay Klein

Set Decoration by
Jan Pascale

Costume Design by
Susan Gammie

Makeup Department
Gigi Coker	....	makeup supervisor (as Gi Gi Coker)
Ted Long	....	hair stylist
Regina Rutherford	....	assistant makeup artist

Production Management
Robert Graves	....	unit manager
Preston L. Holmes	....	production manager (as Preston Holmes)
Fred Styles	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Paula Brody	....	second assistant director
Dwight Williams	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Brian Cowden	....	props assistant
Anita Dallas	....	prop supervisor
Roger Knight	....	carpenter
Steve Roll	....	construction coordinator

Sound Department
Neelon Crawford	....	sound mixer
Jay Dranch	....	sound editor
Eleanor Goldstein	....	assistant sound editor
Laredo Heddens	....	boom operator
Mary Hickey	....	assistant sound editor
Al Nahmias	....	supervising sound editor
William Schneiberg	....	boom operator
Dick Vorisek	....	recording supervisor

Camera and Electrical Department
Steve Apicella	....	second assistant camera
Bill Benware	....	best boy grip (as William Benware)
Mitch Dubin	....	camera operator
Matthew Johnston	....	first assistant camera (as Matt Johnston)
Craig Nelson	....	gaffer
J.L. Parker	....	generator operator
Michael Trim	....	best boy
Tony Whitman	....	key grip
Bob Greene	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Casting Department
Lorna Barrios	....	extras casting
Jaki Brown	....	casting: West Coast
Wilma Francis	....	casting: New Orleans
Red Johnson	....	extras casting
Rick Landry	....	casting: New Orleans
Toni Livingston	....	casting: West Coast
John McCabe	....	casting assistant
Dale Rogers	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lynda Foote	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Suzy Elmiger	....	assistant editor (as Susan Elmiger)
Fred Koevary	....	negative cutter
Alisa Lepselter	....	apprentice editor
Jimmy McDonough	....	apprentice editor

Music Department
Papa John Creach	....	composer: additional music

Transportation Department
Melvin Ballard	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Sherry Baumgart	....	post-production auditor
Harry Caldwell	....	production coordinator
Michael Donner	....	production auditor
Randy Fletcher	....	key production assistant
Sabrina Gray	....	runner: New York
Linda Heywood	....	production assistant
Frederick Meyer	....	titles
Tom Miller	....	unit publicist
Mamie Mitchell	....	script supervisor
Fred Styles	....	location manager

Production Companies

• Bioskop Film
• CBS Television
• Consolidated Productions
• Hessischer Rundfunk (HR)
• Jennie & Co.
• Zenith Entertainment Ltd.

Distributors

• CBS Television (1987) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Filmverlag der Autoren (1987) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2008) (Germany) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Aufstand alter Männer, Ein (West Germany)
Murder on the Bayou

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA | West Germany

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 (bw) | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Germany

Company:

Bioskop Film

Interesting cast, deep issues, average movie.

Unfolding more like a play than a TV movie, A Gathering of Old Men amasses a worthy cast to slowly drive home a point about racism that shouldn't need making ... but with this group of talent, is still strong.

The story begins with Charlie (Breaux), a black man, on the run from a tractor (!) driven by an angry white Beau vowing to kill him. Charlie disappears into a shack, and when Beau follows him into the yard with a shotgun, another shotgun appears from the door of the shack and shoots him dead. Charlie and Mathu (Gossett) emerge, Charlie stammers some excuses to take off, and Mathu shoos him away just before firebrand Candy (Hunter), who's known and "protected" Mathu and his people all her life, appears. Without asking, she assumes he's the murderer and begins to recruit every elderly black man in the surrounding quarter to appear with a recently fired shotgun -- all know what she's up to, and all fall in like soldiers fighting their own last, great war to protect Mathu by assuming the mantle of guilt. After all, each has a reason to hate the racist Beau and his family, so each has a reason to stand tall and claim the murder regardless of who pulled the trigger.

Along with a taciturn Louis Gossett Jr, most of the "old men" are familiar as supporting and background actors, and one could stretch the point that the fierce pride and determination each brings to his lifetime-of-indignity role comes from a career often stifled by the Hollywood hand that should have fed him. But even without the big plot moments like Joe Seneca's emotional speech about his son's unjust death, their screen presence -- one wears a suit, another has donned his old Army uniform -- makes a telling point. Add a soundtrack by jazz bassist Ron Carter and the live musical presence of legendary fiddler Papa John Creach as one of the old men, and the production explodes with atmosphere.

The film is based on the novel by Ernest J. Gaines (Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman), adapted by Charles Fuller (A Soldier's Play/Story), and directed by Volker Schlöndorff (Palmetto). Gaines' novel is told from numerous points of view, and Fuller and Schlöndorff use this device just often enough to confuse an otherwise straight story line. Other weaknesses, mostly from the "white" side of the tale, drag the pace and weaken the overall message. The issues the story would like to cover are just too deep to fit into a 90-minute movie.

But aaaaieee -- what a gathering of talented "old men"!