The Long Walk Home (1990) on Netflix
Montgomery, Alabama, 1955. Odessa Cotter, a maid and nanny, joins the bus boycott and walks to work. Her employer, Miriam Thompson, offers her rides, which becomes an issue with her husband.
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- IMDb7.3/105,806 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes88%
Trailer
Plot summary
In Montgomery, Alabama, during the 1955 bus boycott, Odessa Cotter works as a maid and nanny for Miriam Thompson. The city's black residents have stopped riding the buses to end segregation, and Odessa joins them, so she walks to work and back. Her family faces poverty and racism. Miriam offers to drive her two days a week so she arrives on time and is less tired. Informal carpools appear, and the bus system, which relied on black riders, loses money. Miriam's help becomes an issue with her husband, Norman Thompson.
Cast
- Richard Habershamas Theodore Cotter
- Crystal Robbinsas Sara Thompson
- Cherene Snowas Claudia
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Long Walk Home (1990)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- One of the buses used in the film was Montgomery Bus Lines bus #2857, the one Rosa Parks was riding when she refused to give up her seat and was arrested. In poor condition by then, it was partly repainted and towed by cable for its scenes, and is now on permanent display at the Henry Ford Museum.
- USC selected Cork's script for production but assigned another student, Beverlyn E. Fray, to direct it. The short film won several awards, including first place at the Black American Cinema Society, yet Cork was unhappy with the finished project and unsuccessfully tried to block screenings of it.
- Cinematographer John Bailey was to have made his directorial debut on this film but was replaced by Richard Pearce early into production.
- The scenario the film is based on was not invented: it actually happened to Cork and his own maid, in his hometown of Montgomery, Alabama.
- Miramax withdrew the film from its limited December 1990 release because of the heavy competition of that holiday season, then gave it another U.S. theatrical release in March 1991.
