All God's Children

• Director: Jerry Thorpe
• Genre: Drama
• Movie Type: Melodrama
• Main Cast: Richard Widmark
• Release Year: 1980
• Country: US
• Run Time: 100 minutes

Plot

The issue of forced school busing is explored with an unfortunately heavy hand in All God's Children. Richard Widmark plays a judge who is tortured with guilt after a school bus is stolen. The robbery was a prank, committed as a reaction to the judge's ruling that selected black students must be bused to white schools, and vice versa. The vehicle was appropriated by two high schoolers, one black, one white. The film's tension arises from the fact that a burned-beyond-recognition body was found in the wreckage; the families of both boys wait in anguish to discover the identity of a victim, while the rest of the community threatens to erupt into violence no matter what the outcome of the autopsy. All God's Children was first telecast April 20, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast

Ned Beatty - Mike Naponic; Mariclare Costello - Winnie Naponic; Ruby Dee - Irene Whitfield; John Harkins - Dr. Munter; Fredric Lehne - Howard Naponic; Frank McCarthy; George Spell; Ken Swofford - Captain Sam Pierce; Trish VanDevere - Natalie; Harvey Vernon - Pierce; Richard Widmark - Judge Parke Denison; Ossie Davis - Blaine Whitfield

Credit

Fredric P. Hope - Art Director, Jerry Thorpe - Director, Byron Ross Chudnow - Editor, Billy Goldenberg - Composer (Music Score), Frank Phillips - Cinematographer, William Blinn - Producer, William Blinn - Screenwriter