Themes: Prospectors and Land Rights, Race Relations
Main Cast: Michael Caine, Jane Fonda, John Phillip Law, Diahann Carroll, Faye Dunaway, Robert Hooks
Release Year: 1967
Country: US
Run Time: 146 minutes
Plot
Otto Preminger directed this star-studded adaptation of K.B. Gliden's novel about racial prejudice and emotional unrest in the Deep South. Henry Warren (Michael Caine) is a land owner obsessed with buying up all available land in a Georgia farming town. However, two parcels of land have escaped his reach, and he's determined to get them. The Scotts, an African-American family, own one of the lots that Henry is after; the matriarch of the family, Rose (Beah Richards), used to work as a servant for the family of Henry's wife, Julie Ann (Jane Fonda), so Henry sends Julie Ann to talk with her. However, not only doesn't Rose agree to sell, she gets so upset that she dies of a heart attack, and soon her headstrong son Reeve (Robert Hooks) is the owner of the land. Reeve refuses all of Henry's offers to sell out, and he even stands up to a racist lynch mob that tries to ransack his farm; when Henry attempts to prove that Reeve holds no legal deed to the property, Vivian Thurlow (Diahann Carroll), the town's black schoolmarm, is able to provide the documentation that the Scotts do indeed own their land. Meanwhile, Henry is also trying to buy some property farmed by Rod McDowell (John Phillip Law) and his wife Lou (Faye Dunnaway), a poor white couple who are Henry's cousins. The McDowell farm adjoins that owned by the Scotts, so Reeve and Rod agree to join forces against Henry, which leads to violent reprisals against them. While set in Georgia, Hurry Sundown was actually shot on location in Louisiana; it was the first film shot in the South with an integrated cast and crew, leading the producers to demand protection from State Troopers after members of the company received death threats. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Estevez - Costume Designer, Otto Preminger - Director, Louis Loeffler - Editor, James D. Wells - Editor, Hugo Montenegro - Composer (Music Score), Hugo Montenegro - Songwriter, Buddy Kaye - Songwriter, Del Armstrong - Makeup, Webb Overlander - Makeup, Gene Callahan - Production Designer, Loyal Griggs - Cinematographer, Milton Krasner - Cinematographer, Otto Preminger - Producer, John B. Goodman - Set Designer, John Godfrey - Set Designer, Willis Cook - Special Effects, Horton Foote - Screenwriter, Thomas C. Ryan - Screenwriter, K.B. Gilden - Book Author, K.B. Gliden - Book Author
Hurry Sundown is a 1967 film starring Michael Caine, Faye Dunaway, Jane Fonda, and Diahann Carroll. It is based on the 1964 novel Hurry Sundown, by K.B. Gilden, a pseudonym for the writing team of Katya Alpert Gilden and her husband, Bert. They sold the movie rights for this first novel to Hollywood in a sliding-scale deal that could bring them more than $250,000.[1] The film was directed by Otto Preminger. While set in Georgia, the film was actually shot on location in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Henry Warren (Michael Caine) is a land owner obsessed with buying up all available land in rural Georgia in the days just after World War II. However, two parcels of land have escaped his reach, and he's determined to get them. The Scotts, an African-American family, own one of the lots that Henry is after; the matriarch of the family, Rose (Beah Richards), used to work as a servant for the family of Henry's wife, Julie Ann (Jane Fonda), so Henry sends Julie Ann to talk with her. However, not only doesn't Rose agree to sell, she gets so upset that she dies of a heart attack, and soon her son Reeve (Robert Hooks) is the owner of the land. Reeve refuses all of Henry's offers to sell out, and he even stands up to a racist lynch mob that tries to ransack his farm; when Henry attempts to prove that Reeve holds no legal deed to the property, Vivian Thurlow (Diahann Carroll), the town's black schoolmarm, is able to provide the documentation that the Scotts do indeed own their land. Meanwhile, Henry is also trying to buy some property farmed by Rod McDowell (John Phillip Law) and his wife Lou (Faye Dunaway), a poor white couple who are Henry's cousins. The McDowell farm adjoins that owned by the Scotts, so Reeve and Rod agree to join forces against Henry, which leads to violent reprisals against them. The courtroom scene features Burgess Meredith as the judge, Robert Reed as the prosecuting attorney, and Jim Backus as the defense attorney, and Madeline Sherwood as the judge's wife.
Segregation became a problem during the course of the shoot. The producers had to obtain special permission to allow the black and white cast members to stay in the same hotel. It was reported that at one stage the Ku Klux Klan fired a gun at director Otto Preminger's trailer while on location.[2]
1. Main Title
2. Cool It Julie
3. Hurry Sundown
4. Homecoming
5. The Loser
6. Charlie's Trip
7. Love Me Vivian
8. Hurry Sundown
9. Playing With Dynamite
10. Hurry Sundown Blues
11. Love Theme
12. Breakfast in Bed
13. Interlude and End Title
^ Field, Matthew. Michael Caine 'You're a Big Man': The Performances That Made The Icon (2003), Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. page 32 - ISBN 071348876X
