My Sweet Charlie

• Director: Lamont Johnson
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Drama
• Movie Type: Psychological Drama
• Themes: Unlikely Friendships, Race Relations, Miscarriage of Justice
• Release Year: 1970
• Country: US
• Run Time: 97 minutes

Plot

Having tried and failed to produce the David Westheimer novel and play My Sweet Charlie as a theatrical film, Richard Levinson and William Link had to be content with making the property as a TV movie-which turned out to be one of the very best of its kind. Al Freeman, Jr. plays Charlie, a black New York lawyer falsely accused of a crime in a rural Texas town. Escaping from his tormentors, Charlie takes refuge in a boarded-up farmhouse. Here he meets another fugitive: unmarried, pregnant Marlene Chambers (Patty Duke). Hostile towards each other at first, Charlie and Marlene become friends. The story's tragic ending nonetheless holds a glimmer of hope. Emmy Awards went to star Patty Duke (the first ever given to a TV-movie actress) and to the script by Levinson and Link. First telecast January 20, 1970, My Sweet Charlie was later given a brief theatrical release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast

Patty Duke - Marlene Chambers; Al Freeman, Jr. - Charles Roberts; William Hardy; Archie Moore; Ford Rainey - Treadwell; Noble Willingham; Chris Wilson

Credit

Robert Luthardt - Art Director, Lamont Johnson - Director, Edward M. Abroms - Editor, Bob Banner - Executive Producer, Gil Melle - Composer (Music Score), Gene Polito - Cinematographer, William Link - Producer, Richard A. Levinson - Producer, William Link - Screenwriter, Richard A. Levinson - Screenwriter, Donald Westheimer - Book Author, Donald Westheimer - Play Author