Nothing But a Man (1964)

Nothing But a Man (1964)

starring Ivan Dixon, Abbey Lincoln

written and directed by Michael Roemer

95 minutes

Duff Anderson is part of a crew workingon the railroads Alabama when he meets Josie Dawson, a school teacher and the daughter of a preacher. Her father is against it and he makes his feelings clear both to Josie and Duff.

Duff has a 4-year-old son by another woman. He has his doubts that the child is actually biologically his. Duff travels to Birmingham to visit his son. It has been a couple years since he last saw him. While he is there he learns that his father is back in town. He visits with his father who really doesn't want to have anything to do with him and seems to be more interested in getting drunk and high.

Duff decides after returning from Birmingham that he wants to get married. He convinces first Josie and then her father. He has to quit his job working on the railroad. He takes a job in a wood mill but it doesn't last long. He tries talking some of the other Black workers into hanging together. The White workers don't like it and the White foreman gives him an ultimatum: tell his coworkers to say that what he told them was wrong or else quit. Duff chooses to quit.

Things go down hill from there. There aren't but so many opportunities for work in town. Duff gets rejected right and left. The one job he does get sours fairly quickly. Duff leaves Josie and goes to Birmingham. His father passes away soon after he arrives in town. Duff picks up his son and returns to Josie determined to find a way to make it.

Thoughts

Yaphet Kotto played the part of one of Duff's coworkers on the railroad line. This was his first screen credit according to IMDb. I know him best from his time in Homocide: Life on the Streets but I have also seen him in numerous movies. 

There were some problems with the sound which made some lines hard to hear. That might have been the fault of the theater where I saw this film: the AFI Silver. They might not have had the sound optimally set for this movie.

It was a tough watch in that the specter of racially motivated violence is lurking throughout the movie. It never fully materializes but that almost makes it more terrifying. I was pretty sure that the movie wasn't going to end in tragedy but I wasn't sure how or where it would land.

I thought this movie was excellent. I would recommend it to most if not all.