Siddhesh Joshi (Editor)

Free, White and 21

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Director
  
Duration
  

Music director
  
Joey Johnson

Language
  
English

3.1/10
IMDb

Genre
  
Drama

Running time
  
1h 44m

Country
  
United States

Free, White and 21 movie poster

Release date
  
1963 (1963)

Writer
  
Larry Buchanan, Harold Hoffman, Cliff Pope

Cast
  
(Ernie Jones),
Annalena Lund
(Greta Mae Hansen),
George Edgley
(Judge),
Johnny Hicks
(Prosecuting Attorney Atkins),
George Russell
(Defense Attorney Tyler),
Hugh Crenshaw
(Assistant Prosecuting Attorney)

Screenplay
  
Larry Buchanan, Harold Hoffman, Cliff Pope

Similar movies
  
Related Larry Buchanan movies

Tagline
  
You must see it from the beginning.

Free white and 21 1963 trailer


Free, White and 21 is a 1963 movie by self-proclaimed "schlockmeister" Larry Buchanan. It was based on the true story of the controversial trial of a black man accused of raping a white woman in Dallas, Texas in the 1960s. The title is a version of the archaic American idiomatic phrase "free, white, and twenty-one" which means "beholden to no one".

Contents

Free, White and 21 wwwgstaticcomtvthumbmovieposters41310p41310

Free white and 21 1963 trailer starring frederick o neal


Plot

The central conflict in this film is whether African-American businessman Ernie Jones (played by Frederick O'Neal) raped Swedish immigrant and civil rights Freedom Rider Greta Mae Hansen (played by Annalena Lund). Jones was the proprietor of the hotel at which Hansen decided to stay during her time in Dallas. The movie is primarily a courtroom drama, with many of the key events portrayed in flashback sequences as Jones and Hansen testify.

Production

The movie was based on a true story about an English girl who stayed at a motel owned by a black man, Tony Davis, who was a disc jockey. She later claimed Davis raped her and he was arrested. Davis was a friend of Buchanan and agreed to work with him on the film even before the trial finished.

Before the film was finished, Buchanan showed an assembly cut to James H. Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff of American International Pictures (AIP), who agreed to distribute it.

Release

The film was released with the gimmick of having the audiences act as a jury and be given ballot papers to mark deciding whether the accused was innocent or guilty. The movie was successful at the box office and led to a series of collaborations between Buchanan and AIP.

References

Free, White and 21 Wikipedia
Free, White and 21 IMDbFree, White and 21 themoviedb.org