Gone Are the Days!

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Gone Are the Days!
Directed by Nicholas Webster
Screenplay by Ossie Davis
Based onthe play Purlie Victorious
by Ossie Davis
Produced by Brock Peters
Nicholas Webster
StarringOssie Davis
Ruby Dee
Godfrey Cambridge
Cinematography Boris Kaufman
Edited by Ralph Rosenblum
Production
company
Hammer Film Corp.
Release date
  • September 23, 1963 (1963-09-23)
Running time
99 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Gone Are the Days! or Purlie Victorious is a 1963 American comedy-drama film starring Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee and Godfrey Cambridge. It is based on the 1961 Broadway play Purlie Victorious , which was written by Davis. [1] Davis, Dee, Cambridge, Beah Richards, Sorrell Booke and Alan Alda (in his film debut), reprised their roles from the Broadway production.

Contents

Cast

Reception

The New York Times review stated "The cancers of segregation, blind bigotry and Uncle Tom were made funny but real, and therefore howlingly effective, by the dual artistry of playwright-star Ossie Davis. As a Negro seeing his people and their tormentors comically plain, he filled the stage with humor, insight and passion." [1] The critic noted, however, that "Mr. Davis's,[ sic ] manufactured folk tale has, with the passage of just two years and the shedding of blood in Birmingham, lost some of its laughter. And the somewhat static quality of Nicholas Webster's direction, which clings to stage techniques, is not much of a help." [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Purlie and His Friends Return in a Film, 'Gone Are the Days!'". The New York Times. September 24, 1963.

Further reading