The Importance of Being Earnest (1992 film)

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The Importance of Being Earnest
Directed byKurt Baker
Screenplay by
  • Peter Anthony Andrews
  • Kurt Baker
Based on The Importance of Being Earnest
1895 play
by Oscar Wilde
Produced byNancy Carter Crow
Starring
CinematographyJoseph W. Calloway
Edited byTracy Alexander
Music byRoger Hamilton Spotts
Production
companies
  • Electric Concepts
  • Paco Global
Distributed byFlair Films
Release date
  • May 14, 1992 (1992-05-14)
Running time
126 minutes
Country United States of America
Language English

The Importance of Being Earnest is a 1992 American film adaptation of the 1895 play of the same name by Oscar Wilde, featuring an all-black cast. [1] [2]

Contents

Director Kurt Baker co-wrote the screenplay with Peter Anthony Andrews, retaining most of Wilde’s dialogue and the setting around London, but moving it to the (then) present day rather than the original’s late Victorian period. [3] The film was produced by Nancy Carter Crow, who is also married to the director, and shot completely within the couple’s home in Brentwood, Los Angeles. [4] It premiered in October 1991 at a Harvard University film symposium, "Blacks in Black & White and Color", [5] and opened theatrically on May 14, 1992, at the Anthology Film Archives. [3]

Plot summary

Cast

Reception

Stephen Holden, writing for The New York Times , found that the film "deserves credit for breaking new ground", but lamented its technical quality, describing it as "just one step more sophisticated than a crude home movie". [3]

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References

  1. The Importance of Being Earnest , retrieved 2020-03-20
  2. Holden, Stephen (16 May 1992). "All-black 'Earnest' breaks ground, but lacking technically". Star Tribune. Minneapolis, Minn.
  3. 1 2 3 Holden, Stephen (1992-05-14). "A Black Cast in a Present-Day 'Earnest'". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2020-03-20.
  4. "Director Kurt Baker says his latest work, 'The Importance..." UPI. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
  5. "The Importance Of Being Earnest | TV Guide". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2020-03-20.