O Clamor Humano

To correct a previous commentary... "The Big Red One" is the 1st Infantry Division. The "Red Ball Express" was the name given to the truck convoys. My own opinions of the film: I think a movie like this needs to be appreciated within the context of the time period it was made. Considering that the country then was barely taking baby steps into the civil rights movement, the subject was handled pretty well. It sent it's message without being preachy or patronizing. A great cast also helps it make a worthwhile movie to watch. It's too bad that James Edwards died several years later while still relatively young. He might've made a real breakthrough to some leading roles.

Decades ahead of its time! Years before the services are integrated, a black soldier is sent on patrol with an all white squad. More than just a story of racial tension in combat, this is a character study, a study of the true inner feelings of men in war, and bigotry that was and has been a way of life for so long. Edwards and Bridges win the acting honors here...however the entire cast deserves kudos for having the guts to participate in a picture that was obviously not received well in all parts of the U.S. This one will have you on the edge of your chair and near tears on occasion-guaranteed.

Home of the Brave, for its time, was considered daring as it brought racism to the big screen in a setting of war. James Edwards gives a sterling performance as Peter Moss, a Black man chosen to go on a dangerous mission with 4 white soldiers. The war becomes secondary to the characters and how they react to one another. Lloyd Bridges as "Finch" is excellent as is Frank Lovejoy as "Mingo". This is a fine effort and will keep you on the edge of your seat just watching the tensions rise and fall.

The importance of this film cannot be overstated. 1 - It gave us JAMES EDWARDS, thus ending Hollywood's Heroic-Black-Man Prohibition. Without Mr. Edwards there would be no Sidney Poitier, no Denzel. 2 - This film, hot on the heels of President Truman's Executive Order integrating America's segregated military, examines the possible pressures of this new policy on both the races - without demeaning either. 3 - Until this time Hollywood had managed to fight two world wars on screen without any major assistance from America's Black population except as domestics. 4 - The existence of HOME OF THE BRAVE put pressure on subsequent films (which only a scant few bowed to)to present a more accurate racial and ethnic portrayal of America's fighting forces. So (with the exception of SAHARA) every Black man in a Hollywood war film owes thanks to Mr. Edwards.

The irony is Mr. Edwards' last film, PATTON, has him portraying a valet. The insult is that Patton's most important victory - The Battle of The Bulge - was facilitated in great part by the contribution of The Big Red One - a battalion of Black truck drivers - who risked all to keep Patton's front supplied until the weather cleared enough to allow cargo flights. This historic fact (the race of the drivers in this segregated unit) is ignored in the film leaving Mr. Edwards with the only Black speaking part in a sweeping biography about a WWII general - isn't this where we came in?

If you examine Mr. Edward's filmography (by which I mean screen the films) it is difficult to understand the spottiness of his career and his relative obscurity. Part of the explanation may lie in the murky machinations of HUAC, McCarthyism, the Hollywood Blacklist and Mr. Edwards' worldwide tour with this film (it included a stop in the then Soviet Union). If you have any information regarding this aspect of his life please post it here.

CeOTIS

...since AI first saw it on TV in the late 50's. This is a frank look at military racism and its results. The term "nigger" is used openly (a rarity at any time to be sure, in a movie without an all-black cast and especially way back then). James Edwards delivers a powerful performance as a psychosomatically paralyzed black soldier being treated by a white psychiatrist (Jeff Corey). Corey's relentless digging stirs Edwards's memory and the incident that caused the paralysis is finally uncovered. Stark, honest storytelling. Based on a play in which the afflicted soldier was Jewish, this retelling is very contemporary even today.