L'histoire de Little Richard

Original title: Little Richard

TV Movie
2000
TV-14
1h 28m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

The story of Little Richard Penniman, from his poor Southern upbringing to dealing with the trials and tribulations of being a black singer in the 1950s, to his born-again phase and brief "r... Read allThe story of Little Richard Penniman, from his poor Southern upbringing to dealing with the trials and tribulations of being a black singer in the 1950s, to his born-again phase and brief "retirement" from rock and roll.The story of Little Richard Penniman, from his poor Southern upbringing to dealing with the trials and tribulations of being a black singer in the 1950s, to his born-again phase and brief "retirement" from rock and roll.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy
- 3 nominations total

Photos2

User reviews21

6.71K

Featured reviews

lojrusso

Attended Little Richard concert in 1990s in Vegas

Mid 1990 it was my pleasure to see Little Richard and Chuck Barry at a hotel on the strip. Forgot hotel. I recently watch Little Richard doc 'I am everything ' and had to write something on this great man. He started his concert talking about his start up and trying to make it in the entertainment buz at a time not good to be a black man. Other artists stealing his song, pay was shifty , being gay etc. He made me wisp in tears. I didn't grow up with his music but it was my father music 50s. Little Richard talent at the age of 70 was outstanding. He never gave up, you can tell his soul was in his music. I felt for the man to this day, his music, his attitude, his honesty, his personality and how he spoke out for himself. He will always be in my heart and thank him for sharing his journey. RIP my man Little Richard.

5nneprevilo

This Is Little Richard?

This portrayal of Richard Penniman as a skirt-chasing dandy is completely the opposite of what I've seen of Little Richard all these years. Also, having friends in show biz who worked with and knew him well, this is a movie about somebody else! The only "hints" we get of his homosexuality are the knowing glances between Richard and his young singing mentor, who told him he needed to record. Yes, his behavior ranges from "regular guy" to "somewhat effeminate," but the character is inconsistent.

Good lip-syncing by Leon and nice acting from Jenifer Lewis, as his supportive mother. Other performances were stereotypical, but the story does give us a clear picture of how black stars were cheated by low-down record shysters and literally robbed by white artists like Pat Boone, Georgia Gibbs and Gale Storm.

BigRich

Hey, this movie was alright...

This had to be one of Robert Townsends better, if not best, movie he'd ever directed. I never knew much about Little Richard's past and this movie does a very good job in explaining it. I say about as good as the Tina Turner story, What's Love Got to Do With it.

It's starts out with Richard's child hood, his infatuation with dressing up in his mother's clothes, his father giving him beatings and the influence of the church. The film later goes into Richard's first hit recording "Tutti Fruitti". Pat Boone later goes on to record this song and many other Little Richard songs and the white radio stations play Boone's instead of Richards. Of course, this isn't the whole plot of the movie, though, just part of it.

This movie is about as good as you can get when it comes to biography movies on Rock stars. It doesn't disappoint, not in my opinion. LEON does a very good job portraying Little Richard.

-BGR

3Eegah Guy

Interesting guy, uninteresting movie

I know that the real story of Little Richard is a lot more thrilling than this maudlin and thoroughly average biopic. But then producer Little Richard was probably too reluctant to bring to light any sordid details of his life and just gave us a forgettable facsimile of his career highlights from the 50s and 60s.

7CharltonBoy

The Story of a great career wasted on religion.

It is always a nice suprise when a film made for TV turns out to be entertaining such as Little Richard. This is a very watchable film about the story of Rock and Roller ,Little Richard played by an actor called Leon who i have never seen before but does an very good job. As most TV films , this is a little tamer than if made for Cinema which is a shame because i am sure there is lot we could have seen about Little Richard that was controversial. Instead we see a lot religous rubbish which is the only thing that spoils the film and eventually spoilt a very promising career. All in all this film is good and the acting is above average fot a TV film. 7 out of 10.

More like this

8.4

The Temptations

8.8

The New Edition Story

7.5

6.3

7.5

6.4

7.2

7.4

Little Richard: I Am Everything

8.1

The Rhythm and the Blues

6.7

Sparkle

7.6

The Five Heartbeats

6.3

Les couleurs du destin

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
Little Richard suggested Prince for the lead role, but the deal was never made.

Quotes
Little Richard: [after a bandmate complains of wearing sissy make-up] Being pretty ain't never bothered me. Ain't that right, Lucille?
Lucille: 'Bout the prettiest boy I've ever seen.
Little Richard: Now, sneaking in the back doors so the white folks don't see us till we're on stage, eating in a parking lot of some restaurant that I wouldn't even pay to eat at the counter at, now *that* bothers me. Being called a sissy?
[pause]
Little Richard: You look-a here! Them white kids, they're dancing to *our* music! Okay, they may have Pat Boone on their record player in case their parents walk in, but they got *my* record underneath their pillow. You know which show we're playing here? You know how many colors have played here? None! You know why? 'Cause they can't! I am the first! I am the only! So if you wanna call me a sissy, go ahead! Knock yourself out, boy! But you make sure you call me a rich sissy. And you do as I do, you all gonna be rich sissies, too. Now, where my eyeliner?