Brothers
Directed byArthur Barron[1]
Produced byEdward Lewis
Mildred Lewis
StarringBernie Casey
Vonetta McGee
Ron O'Neal
John Lehne
Stu Gilliam
Renny Roker
Owen Pace
Dwan Smith
Martin St. Judge[2]
CinematographyJohn Arthur Morrill
Edited byWilliam Paul Dornisch
Music byTaj Mahal
Production
companies
Edward Lewis Productions
Soho Productions
Warner Bros.
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
3 August 1977 (1977-08-03)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Brothers is a 1977 American drama film directed by Arthur Barron and produced by Edward Lewis and Mildred Lewis. It stars Bernie Casey, Vonetta McGee, Ron O'Neal, John Lehne, Stu Gilliam, Renny Roker, Owen Pace, Dwan Smith and Martin St. Judge in the lead roles.

The film parallels the real life stories of Black radicals Angela Davis, George Jackson, and Jonathan Jackson.

This film's music is composed by Taj Mahal.[3]

Plot summary

The film begins with the events surrounding the arrest and conviction of David Thomas on trumped up charges of armed robbery. He is sentenced to "one year to life" in prison. He is soon sent to Mendocino Prison, a facility described as "our number one concentration camp for Black" by David's brother, Josh.

In prison David is subjected to overt racism, violence, and mistreatment by guards and the administration. His cellmate, Walter Nance, provides David with a radical political education. Soon David starts organizing prisoners to fight back against the racist oppression. He starts a clandestine newsletter which is distributed and read by Black prisoners.

At the same time, Josh is working on supporting his brother in prison. Josh goes to visit Paula Jones, a revolutionary Black professor. As a result of Josh's entreaties Paula begins reading David's writings and the two begin correspondence. Paula begins to mobilize support for the brothers in Mendocino. She also begins to fall in love with David.

After a guard murders of one of the Black prisoners, the prisoners rebel. During the rebellion a guard is thrown to his death from the prison's third tier. Guards frame David and two other radical Black prisoners for the killing. During a court hearing, Josh pulls out a pistol and takes the prosecuting attorney and judge as hostages. He flees the courthouse and into a van. He is gunned down in the parking lot. In the gunfire the judge and prosecutor are also killed.

Paula, at the urging of her colleagues, decides to flee and go underground out of fear of prosecution for allegedly aiding and abetting the courthouse actions. She changes her appearance and location but is captured, likely because of a snitch.

Sometime later, at Mendocino Prison, guards engineer an agent provocateur to pretend to start an armed riot. The guards' plan seems to be to use this as an excuse to assassinate David. David realizes this and attempts to take the situation into his own hands. Tragically, he is gunned down in the prison yard.

The film ends, rather saccharinely, with all the Mendocino prisoners walking into the chow hall in racially solidarity and sitting together. The racist guards staring slack jawed and afraid.

The plot tracks closely to the real life events from the mid-1960 to early 1970 including the Marin County Civic Center rebellion, the founding of the Black Guerilla Family, the writings of George Jackson including Blood in My Eye and Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson, and the case of the Soledad Brothers.

Cast

Release

Brothers was released in theatres on August 3, 1977. The film was released on VHS on September 1, 1998 by Warner Home Video.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Brothers 1977 Directed by Arthur Barron". letterboxd.com. Retrieved 2017-06-27.
  2. ↑ "Brothers (1977)". themoviescene.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-06-27.
  3. ↑ "Brothers". Turner Classic Movies. United States: Turner Broadcasting System. Retrieved 2017-06-27.
  4. ↑ "Brothers 1977 film". moviefone.com. Retrieved 2017-06-27.
  5. ↑ Brothers (VHS). Burbank, California: Warner Home Video. September 1, 1998. ASIN 6303921973. Retrieved March 5, 2018.


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