Sounder

Martin Ritt's 1972 adaptation of William H. Armstrong's Newbery award-winning novel is an unsentimental yet moving drama about an African-American sharecropper family in Louisiana struggling in the midst of the Great Depression. Paul Winfield stars as Nathan Lee Morgan, who after being caught stealing food to feed his near-starving children is sentenced to a year of hard labor far from home. The Morgan family's struggles—under matriarch Rebecca (Cicely Tyson)—to survive during Nathan Lee's absence ultimately leads the oldest son David (Kevin Hooks) to embark on a quest with family dog Sounder to find the prison where his father is incarcerated. Along the way, David meets a teacher at an all-black school, where he is invited to attend full-time, presenting a dilemma for the bright young man, who is reluctant to go to a school so far from the family he believes needs him so much. Boasting strong supporting performances from Taj Mahal and Carmen Mathews, Sounder was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Screenplay, Actor (Winfield), and Actress (Tyson). Highly recommended. (T. Keogh)