#johnnynash

Digging through the Criterion Collection library is always a wonderful experience, and it’s bolstered by the fact that they offer curated collections on a nearly daily basis.  Recently, a collection of Ruby Dee films popped up, and while investigating, I discovered a film by the name of Take a Giant Step.  What really caught my eye was the fact that, in 1959, the film had an all Black leading cast, an extreme rarity for the time, which made it a fitting choice for my Black History Month docket.

Spence Scott (Johnny Nash) is expelled from school after a History class discussion over the Civil War turns into a standoff between himself and the mostly White class.  After walking out of class, Spence is caught in the restroom smoking a cigar, which ultimately leads to his expulsion.  Frustrated, Spence heads home just in time to see Christine (Ruby Dee), the Scott’s housekeeper, out before his Gram (Estelle Hemsley) comes downstairs to console him.  Spence slips out of the house before his parents, Lem (Frederick O’Neal) and May (Beah Richards) Scott, return home, and with bag in hand, Spence heads out with intentions of taking care of himself.  After a couple of less than ideal encounters, however, Spence returns home to face the music, but things only worsen as tensions rise within the family and issues pile up.

Watching Spence attempt to navigate the educational and social ills he was born into due to his parents’ attempts at bettering themselves stands as a metaphor for the greater struggles that many Black men and women face in the shadow of generations of mistreatment, and the frustration these chains that emerge from the past can cause.  Spence continuously tries to extend bridges to his young friends from other cultures, sometimes in spite of how his Gram feels, but it becomes immediately apparent that Spence does so with a sense of indignation that he is no longer unable to hide by the time he is introduced to us.  The divide between Spence and his parents makes things more difficult because, despite their similar end goals, their journeys could not differ more, but the built in hierarchy of respect that is implied makes communication flow one way.

There are echoes of Long Day’s Journey Into Night in terms of how frank the film is with its subject matter, although Take a Giant Step predates Long Day’s Journey.  While racism and oppression are at the forefront of the story, the film presents unflinching looks at underage drinking, prostitution, infidelity and other social norms that were often swept under the rug at the time.  Even Lem, Spence’s father, opts to handle his missing son on his own rather than involve the police, a sentiment that seems to still stand in the Black community.  Seeing the relationship between Spence and Gram depicted on the screen is one of the earliest presentations of generational connections in the Black community that I can remember, and in turn, it makes the loss of Gram sting for the viewer the same way it does for Spence.  There is no effort made to sugarcoat or dance around death and despair, but the film also smartly chooses not to dwell on these things or wallow in them, staying true to its initial narrative trajectory.

For a film that is nearly 65 years old, the cinematography is surprisingly modern, with a very kinetic camera that allows characters to explore the fullness of the spaces and locations in which the story takes place.  Though based on a play, the film is adapted well enough to break the confines that normally come with this evolution by building a sense of a much bigger world not limited to minimal locations.  While the score is present enough to give viewers emotional cues, it manages to stay out of the way of the monumental performances viewers are blessed with.  All in all, the film is quite technically proficient, but in a way that makes it an overall strong film rather than a story enhanced by bells and whistles, which in turn, gives it a bit of a timeless feel despite its dated look at its subject matter.

At only 19 years old, and with a world of fame yet to unfold for him, Johnny Nash really and truly stepped up to the plate in a role that required him to state some extremely tough truths and observations with the kind of conviction that could put a Black man in danger at the time, and all the while, he still maintains a youthful innocence.  Estelle Hemsley provides the most beautiful wisdom and honesty to Nash’s Spence, as well as infinite amounts of patience in a depiction of some of the most trying times, and a frankness that comes with experience.  Frederick O’Neal embodies the monumental struggle that comes with advancing up the corporate ladder as a Black man, trying his best to be dignified in a cesspool of stress, while Beah Richards finds herself stretched thin by the multi-directional pull that comes with raising and worrying for children in a vengeful society.  Ruby Dee stands as the anomaly of the cast as she straddles the fence between outsider (due to her service role) and confidant (due to her character’s equal sense of isolation to Spence) with effortless grace.  Pauline Meyers, Royce Wallace and Frances Foster bring real world energy to the film with their hustles and struggles, which is offset by Ellen Holly’s attempts to exude joy in the face of personal defeat and acceptance of a less than ideal life.  Appearances by Sherman Raskin, Frank Killmond, Joseph Sonessa, Dell Erickson, Dee Pollack and William Walker fill in the gaps.