Cornbread, Earl and Me

Cornbread, Earl and Me
Movie cover for Cornbread, Earl and Me
Directed by	Joseph Manduke
Produced by	Joseph Manduke
Written by	Ronald Fair Leonard Lamensdorf
Starring	Tierre Turner Laurence Fishburne Jamaal Wilkes Moses Gunn Bernie Casey Rosalind Cash Antonio Fargas Thalmus Rasulala Madge Sinclair
Music by	Donald Byrd
Distributed by	HBO
Release date(s)	May 21, 1975
Running time	95 min.
Language	English

Cornbread, Earl and Me is a 1975 American drama film that stars Tierre Turner as Earl Carter, Laurence Fishburne as Wilford Robinson and Jamaal Wilkes as Nathaniel "Cornbread" Hamilton. It was directed and produced by Joseph Manduke. The film is loosely based on the novel Hog Butcher by Ronald Fair.^[1]

Plot

The film focuses on three African-American youths living in an urban neighborhood. Nathaniel Hamilton is a star basketball player from the neighborhood, who also goes by the nickname of "Cornbread." In the movie, he epitomizes the dream of the neighborhood to be successful, as he is about to become the first from the community to enter college on an athletic scholarship. He is also a local hero to friends Earl Carter and Wilford Robinson. The plot thickens after a pick-up basketball game ends because of a heavy rain, and all the kids run to the local store and hang out, waiting for the rain to end. All the kids leave, except for Cornbread, Earl and Wilford. Earl and Wilford get into a playful argument about how fast Cornbread can run home. It is decided that Cornbread should make it home in 25 seconds, so he runs off, after buying another soda for himself. Unbeknownst to all of them, an assault suspect is in the area, and is dressed similarly to Cornbread. The police are hot on the suspect's trail, but lose him in the rain. As the police are coming out of an alleyway, they see Cornbread running by and mistake him for the suspect they're looking for. Subsequently, Cornbread is shot in the back, and dies in the middle of the street. Wilford screams hysterically, and a riot ensues. The coroner's inquest is hampered by severe police intimidation, and no one knows anything about anything, except for Wilford, who becomes a man on the witness stand by telling exactly what he saw, in graphic detail.

Release on DVD & HD

• In 2001 it was released on DVD.
• In 2010 it was digitized in High Definition (1080i) and broadcasted on MGM HD.

References

1. ^ MTV Movies: Cornbread, Earl and Me

External links

• Cornbread, Earl and Me at the Internet Movie Database