CATCH A CLASSIC
TCM Spotlight: Noteworthy African American Performances
TCM, beginning at 7 p.m.
As Black History Month nears its end, Turner Classic Movies offers one more evening of films featuring great performances from Black actors. First is Take a Giant Step (pictured) (1959), a coming-of-age drama starring Johnny Nash (who would later become more famous as a singer, especially with his hit “I Can See Clearly Now”) as a Black teenager living in a predominantly white area who starts to become more aware of the realities of racism and its impact on his life as he is growing older. The film’s cast also includes Golden Globe nominee Estelle Hemsley and Ruby Dee. After that is the Best Picture Oscar-nominated A Soldier’s Story (1984), starring Howard E. Rollins Jr. as a Black military officer and lawyer assigned to investigate the murder of a Black sergeant on a military base in the Jim Crow South near the end of World War II. Next is Sparkle (1976), a musical drama about a girl group inspired by the history of the Supremes. The cast is led by breakout star Irene Cara, who would later record several chart-topping hit songs, and also includes future Miami Vice costar Philip Michael Thomas, Lonette McKee and Dorian Harewood. The evening ends with Broken Strings (1940), a rare-forits-time film featuring an all-Black cast led by co-writer Clarence Muse, who portrays a concert violinist who turns to teaching after his fingers become paralyzed following an accident. There is also family drama of a generational sort as the violinist’s classicalmusic sensibilities clash with his son’s leanings toward modern swing music.