Claudine (1974) [Criterion Collection]

Director: John Berry
Writer: Tina Pine (original screenplay by), Lester Pine (original screenplay by)
Stars: Diahann Carroll, James Earl Jones, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs

Diahann Carroll is radiant in an unforgettable, Oscar-nominated performance as Claudine, a strong-willed single mother, raising six kids in Harlem, whose budding relationship with a gregarious garbage collector (an equally fantastic James Earl Jones) is stressed by the difficulty of getting by in an oppressive system. As directed by the formerly blacklisted leftist filmmaker John Berry, this romantic comedy with a social conscience deftly balances warm humor with a serious look at the myriad issues—from cycles of poverty to the indignities of the welfare system—that shape its characters’ realities. The result is an empathetic chronicle of both Black working-class struggle and Black joy, a bittersweet, bighearted celebration of family and community set to a sunny soul soundtrack composed by Curtis Mayfield and performed by Gladys Knight & the Pips.

Extras:
- Audio commentary from 2003 featuring actors Diahann Carroll, James Earl Jones, and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs; filmmaker George Tillman Jr.; and Dan Pine, son of screenwriters Lester Pine and Tina Pine
- New conversation on the film between filmmaker Robert Townsend and programmer Ashley Clark
- Illustrated audio excerpts from a 1974 AFI Harold Lloyd Master Seminar featuring Carroll
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing







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