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peers, Duff refuses to pretend to be friendly to white people who treat him obnoxiously or patronize him. Duff tries to encourage his black co-workers at the mill to stick together and stand up for their rights, but one of them informs on him to the white mill bosses, who suspect him of being a union organizer and troublemaker. After Duff refuses to follow his white boss's order to retract his statements to the other men, Duff is fired, and subsequently finds himself blacklisted at other area mills. Despite diligently searching for work, he is unable to find another job that is not humiliating and that also pays enough to support his family, now including a baby on the way.
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uses his connections in the town to get Duff a job at a white-owned gas station. Soon, white customers who find Duff too proud for a black "boy" threaten to cause trouble if the boss keeps him on, and he loses that job as well. Although Josie is understanding, Duff, under emotional pressure and in a rage, shoves his pregnant wife to the floor when she tries to comfort him. Duff packs his bag and leaves their house, telling Josie that he will write her when he is on his feet again.
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Initially, Duff is just looking for a sexual relationship and tells Josie he doesn't want to get married. But after Duff visits his four-year-old illegitimate son in the care of an unloving, indifferent stepmother, and his emotionally abusive, hardly functioning drunken father (Harris) living off his
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Jews in the South, they were treated by whites as pariahs and warned that their food might be poisoned, causing them to relate strongly to the black families whom they met. They allowed themselves to be passed on from one family and community to the next so they could learn as much as possible about
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Duff hates his preacher father-in-law, whom he sees as having sold out to the white people in return for social status and economic gain, and he hurtfully says to his wife, "You've never really been a nigger, living with them, in that house." Nevertheless, out of concern for Josie, Preacher Dawson
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Duff quits the section gang and takes a lower paying job at the local sawmill in order to have a stable home life. Being on the move had given Duff the illusion of freedom, but living in the town makes Duff subject to the town's social rules, and he immediately starts to have problems. Unlike his
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Duff storms off to his father, and finds him so inebriated that he dies as Duff and Lee are driving him to the hospital. Neither Duff nor Lee know where Duff's father was born or how old he was, and the only possessions he has handed down to Duff are the contents of his pockets. Duff decides to
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As a result, the film became, in Ebert's words, "more famous than familiar" and as of the early 1990s, few people had seen it. In 1993, a restored print of the film was nationally re-released, bringing it to the attention of a wider audience. It was later released on DVD in 2004.
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girlfriend (Lee), Duff realizes that he prefers the stability of a family to the life of a drifter. Duff and Josie marry with bright hopes for the future but then begin to face a series of challenges as a married couple.
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return home with his young son, whom Josie had been wanting to adopt. Duff and Josie tearfully embrace as he reassures her that it "ain't gonna be easy, baby, but it's going to be alright. Baby, I feel so free inside”.
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review at the time of the film's 1993 re-release called it "one of the most sensitive films about black life ever made in this country". Ivan Dixon's performance in the film has been called the best of his career.
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also had his first credited movie role in the film, playing a railroad worker. Both Harris and Kotto went on to appear in many more films and television programs over the next four decades.
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Although it was not widely seen upon release due to difficulties in finding distribution, the film is now generally considered to be an important example of
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Roemer, M., & Young, R. M. (1964). INT. MOVING CAR (DAWN). In
Nothing but a Man (1964): Shooting script. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press.
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made his acting debut in the film playing Duff's father. Harris was a nurse before he was cast, but had always wanted to act.
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The film has received many excellent reviews and as of 2022, had a 98% fresh rating on the review aggregator
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The soundtrack to the film was put together by Wilbur Kirk. It uses many early 1960s hit songs released by
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as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
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At the last minute, the film's title was almost changed to
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Children of Fate: Life and Death in a
Sicilian Family
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798:from the original on 2018-04-18.
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712:from the original on 2023-06-01.
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550:You've Really Got A Hold On Me
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1032:The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez
896:"Order of Jim Thompson Books"
784:Smock, William (1965-03-04).
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1219:African-American drama films
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812:Walker, David (2004-09-28).
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119:September 19, 1964
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1254:Rediscovered American films
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293:Helen Lounck as Effie Simms
16:1964 film by Michael Roemer
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1136:William Kurelek's The Maze
1120:China: The Panda Adventure
839:"'Nothing but a Man' (NR)"
837:Hinson, Hal (1993-07-10).
761:"New Life for a 1964 Film"
683:"Nothing But a Man (1964)"
503:"That's the Way I Feel" –
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497:"Fingertips (Pt. II)" –
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426:New York Film Festival
290:Eugene Wood as Johnson
219:National Film Registry
129:New York Film Festival
1064:Triumph of the Spirit
621:Civil rights movement
559:" (live) – Mary Wells
1244:Films about families
1204:1960s American films
750:, Volume I database.
594:United States portal
499:Little Stevie Wonder
468:Venice Film Festival
430:Venice Film Festival
1096:Solomon & Sheba
1072:Talent for the Game
1056:Dominick and Eugene
992:Secrets of the Reef
883:"Nothing But a Man"
844:The Washington Post
814:"Nothing But a Man"
791:The Harvard Crimson
525:"Way Over There" –
447:from 44 critics. A
354:Underground Railway
352:. They “left on an
239:Birmingham, Alabama
223:Library of Congress
208:Birmingham, Alabama
179:is a 1964 American
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766:The New York Times
687:The New York Times
340:. Roemer had fled
309:Gertrude Jeannette
194:, and directed by
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924:Nothing but a Man
509:"Come on Home" –
464:Nothing but a Man
458:Honors and awards
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557:Bye Bye Baby
505:The Miracles
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140:Running time
112:Release date
68:Robert Rubin
1128:Human Error
1048:Extremities
1008:Alambrista!
869:Trouble Man
608:Film portal
564:Adaptations
434:Roger Ebert
384:-TV sitcom
363:Mississippi
323:as Teenager
317:as Teenager
181:independent
61:Produced by
39:Directed by
1194:1964 films
1188:Categories
1000:Short Eyes
885:at Amazon.
632:References
544:Mary Wells
474:Soundtrack
378:Ivan Dixon
328:Production
267:Ivan Dixon
188:Ivan Dixon
184:drama film
144:95 minutes
123:1964-09-19
77:Ivan Dixon
49:Written by
1016:Rich Kids
975:Films by
462:In 1964,
413:Reception
315:Tom Ligon
186:starring
168:$ 300,000
1088:Roosters
984:Directed
905:March 5,
849:Archived
824:Archived
819:DVD Talk
796:Archived
771:Archived
734:Archived
710:Archived
668:March 8,
662:Archived
580:See also
374:Broadway
281:as Jocko
157:Language
106:Cinema V
73:Starring
1171:To Fly!
863:Twitter
511:Holland
358:liberal
221:by the
160:English
149:Country
121: (
1174:(1976)
1166:(1973)
1158:(1964)
1139:(2011)
1131:(2004)
1123:(2001)
1115:(1996)
1112:Caught
1107:(1995)
1099:(1995)
1091:(1993)
1083:(1993)
1075:(1991)
1067:(1989)
1059:(1988)
1051:(1986)
1043:(1986)
1035:(1982)
1027:(1980)
1019:(1979)
1011:(1977)
1003:(1977)
995:(1956)
515:Dozier
513:&
376:actor
305:as Lee
165:Budget
127: (
350:South
338:Nazis
237:near
929:IMDb
907:2015
670:2016
542:" –
261:Cast
229:Plot
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