MAMA FLORA'S FAMILY {PART 1 OF 2} {TV)
Summary
Part one of a two-part mini-series based on the Alex Haley/David Stevens novel about a multi-generational black family and their professional and personal struggles from 1910 to 1970.
As the production opens, Flora Palmer, aka Mama Flora, is riding on a bus in 1970, then thinks back to Mississippi of 1900 when she was picking cotton as a child with her family. Back in the present, she goes to see to the squalid apartment of her granddaughter Diana and her great grandson, Malcolm. Appalled by the conditions she witnesses, Flora forces Diana to accompany her to her home in the country. Flora shows the lazy Diana how to chop wood, which Diana has a hard time mastering. Flora later tells Diana of being a sharecropper in 1912 on the farm where her family worked the land. There, Flora met the rich and handsome Lincoln Fleming. As the narrative continues, Flora agrees to move into the Fleming mansion so that she can take care of Lincoln's ailing grandmother. Flora soon meets cantankerous Nana Fleming, who tells Flora how she and her relatives are hated by both local whites and blacks for being a rich black family. Lincoln immediately seduces Flora, but treats her like a servant during the day. After finding out from fellow servants that Lincoln habitually sleeps with all the servants, Flora rebuffs him and is immediately fired. Back at her home, Flora gives birth to Lincoln's son by year's end. Flora is horrified when Lincoln arranges for a local white famly to take the baby. Lincoln also stipulates that Flora must leave town and never see the child.
Flora takes a train to Stockton, Tennessee, where she meets Reverend Jackson, who gets her a job in a laundry for five years. She makes friends with fellow laundress Pearl and moves in with Pearl's family. However, Flora is taken aback when sharecropper Booker Palmer makes advances on her. After he begins accompanying her to church, Flora agrees to marry Booker. She then takes a job as housekeeper to a demanding white family, the Hopkins. Complications ensue when Flora becomes pregnant with Booker's child, subsequently giving birth to a baby boy named Willie. Flora brings Willie to work with her and raises him with Mrs. Hopkins' baby, Kevin. To make ends meet for his newborn, Booker steals cotton by night. White locals pursue and fatally shoot Booker. Back in the present, Diana tells Flora that she's leaving her house, but thinks better of it when Flora states that the baby is staying.
In 1932, Flora finds out that her sister Josie is dying and takes in her impoverished niece Ruthana to raise as her own. Willie recognizes their financial troubles and tells Flora that he's quitting school to take a job. Five years later, Willie has found work at the local cotton gin, and uses his salary to buy books for Ruthana. He also begins romancing local girl Ernestine. When a group of white men led by Kevin beat up Willie, he fights back and hops a train to Chicago to escape his pursuers. To punish Flora, a group of vigilantes make her watch as they burn down Reverend Jackson's church. By 1941, Willie returns to town and reunites with Ernestine, subsequently attending Reverend Jackson's newly rebuilt church. There, he speaks at the church's tribute to Flora. He later tells Ernestine that he has led a dissolute life in Chicago, though he still loves her. She tells him that they can be together if he straightens out. However, Willie can't stay away from drugs and gambling. Back in the present, Flora finds Diana following in Willie's footsteps. The next day, Diana tells Flora that she recognizes the error of her ways.
Again lost in her memories, Flora recalls returning to her hometown to find the son that Lincoln took away from her. She runs into her old friend Charlie, who tells her that Lincoln was killed after getting into a squabble with another woman's husband. She also hears about a black man named Luke staying with the Flemings, who she believes to be her son. When Flora goes to the Fleming mansion, Nana Fleming refuses to see her. Flora tells Fleming maid Bessie that she'll write to Luke, and Bessie agrees to give Luke her letters. Back in Chicago, Willie is threatened by loansharks. His AA mentor then offers to take him into his home with the aid of AA worker Martha. Shortly thereafter, Pearl Harbor is bombed by the Japanese, and Willie goes to war after marrying Ernestine. Three years later, in the Solomon Islands, Willie performs heroically in battle, saving his entire platoon. Meanwhile, Flora witnesses a black officer coming to her home, making her fear the worst for Willie. She doesn't realize that the officer is her long-lost son, Luke. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: November 8, 1998 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:28:07
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:87024
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Drama; Women's Collection - Drama
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV, 1998
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Carol Schreder … Executive Producer, Writer
- Jon Avnet … Executive Producer
- Jordan Kerner … Executive Producer
- David Stevens … Co-Executive Producer, Writer, Based on the novel by
- Lisa Lindstrom … Producer
- Terence A. Donnelly … Producer
- Peter Werner … Director
- Alex Haley … Based on the novel by
- J.A.C. Redford … Music by
- Cicely Tyson … Cast, Flora "Mama Flora" Henning Palmer Tompkins
- Erika Alexander … Cast, Young Flora Henning
- Alyssa Warwick … Cast, Flora Henning as Child
- Thomas Byrd … Cast, George Henning
- Carol Mitchell Leon … Cast, Thelma Henning
- Sally Favors … Cast, Grandma Henning
- Emana Rachelle … Cast, Josie Henning
- Blair Underwood … Cast, Willie Palmer
- Elijah Kelly … Cast, Young Willie Palmer
- Tanya Wright … Cast, Ernestine Palmer
- Queen Latifah … Cast, Diana Palmer
- Sicily Johnson … Cast, Teenage Diana Palmer
- Mario Van Peebles … Cast, Luke Palmer
- Crystal Fox … Cast, Ruthana Palmer
- Angelina Spicer … Cast, Teenage Ruthana Palmer
- Cekoya Tolbert … Cast, Ruthana Palmer, Age 10
- Endia Yates … Cast, Ruthana Palmer, Age 5
- Hill Harper … Cast, Don Palmer
- Wynton Yates … Cast, Young Don Palmer
- Jerry Brant … Cast, Teenage Booker Palmer Jr.
- Wesley Yates … Cast, Booker Palmer Jr., Age 8
- Terrence Howard … Cast, Lincoln Fleming
- Shemar F. Moore … Cast, Young Lincoln Fleming
- Della Reese … Cast, Nana Fleming
- Georgia Allen … Cast, Young Nana Fleming
- David Ramsey … Cast, Booker Palmer
- Lou Myers … Cast, Albie Tompkins
- Novella Nelson … Cast, Pearl from 1955-1970
- Michelle Benjamin Cooper … Cast, Pearl from 1932-1942
- Patty Mack … Cast, Pearl from 1913-1919
- Shashawnee Hall … Cast, Ab
- Tommy Hollis … Cast, Reverend Jackson
- Tom Even … Cast, Judge Bennett
- Peter T. Katona … Cast, Sam Phillips as Young Man
- Johnny Cenicola … Cast, Sam Phillips, Age 8
- Kathryn Firago … Cast, Mrs. Phillips
- DJ Qualls … Cast, Jason
- Donna Biscoe … Cast, Jessica Fleming
- Mike Masters … Cast, Ben Calhoun
- Rhoda Griffis … Cast, Young Mrs. Hopkins
- Edith Ivey … Cast, Older Mrs. Hopkins
- Jordan Williams … Cast, Older Kevin Hopkins
- Timothy Michaels … Cast, Kevin Hopkins as Young Man
- Kevin Kersey … Cast, Kevin Hopkins as Boy
- Jonathon Parks Jordan … Cast, Gavin Hopkins
- Tom Turbiville … Cast, Officer Kowalski
- Lonnie Smith … Cast, Officer Vizzo
- Tonea Stewart … Cast, Bessie
- Ronald McCall … Cast, Johnny Metzer
- Leland Jones … Cast, Deacon Sanford
- Greg Alan Williams … Cast, Charlie in 1941
- E. Roger Mitchell … Cast, Charlie in 1912
- Wilbur T. Fitzgerald … Cast, Jeffrey Lenski
- Javonte Jones … Cast, Malcolm Palmer, Age 4
- Davontae Jones … Cast, Malcolm Palmer, Age 4
- Kameron Morton … Cast, Baby Malcolm Palmer
- J. White Burton … Cast, Mary Mitchell
- Von Coulter … Cast, Brother Jermaine
- Stuart Culpepper … Cast, General David Whitlow
- Frank Hoyt Taylor … Cast, Mr. Anderson
- Scott Oliver … Cast, Judge Hogan
- Dave Hager … Cast, Judge Washburn
- Deborah Calloway Duke … Cast, Mammy Perkins
- Kedren Werner … Cast, Martha
- Angela Thigpen … Cast, Victoria
- Afemo Omilami … Cast, Rob
- David Kote … Cast, Louis
- John Mario Fava … Cast, Roy
- Alex Van … Cast, Ralph
- Ron Leggett … Cast, Hank
- Erik Kilpatrick … Cast, Reggie
- S.D. Stephens … Cast, Floyd
- Ceylon Johnson … Cast, Self
- Mert Hatfield … Cast, Sheriff
- David Dino Wells Jr. … Cast, Willie Palmer's Friend
- Laura Whyte … Cast, Jeffrey Lenski's Receptionist
- Saycon Sengbloh … Cast, Luke Palmer's Secretary
- Richie Dye … Cast, Star Cafe Manager
- Michell Laurance … Cast, State Attorney
- Eliott Keener … Cast, Medicine Man
- Jermaine Jackson … Cast, Dancer
- Faye Yvette McQueen … Cast, Dancer
- John Lawhorn … Cast, Porter
- Stuart Greer … Cast, Foreman
- Antonne Broussard … Cast, Juror
- Don Henderson Baker … Cast, Clerk
- Bob King … Cast, Farmer
- Sharon Blackwood … Cast, Nurse
- Libby Whittemore … Cast, Nurse
- Annie Joe Edward … Cast, Landlady
- Jill Jane Clements … Cast, Waitress
- James Mayberry … Cast, Blood Donor
- Earl Maddox … Cast, Racist
- Tina King … Cast, House Maid
- Carrie Collins … Cast, Bar Patron
- Jevon Demand … Cast, Slave
- Joe Cobb Jr. … Cast, Dock Worker
- Dij Sparkx … Cast, Biker
- Jada Bird … Cast, Bridesmaid
- L. Warren Young … Cast, Muslim Minister
- Tom Even … Cast, Judge
- Angela Mills … Cast, Woman With Baby
- Wendy Boatright … Cast, Blonde
- Gerald Brown … Cast, Man
- Tony Vaughn … Cast, Man
- Terrance Hill … Cast, Man
- Craig Winkelmann … Cast, Young Man
- Benji R. Wilhoite … Cast, Boy
- Jody Thompson … Cast, Boy
- Shawn Shepard … Cast, Soldier
- Ryan Swafford … Cast, Soldier
- Cal Johnson … Cast, Policeman
- Brice Kennedy … Cast, Organ Player
- Gaylord Parsons … Cast, Gambler
- Mark Harris … Cast, Graduation Major