Black in Period Films

The Jeffersons was an American cultural classic that ran on television from 1975 to 1985. The spinoff of "All in the Family" chronicled the upward mobility of George and Louise Jefferson and cemented itself a place in television history.  The series going to be honored in front of a live studio audience. The project is called Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons and is being created by ABC and Jimmy Kimmel with Norman Lear as producer. The event will be a live 90-minute recreation of original episodes from All in the Family and The Jeffersons and will take place on May 22 at 8 p.m. ET. Will and Grace director James Burrows will direct the event.  The cast is an amazing one. Leading The Jeffersons will be Jamie Foxx as George Jefferson (originally played by Sherman Hemsley) and Wanda Sykes as George's wife, Louise Jefferson (originally played by Isabel Sanford). Other cast members include Woody Harrelson as

Variety has reported the casting for the upcoming Barry Jenkins’ Amazon series. The series will be lead by South African actress Thuso Mbedu as Cora, Caesar is to be played by Brit Aaron Pierre, and little Homer will be played by Chase W. Dillon. The series is based on the Colson Whitehead book “ The Underground Railroad ”. The novel is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, in addition to being a #1 New York Times bestseller. The Underground Railroad Summary : Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hell for all the slaves, but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood—where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned—Cora kills a young white boy who tries to capture her. Though they manage to find a station and head north, t

English Heritage cares for over 400 historic buildings, monuments and sites all while running an amazingly entertaining and educational Youtube channel. The channel has a series titled, 'What Was Life Like?'. Previous episodes have discussed people that lived during Medieval and Tudor historical eras. Episode 9 of the series focuses on Dido Elizabeth Belle. The only known portrait of Dido Belle, showing her with her cousin and close companion, Lady Elizabeth Murray, at Kenwood © By kind permission of the Earl of Mansfield, Scone Palace, Perth, Scotland Thanks to the incredible 2013 film Belle , most period film fans have a general idea of what life was like for Dido Elizabeth Belle. This entertaining short video shows a historical reenactor portraying Dido Elizabeth Belle's ty pical day at Kenwood. According to Kenwood It was not unheard of for a powerful aristocrat to be the legal guardian to such a relation. But it was extremely unusual at this time for

In the last season of hit television series Poldark, we will meet the first black character Catherine Despard. After some research I found that Catherine/Catharine Despard is in fact a historical figure. Could the lovely Kerri McLean be playing this oft forgotten historical figure? Source: @ kerri_mclean_creates on instagram Who Is Catherine Despard? Historians do not know Catherine’s exact background. Many accounts have her listed as the daughter of a Jamaican preacher, while others say her father was an educated Spanish creole. If her last name Despard sounds familiar that’s because you most likely have heard of her infamous husband, Colonel Edward Marcus Despard. He is best known for his involvement in the failed Despard Plot of 1802. He had a promising career and was made Superintendent of the Bay of Honduras (nka: Belize). In 1790 he had married a young black woman. Catharine. After marrying her, he vowed to give the same rights to freed slaves as to white settlers.

Director : Vic Sarin | Writer: Gary Gelt Stars : Robert Ri'chard, Louis Gossett Jr., Barbara Eve Harris, Rachael Crawford, Djanet Sears, Shadia Simmons Genre : Drama | Rated: PG for language and some thematic elements| Release Date: June 1, 1997 Runtime : 105 min Summary : When his father (Louis Gossett Jr.) suddenly dies, Clay Crosby (Robert Ri'chard) is devastated. It seems he'll never be able to get over the loss. But everything changes when the boy puts on a pair of his father's wingtip shoes, which magically bring him back in time to experience his father's early life. I have seen this film come up on my Amazon prime account more than once. I always thought that the entire film was in a historical setting. However, this film does not become a period film until 21 minutes into the film when the main character Clay is transported back in time to 1962.   Clay realizing that he has time traveled.  A nice way to show us the year witho