 Coming to America 1988  R, 116 min.
Genre: Comedy / Romance
Director: John Landis
Cast: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, John Amos, Madge Sinclair, Calvin Lockhart, Don Ameche, Ralph Bellamy, Cuba Gooding Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Shari Headley, Paul Bates, Eriq La Salle, Frankie Faison, Vanessa Bell Calloway
Another Eddie Murphy vehicle, but this time he stars as pampered, African Prince Akeem who, against his family's wishes, is trying to find a bride in New York City. Arsenio Hall costars as his buddy Semmi. Akeem and Semmi assume false identities as Akeem tries to find a woman who will not fall for him simply because he is a prince. They get jobs at Cleo McDowell's (John Amos) food emporium, and romance blossoms between Akeem and Cleo's daughter Lisa (Shari Headley). But now, Akeem's parents (James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair) arrive on the scene prepared to take Akeem home to Africa. Eddie and Arsenio take on several other roles in addition to their primary ones. Good fun.
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Conrack 1974   PG, 107 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Martin Ritt
Cast: Jon Voight, Paul Winfield, Hume Cronyn, Madge Sinclair, Tina Andrews, Antonio Fargas, Ruth Attaway, James O'Rear, MacArthur Nelson, William Hunter III, Kathy Turner, LaCrisia Hardee
Based on Pat Conroy's book "The River is Wide," this story involves young Pat Conroy's (Jon Voight) experiences when he goes to an isolated island off the South Carolina Coast where he is assigned a teaching job in 1967. Conroy soon discovers that most of his Black students are either illiterate or retarded, but, unlike his fellow teachers, he steps up to the plate and teaches his students useful lessons that will help them in life.
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Cornbread, Earl and Me 1975 PG, 95 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Joseph Manduke
Cast: Moses Gunn, Rosalind Cash, Bernie Casey, Madge Sinclair, Jamaal Wilkes, Antonio Fargas, Laurence Fishburne, Charles Lampkin, Thalmus Rasulala, Bill Henderson, Sandy Ward, Stefan Gierasch, Vince Martorano, Logan Ramsey, Stack Pierce
Black basketball star Nathaniel "Cornbread" Hamilton (Jamaal Wilkes) is on his way out of the ghetto as the recipient of a basketball scholarship. His dream is shattered when he is accidentally killed by the police after being mistaken for an armed rapist. The police cover-up and ensuing courtroom drama is insightfully depicted.
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I Will, I Will...for Now 1976  R, 96 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Norman Panama
Cast: Elliott Gould, Diane Keaton, Paul Sorvino, Victoria Principal, Robert Alda, Warren Berlinger, Madge Sinclair, Candy Clark
This dated, trashy satire on love and marriage features Elliott Gould and Diane Keaton as a rich New York couple who get involved in a sex clinic and extramarital affairs.
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Roots 1977  TV, 573 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Marvin J. Chomsky, John Erman, David Greene, Gilbert Moses
Cast: LeVar Burton, John Amos, Cicely Tyson, Thalmus Rasulala, Maya Angelou, O.J. Simpson, Ben Vereen, Moses Gunn, Leslie Uggams, Lynda Day George, Beverly Todd, Edward Asner, Madge Sinclair, Louis Gossett Jr., Lorne Greene
Alex Haley's classic story of his family history involving Kunta Kinte's (LeVar Burton) abduction in 18th-century Africa and then being sold into slavery and sent to America is the focus of Chapter 0ne in this six-part made-for-TV epic. The miniseries received 37 Emmy nominations and won nine. Chapters continue through Kunta's (now played by John Amos) marriage to Bell (Madge Sinclair) and the birth of their daughter Kizzie. Then the saga follows with the birth of Kizzie's (Leslie Uggams) son Chicken George (Ben Vereen) who grows up to buy his freedom and pave the way for future generations to live in freedom following the Civil War.
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| 1. Coming to America (1988)
2. Conrack (1974)
3. Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975)
4. I Will, I Will...for Now (1976)
5. Leadbelly (1976)
6. Roots (1977)
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