The Sophisticated Gents

[Shelley "SoleMann" King]

The Sophisticated Gents is a TV miniseries that aired on three consecutive nights from September 29 to October 1, 1981 on NBC. Its ensemble cast featured a number of African American stage and film actors, many of whom were customarily seen in Blaxploitation motion pictures in the 1970s. The miniseries is based upon the novel The Junior Bachelor Society by John A. Williams. Although production of the project ended in 1979, NBC did not air the miniseries until almost two years later.

CAST

* Sonny Jim Gaines - Coach Charles "Chappie" Davis
* Bernie Casey - Shurley Walker
* Rosey Grier - Cudjo Evers
* Robert Hooks - Ezra "Chops" Jackson
* Ron O'Neal - Clarence "Claire" Henderson
* Thalmus Rasulala - Kenneth "Snake" Dobson
* Raymond St. Jacques - D'Artagnan "Dart" Parks
* Melvin Van Peebles - Walter "Moon" Porter
* Dick Anthony Williams - Ralph Joplin
* Paul Winfield - Richard "Bubbles" Wiggins

* Albert Hall - Det. Swoop Ferguson
* Lynn Benisch - Renee Marcus
* Rosalind Cash - Christine Jackson
* Ja'net Du Bois - Onetha Wiggins
* Alfre Woodard - Evelyn Evers
* Joanna Miles - Sandra Dobson
* Janet MacLachlan - Diane Walker
* Bibi Besch - Simone Parks
* Denise Nicholas - Pat Henderson
* Marlene Warfield - Lil Joplin
* Beah Richards - Mae Porter
* Stymie Beard - Mickey Mouse
* Mario Van Peebles - Nicholas Dobson

PLOT SUMMARY

In the mid-1940s, Coach Charles "Chappie" Davis (Gaines) founded a sports club for African American boys in the local community, dubbing them "The Sophisticated Gents". The young men became athletic heroes, and formed a lifetime bond with each other and their coach. Twenty-five years later, those members of the Gents remaining in town decide to hold a testimonial dinner for Chappie, who is now 70 years old. The dinner turns into an impromptu reunion, with nine Gents eventually arriving to honor Chappie. However, the legal troubles of one of the Gents could spell danger for all of them and their wives.

VIDEO RELEASES

On March 6, 1992, the miniseries was released on VHS. However, it has yet to be released on DVD or any other digital video format.


THE SOPHISTICATED GENTS...HOW TO DEAL WITH MOON



THE SOPHISTICATED GENTS

[Shelley "SoleMann" King]

Someone attempted to put it on youtube, i never really looked at it to see if it was the complete movie

[Edie Antoinette]

I understand suggah. I'll try to find it myself. I always find good stuff at Half-price Books. Thanks!

[Shelley "SoleMann" King]

Mama Edie, i wish i could tape it in parts and post it, i think it really is a shame that this movie has only been on TV just once and it has never made it to DVD. I know nowdays it would be nearly impossible to find The VHS version....I remember watching it when it came on in 1981 and i also remembered being thrilled at finding it in the used BOOKS, CD's and DVD Store i used to go to....Here is another write on the movie from 1981

TV: BLACKS ON WAY UP IN 'SOPHISTICATED GENTS

By JOHN J. O'CONNOR
Published: September 29, 1981

ALTHOUGH far from being an entirely successful production, ''Sophisticated Gents'' is one of the more fascinating television movies of the year. Completed in 1979, it is finally getting a showing on NBC-TV in three parts -the first two hours tonight at 9 o'clock, the third tomorrow at 10 and the fourth Thursday at 10.

Adapted by Melvin Van Peebles from ''The Junior Bachelor Society'' by John A. Williams, ''Sophisticated Gents'' is about black people. It is not about poor folk trying to get off the farm or out of ''the ghetto.'' It is not about criminals caught up in an oppressive prison system. It is about ambitious, talented, hard-working people making it into the middle class. It is about the dreams and disappointments that recognize no color barriers.

The Sophisticated Gents first came together as kids in the mid-40's. With the help of a sensitive and shrewd coach, who realized that they wanted to be somebody, the boys became hometown athletic heroes, forming a special bond that would last through service in Korea and, even after several went their separate ways, throughout their lives. The plot hinges on a decision to hold a testimonial dinner for the former coach, now 70 years old. The call goes out for a reunion of the Sophisticated Gents.

As the story skips from one to another, touching on the various achievements and complications in their lives, the mechanics of the production become undeniably cumbersome. Mr. Van Peebles crams a massive amount of detail into his script, and it takes quite a while - tonight's two hours, as a matter of fact - for the machinery to be put in motion for the reunion itself. When it reaches that crucial point, however, ''Sophisticated Gents'' becomes riveting.

The cast features an extraordinary lineup of talent. Paul Winfield is Bubbles, the gently protective president of the club. He has remained close to home along with Cudjo (Roosevelt Grier) and Shurley (Bernie Casey), both of whom are also easygoing. In another part of town, Snake (Thalmus Rasulala) has climbed a bit farther up the ladder with a government job that affords him a chauffeured limousine. He has a white wife.

Among those who have left the area, Chops (Robert Hooks) is an editor for a black magazine, Clarie (Ron O'Neal) is a college professor, Ralph (Dick Anthony Williams) is a playwright preparing for a New York production, Dart (Raymond St. Jacques) is a concert singer whose homosexuality is only partly disguised by his marriage of convenience to a white woman and Moon (Mr. Van Peebles), alone in bucking the respectability trend, is a pimp.

As the story rumbles on, Mr. Van Peebles manages to touch on everything from white-black relations to social-power structures, from failed and failing marriages to the unsettling encroachments of age. His black people play meaningfully with language, using ''nigger'' or ''yassuh, massa'' with deceptive casualness. They are not inhibited about expressing their sexual likes and dislikes. Neither defended nor criticized, they are simply displayed. While some of their complaints about whites are blunt, the villain of the piece is black, a corrupt police detective who always resented not being part of the exclusive Sophisticated Gents club. Albert Hall makes the juciest most of this menacing role.

The women, of course, play key parts in these stories of the Sophisticated Gents, and here, once again, the casting is remarkably strong, with fine performances from Rosalind Cash, Ja'net Dubois, Janet MacLachlan, Beah Richards, Denise Nicholas, Bibi Besch and Joanna Miles. Occasionaly, the film, directed by Henry Falk, goes astray in its tone. One scene, for instance, features a restaurant chef doing a dancing and drinking routine that is pointless except perhaps as a bit of amusement in the old Stepin' Fetchit manner. Whatever its flaws, however, ''Sophisticated Gents'' has more than enough unusual substance to merit attention. Fran Sears produced. Daniel Wilson is the executive producer.

[Edie Antoinette]

This is special. I want this. Is it any way that you can tape it in parts and post it???