Directed by:
Gordon ParksScreenplay:
Ernest KinoyCinematography:
Bruce SurteesComposer:
Fred KarlinCast:
Roger E. Mosley, James Brodhead, Paul Benjamin, Madge Sinclair, Albert Hall, Art Evans, John Henry Faulk, Ernie Hudson, Lynn Hamilton, Alan Manson (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Leadbelly, the great American folk singer and 12-string guitarist who died in 1949 at the age of 60, is evoked in beautiful, soft, dreamlike images in Gordon Parks' elegiacal film, LEADBELLY. Leadbelly's life was hard and violent. He was born black at a time when blacks were "darkies," in the Deep South in which "darkies" were supposed to know their place, which, for Leadbelly's family, was sharecropping. But Leadbelly never did know his place for long. He served one sentence for murder on a Texas chain gang and another sentence on a Louisiana chain gang. In 1939, after he had gained his reputation as a folk singer, he was once more up against the law, this time in New York, where he was sentenced to a year in prison for a stabbing. In the meantime he was always refining his music, which provided the order in a life that was in every other respect chaotic. (Cinemax)
(more)Cast
![Roger E. Mosley](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/143/058/143058504_546e38.jpg)
Roger E. Mosley
USA
Best movies:
Roots: The Next Generations (1979) (series)
Steel (1979)
The Jericho Mile (1979) (TV movie)
![James Brodhead](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/163/350/163350779_e267aa.jpg)
James Brodhead
USA
Best movies:
Frances (1982)
War and Remembrance (1988) (series)
Leadbelly (1976)
![Paul Benjamin](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/158/712/158712219_b8b567.gif)
Paul Benjamin
USA
Best movies:
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
The Station Agent (2003)
Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
![Madge Sinclair](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/162/230/162230376_322420.jpg)
Madge Sinclair
Jamaica
Best movies:
The Lion King (1994)
Roots (1977) (series)
Roots: The Next Generations (1979) (series) - a.f.
Albert Hall
USA
Best movies:
Apocalypse Now (1979)
The Long Hot Summer (1985) (TV movie)
Roots: The Next Generations (1979) (series)
![Art Evans](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/325/325355_061ca3.jpg)
Art Evans
USA
Best movies:
Die Hard 2 (1990)
Interstate 60 (2002)
Fun with Dick and Jane (1977)
John Henry Faulk
USA
Best movies:
The Best Man (1964)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Leadbelly (1976)
![Ernie Hudson](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/162/773/162773380_8a94f2.png)
Ernie Hudson
USA
Best movies:
Ghostbusters (1984)
Roots: The Next Generations (1979) (series)
The Basketball Diaries (1995)
![Lynn Hamilton](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/161/367/161367996_4d3152.jpg)
Lynn Hamilton
USA
Best movies:
Lady Sings the Blues (1972)
Roots: The Next Generations (1979) (series)
Shadows (1958)
![Alan Manson](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/161/368/161368023_eea2fa.jpg)
Alan Manson
USA
Best movies:
The Devil's Advocate (1997)
The Doors (1991)
Columbo (1971) (series)
![William Wintersole](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/161/947/161947293_fe192c.jpg)
William Wintersole
USA
Best movies:
The Name of the Game (1968) (series)
Son-Rise: A Miracle of Love (1979) (TV movie)
Columbo (1971) (series)
Vivian Bonnell
Best movies:
Ghost (1990)
Summer School (1987)
Leadbelly (1976)