The Women of Brewster Place (1989) (TV)

Director:

Donna Deitch

Writers (WGA):

Gloria Naylor (novel)
Karen Hall (teleplay)

Release Date:

19 March 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Seven Women. Seven Lives Hanging in the Balance.

Plot:

Based on the novel by Gloria Naylor, in which a group of strong-willed women who live in the same rundown housing project located on Brewster Place...

Plot Keywords:

African American | Based On Book | Based On Novel

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Oprah Winfrey	...	Mattie Michael
Mary Alice	...	Fannie Michael
Olivia Cole	...	Miss Sophie
Robin Givens	...	Kiswana
Moses Gunn	...	Ben
Jackée Harry	...	Etta Mae
Paula Kelly	...	Theresa
Leon	...	Abshu
Lonette McKee	...	Lorraine
Barbara Montgomery	...	Miss Eva
Phyllis Yvonne Stickney	...	Cora Lee
Lynn Whitfield	...	Ciel
Paul Winfield	...	Sam Michael
William Allen Young	...	Eugene
Cicely Tyson	...	Mrs. Browne

Runtime:

200 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

Harpo Productions

Trivia:

Cameo: [Mike Tyson] [, a street gang member (he's the one wearing the cap and sunglasses).]

Goofs:

Continuity: The length of Theresa's cigarette when she tells Lorraine that she has decided not to go to the party at the night club. This happens at the same time that the block party is going on outside.

Quotes:

Theresa: Lorraine, you're a lesbian. Do you understand that word? A butch, a dyke, a lesbo, all those things that kid was shouting. Yes, I heard him! And you can run in all the basements in the world, and it won't change that, so why don't you accept it?
Lorraine: [angrily] I have accepted it! I've accepted it all my life, and it's nothing I'm ashamed of. I lost a father because I refused to be ashamed of it, but it doesn't make me different from anyone else in the world!
Theresa: It makes you damned different!
Lorraine: [jerking open bottom drawer of her dresser and pulling out her underwear] Do you see this? There are two things that have been constant in my life since I was sixteen years old: beige bras and oatmeal. The day before I first fell in love with a woman, I got up, had oatmeal for breakfast, and put on a beige bra. I was no different the day before or after that happened, Tee.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Shia LaBeouf/Avril Lavigne (#32.17)" (2007)

A good interpretation of Naylor's novel...

I read the novel in my college African-American literature class and loved it. When I saw the movie version, I was very happy with the way it was done. Jackee steals the movie with her presentation of Etta Mae. Oprah does a good job as well. This movie stayed really close to the plot of the story. If you want to read the book, but don't have the time, you could probably just watch this movie and pick up on everything that is crucial. A-