The Endangered List (Case File #126)

THE LONG NIGHT (1976)

a.k.a. STEELY BROWN

Starring

Dick Anthony Williams (Paul Brown)

Peggy Kirkpatrick (Mae Brown)

W. Geoffrey King (Fred “Steely” Brown)

Directed
by
Woodie King

Screenplay by

Julian Mayfield

and

Woodie King

Based on the novel

by

Julian Mayfield

Produced by

St. Clair Bourne

and

Woodie King

Associate Producer

Ed Pitt

Director of Photography

James Malloy

Edited by

Joe Staton

and

Ed McAllister

Music by

William Daniels

and

Michael Felder

A

Woodie King-St. Clair Bourne

production

Woodie King Associates Films

Released

by

Howard Mahler Films

“In Color and Sepia Tone”

Running time: 85 minutes

(Note: The film was previewed twice with a bogus G rating prior to being submitted to the MPAA and receiving a PG in 1976.)

Above: The source novel by Julian Mayfield, published in 1958.

‘Life in Harlem’

“The Long Night,” an American film directed by Woodie King, Jr. and written by the director in collaboration with Julian Mayfield. You see almost every dramatic development coming from a mile away in this drama about a young boy’s marathon search for his runaway father in Harlem, but as the story follows its familiar path, director King presents a compelling picture of Harlem neighborhood life, by day and by night. There’s a crude flashback structure, unfortunately, as well as a fondness for clichés culled from black plays of the past decade. Dick Anthony Williams makes up for much that is wrong with his intense characterization of a man whose black pride isn’t enough to help him overcome his long years of defeat in a white man’s world. “The Long Night” is being screened Sunday at 6 p.m. and Tuesday at 8:30.

by Frank Rich

New York Post

4/6/1976, p.24

Below: Theatrical trailer for the re-release as STEELY BROWN.