The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman is a made for television movie first broadcast on Thursday, January 31, 1974. In the thirty plus years since its showing (it was released theatrically in other countries), Jane Pittman has lost none of its power.
Following the life of former slave, through the reconstruction of the South and up to the civil rights struggle of the sixties, it is almost inconceivable that one person could have lived through it all, yet making that story believable is the particular triumph of this film.
A lot can happen in any hundred and ten years, but the transformations the United States went through from 1852 to 1962 were enough for several countries. This film is truly an epic in its characterizations and themes, even though it is small in scale. There is more to being an epic than having sets the size of Babylon and thousands of extras.
The film was based on the novel by Ernest J. Gaines, who wrote it from the recollections of various people he knew while growing up in rural Louisiana. Adapted with care by Tracey Keenan Wynn, the story is told in flashback by having Miss Jane Pittman speak with an interviewer played by Michael Murphy (an underrated actor, everywhere you look he's been in strong films and worked with the most talented of directors; a partial list of his film credits reads like a best films of all time list: M*A*S*H, Manhattan, An Unmarried Woman, Nashville etc.) We first meet Miss Jane Pittman on her 110th birthday and she seems a feisty old coot. Later as she recounts her life, we feel the dignity and reserve of strength inside this woman. Unlike the relentlessly "upbeat" TV movies of today or the trashy "tabloid" movies, which make the juvenile mistake of confusing lurid sensationalism with drama, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman contains some scenes of terrifying violence and real emotional pain, things that would not be portrayed honestly on TV today.
The most compelling force in Jane Pittman is the studied and completely controlled performance of Cicely Tyson in the title role. Born in Harlem in 1932 of recently emigrated Caribbean parents, she spent much of her youth on welfare often earning extra money selling shopping bags on the street.
After graduating from high school, she was a typist and then took up modeling where her dark complexion and lean, yet rounded looks served her well. She got her first acting experience in an amateur Harlem YMCA stage production and went from there to work in television, with a featured role in the TV series East Side, West Side, opposite George C. Scott. She worked in films sporadically receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for the 1972 film Sounder.
There was always something remote about Cicely Tyson. She never seemed to care much about the publicity aspects of being an actress and she often appeared irascible. She never tries to make any of her characters seem likable and prefers the acting challenge of making characters dignity all-important.
In Jane Pittman, she doesn't rely on her beautiful smile and shapely form; she's not interested in selling the actress, only the character, spending most of the film encased in make-up (created by Stan Winston and Rick Baker) that convincingly ages her. Her narration is in an old raspy voice that reeks of irony. It is an amazing feat of acting skill. Try it yourself right now. Imagine your 110 years old, what do you sound like, how do you move? You can see why she was roundly praised for her work in this film.
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman was filmed on location in Louisiana and directed by John Korty, a man primarily known for his work writing, photographing and directing his own low budget films like Crazy Quilt and Funnyman. He seems an odd choice for this kind of film, but his skill with actors and simple style proved effective.
Jane Pittman sometimes suffers from its low budget. Almost all of the night exteriors were shot "day for night" in which the film is shot in broad daylight and then by underexposing the film and equipping the lens with special filters an acceptable "night" look is achieved.
There is no aesthetic reason to shoot "day for night", it is almost always done for budgetary reasons; you don't have to pay a film crew the differential night shooting requires by union regulations, nor do you have to rent extra lighting equipment. I personally loathe "day for night" photography, the shadows are all wrong and the bluish tint everything is bathed in is disconcerting.
That is just a minor quibble in a film full of life and personality. It is a pleasure to watch Jane Pittman grow, even at her advanced age. She had always been a person more likely to go along with the status quo, that's the main reason she lived so long and it was a joy to watch her take her first steps as a political activist. When she is driven into town and she proudly totters up to the "whites only" water fountain and takes a cool drink amid the disapproving eyes of the police I was almost cheering. It is a powerful moment.
Finally, I am annoyed that the phrase "TV Movie" is frequently used in a derisive manner and to the less knowledgeable, it means a lack of quality like the phrase "Made in Japan" used to mean. However, all being a "TV Movie" means is that the film is presented to the public on television screens bypassing theatrical venues; it is not an indication of quality. Remember, it's not the size of the screen, it's what the artist puts on it that defines a film.
Following the life of former slave, through the reconstruction of the South and up to the civil rights struggle of the sixties, it is almost inconceivable that one person could have lived through it all, yet making that story believable is the particular triumph of this film.
A lot can happen in any hundred and ten years, but the transformations the United States went through from 1852 to 1962 were enough for several countries. This film is truly an epic in its characterizations and themes, even though it is small in scale. There is more to being an epic than having sets the size of Babylon and thousands of extras.
The film was based on the novel by Ernest J. Gaines, who wrote it from the recollections of various people he knew while growing up in rural Louisiana. Adapted with care by Tracey Keenan Wynn, the story is told in flashback by having Miss Jane Pittman speak with an interviewer played by Michael Murphy (an underrated actor, everywhere you look he's been in strong films and worked with the most talented of directors; a partial list of his film credits reads like a best films of all time list: M*A*S*H, Manhattan, An Unmarried Woman, Nashville etc.) We first meet Miss Jane Pittman on her 110th birthday and she seems a feisty old coot. Later as she recounts her life, we feel the dignity and reserve of strength inside this woman. Unlike the relentlessly "upbeat" TV movies of today or the trashy "tabloid" movies, which make the juvenile mistake of confusing lurid sensationalism with drama, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman contains some scenes of terrifying violence and real emotional pain, things that would not be portrayed honestly on TV today.
The most compelling force in Jane Pittman is the studied and completely controlled performance of Cicely Tyson in the title role. Born in Harlem in 1932 of recently emigrated Caribbean parents, she spent much of her youth on welfare often earning extra money selling shopping bags on the street.
After graduating from high school, she was a typist and then took up modeling where her dark complexion and lean, yet rounded looks served her well. She got her first acting experience in an amateur Harlem YMCA stage production and went from there to work in television, with a featured role in the TV series East Side, West Side, opposite George C. Scott. She worked in films sporadically receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for the 1972 film Sounder.
There was always something remote about Cicely Tyson. She never seemed to care much about the publicity aspects of being an actress and she often appeared irascible. She never tries to make any of her characters seem likable and prefers the acting challenge of making characters dignity all-important.
In Jane Pittman, she doesn't rely on her beautiful smile and shapely form; she's not interested in selling the actress, only the character, spending most of the film encased in make-up (created by Stan Winston and Rick Baker) that convincingly ages her. Her narration is in an old raspy voice that reeks of irony. It is an amazing feat of acting skill. Try it yourself right now. Imagine your 110 years old, what do you sound like, how do you move? You can see why she was roundly praised for her work in this film.
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman was filmed on location in Louisiana and directed by John Korty, a man primarily known for his work writing, photographing and directing his own low budget films like Crazy Quilt and Funnyman. He seems an odd choice for this kind of film, but his skill with actors and simple style proved effective.
Jane Pittman sometimes suffers from its low budget. Almost all of the night exteriors were shot "day for night" in which the film is shot in broad daylight and then by underexposing the film and equipping the lens with special filters an acceptable "night" look is achieved.
There is no aesthetic reason to shoot "day for night", it is almost always done for budgetary reasons; you don't have to pay a film crew the differential night shooting requires by union regulations, nor do you have to rent extra lighting equipment. I personally loathe "day for night" photography, the shadows are all wrong and the bluish tint everything is bathed in is disconcerting.
That is just a minor quibble in a film full of life and personality. It is a pleasure to watch Jane Pittman grow, even at her advanced age. She had always been a person more likely to go along with the status quo, that's the main reason she lived so long and it was a joy to watch her take her first steps as a political activist. When she is driven into town and she proudly totters up to the "whites only" water fountain and takes a cool drink amid the disapproving eyes of the police I was almost cheering. It is a powerful moment.
Finally, I am annoyed that the phrase "TV Movie" is frequently used in a derisive manner and to the less knowledgeable, it means a lack of quality like the phrase "Made in Japan" used to mean. However, all being a "TV Movie" means is that the film is presented to the public on television screens bypassing theatrical venues; it is not an indication of quality. Remember, it's not the size of the screen, it's what the artist puts on it that defines a film.