''Crisis at Central High'' is a 1981 made-for-television movie about the Little Rock Integration Crisis of 1957, based on a draft of the memoir by the same name by former assistant principal Elizabeth Huckaby.News Releases
, 40th Anniversary web Site William Link and Richard Levinson wrote the screenplay and were executive producers together with David Susskind of Time-Life Productions.John O'Connor
TV: Little Rock, 1957: 'Crisis at Central High,'
''The New York Times'' (review), Feb. 4, 1981 The film starred Joanne Woodward as Huckaby and told the events from that character's point of view, although one obituary at the time of Huckaby's death cited her as saying the TV-movie enlarged her role.Linda S. Cailloue
Central High crisis diarist dies
'' Arkansas Democrat-Gazette'', March 20, 1999 (retrieved November 3, 2006) Woodward was nominated for an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a SpecialTelevision Academy Database
- Joanne Woodward Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Special and a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV, in 1981 and 1982 respectively.Awards and Nominations for ''Crisis at Central High'' (1981)
on Internet Movie Database

Composite characters

Like many

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television show, television and feature film, film, which features Drama (film and television), dramatized Historical reenactment, re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of docu ...

s, ''Crisis'' included some composite characters; at least one reviewer (O'Connor) criticizes the vague disclaimer to that effect, arguing that in a piece about such controversial events, alterations to the truth should be identified more specifically. In addition to the creative license already mentioned with regard to her role in the crisis, Huckaby was reported to have said the film showed some events are out of sequence and slightly altered others.

Filming

The movie was filmed on location in Little Rock and at Woodrow Wilson High School in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

.Craig, J. B
Crisis at Central High, Book and Movie (Elizabeth Huckaby-5)
Center for Arkansas History and Culture, December 19, 2017. Many local Dallas actors had featured roles in the film, including radio personality Suzie Humphreys, TV and theater actor Jerry Haynes, teacher and actress Irma P. Hall, and Theater Three director Norma Young, as well as Taylor, a native Dallasite who was attending Southern Methodist University at the time the film was being cast.

Critical reception

Reviewer John O'Connor of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' observed, "In the end, of course, the real heroes of this piece are the nine black students," whom O'Connor described as "played to quiet perfection." Actors highlighted for their portrayals included Calvin Levels as Ernest Green (the only senior in the group) and Regina Taylor as Minnijean Brown, launching that actress' professional career.Regina Taylor
at Hollywood.com Other principal actors in the film included Charles Durning as the principal and Henderson Forsythe as Huckaby's husband, Glenn.

References

External links

*
Guardians of Freedom - 50th Anniversary of Operation Arkansas, by ARMY.MIL
{{Lamont Johnson Little Rock Nine Films about race and ethnicity Films set in Arkansas American films based on actual events Civil rights movement in television 1981 television films 1981 films Films directed by Lamont Johnson Films scored by Billy Goldenberg CBS films Films set in 1957 Films shot in Arkansas Films shot in Dallas

Composite characters

Filming

Critical reception

See also

References

Further reading

External links