Blood Done Sign My Name

source: Blood Done Sign My Name

When this movie was suggested to me because of my never ending pursuit of cultural studies, supported by my degree in African and Latino Studies, I was quite sure that this would be one of those Hallmark specials that only moved the souls of individuals who have some prior knowledge. I must say though that I was mistaken and found myself clicks away from wanting to contact the man who wrote the book that this movie is based on. You can be a novice to the civil rights movement and still be able to grab the concepts and notions being presented to the viewer. I felt moved to the point of as the verdict in the case was about to be read aloud in the courtroom, I almost stopped the movie because I didn't want to face the verdict. This movie kept me brewing, kept that flame I have lit fanned, and made me thankful for our triumphs but still yearn for the work that still needs to be done. It is a jarring concept that this movie is set in our society a mere 50 years ago.

This movie is an all too familiar one. We could do a similar movie for every city in the south between the end of the Civil War and... well... today really. Watching the events that unfolded in this movie I couldn't help but think of the Ahmaud Arbery case: one unarmed Black man, three white men (two armed), and an incredible sense of right and superiority. I'm just hoping that in 2021 there will be some justice. "Blood Done Sign My Name" is based upon true events as written in a book of the same title by Timothy Tyson, a writer and historian from North Carolina who specializes in the issues of culture, religion, and race associated with the Civil Rights Movement. The book is about Henry Marrow, the Black soldier killed by three white men in Oxford, North Carolina for supposedly getting fresh with a white woman. The events and the movie take place in 1970 in Oxford, North Carolina, a small tobacco town in Granville County. Henry "Dickie" Marrow (played by A. C. Sanford) had just returned home from Vietnam to a very warm welcome. He was a married man and by what we could see from his very brief respite home, he was a decent man. The night of his homecoming he went by the local store to buy a soda for a neighbor. Before entering the store he saw a couple of younger Black girls and began playfully flattering them. At that moment, Larry Teel (Cullen Moss), a white man and son of the store owner, assumed that Dickie was talking to his wife and attacked Dickie with a two-by-four. When Larry's father Robert (Nick Searey) and brother Gerald (Michael May) saw the altercation they both rushed to aid Larry in his illegitimate attack. Seeing the overwhelming odds and a shotgun, Dickie began running. It was then that Robert shot him in the back, then the three of them beat him while he was on the ground, and one of them killed him with a .22 rifle. It was murder no matter how you look at it. Two of the three men were arrested and tried by a jury of their peers. It should be no surprise that they were all acquitted, but the Black folks of Oxford had been galvanized. This cold-blooded killing was one injustice they couldn't tolerate. They were no longer going to stand idly by and wait for things to change. From that day forward they were committed to making sure things changed in a county where they were 40% of the population, yet were totally marginalized. This was a movie that served the purpose of not letting a man's death be in vain. Henry Marrow is not unlike many many Black men who were anonymously killed in the south for no other reason than their race. So, even though the three race soldiers in this case got off, "Blood Done Sign My Name" remembers what happened and didn't let such an atrocity quietly become one more notch on the Confederate belt.

Short of hyped theatrics to drive the passions of the viewer, Blood Done delivers a considered story that educates as well as entertains. The cast is awesome as is the story. Good for all :)

I select films I want to see for many reasons. An intriguing title many times will do it. The title fits that reason. Also the fact that former juvenile star Rick Schroeder has the lead role. I did not know that this was based on a novel or is basically a true story of a murder & bigotry in a small town in rural North Carolina in 1970. The director is Jeb Stuart ( I wonder if he is related to the US Civil War General ). Now if the makers of this movie did not use every film cliché ever done,this could have been a good film.. Now I do realize, films of this nature will have clichés,BUT there is a cliché used in just about every scene. Rick Schroeder is the only known name,the balance are either featured TV performers or unknowns. They are are capable. Another problem is the length 128 minutes is about 30 minutes too long. Ratings: **1/2 (out of 4) 67 points (out of 100) IMDb 6 (out of 10)

Blood Done Sign My Name