Bright Road

"Bright Road" is a remarkable film for many reasons. It is the story of an old fashioned school back in the day when black students were sent to their own schools. However, the film is not really overtly about racism but instead shows the black teachers and students as humans--normal folks with the same values and aspirations as anyone. In this movie, a new teacher, Miss Richards (Dorothy Dandridge) is concerned about one of her children, C.T.. This young man has been seen as 'slow' by his other teachers and he's been failed repeatedly in school. However, throughout the film, it becomes obvious that there is some real decency and non- traditional intelligence in the kid. But when his little girlfriend dies, C.T. falls apart as does his school performance. What is Miss Richards to do?

This film has a lot of nice acting. Philip Hepburn is surprisingly good as C.T.--as so often kids are not particularly good actors. Additionally, the writing is lovely and the viewer really comes to care for these people. Well done and well worth seeing...and a highly unusual film for its time---especially coming from MGM studio.