Proud

The story of the USS Mason and its crew is well worth telling. So, the subject matter for this film was not the issue. My reason for giving it a mediocre score has a lot more to do with the final portion of the film--one that was handled in a sloppy and heavy-handed manner.

The film begins with an old man (Ossie Davis) sitting down with his grown grandson and his friends and talking about the old days. Soon, he begins talking about his experience as a crewman on the USS Mason--one of only two black-manned ships that saw action during WWII. He explained that back in the day, the armed forces were not integrated and black guys in the Navy could only serve as cooks or orderlies. However, someone had the idea of having ships manned with black crews--black crews that had an all-white officer corp in charge. It's funny, but this is the same way the film "Glory" went--but that was 80 years earlier--you would have hoped that times would have changed!

What follows is a prolonged flashback scene--with actors portraying the crew of the Mason. This is by far the best part of the film and showed their bravery as well as the crap they had to put up with due to race prejudice. Their story is inspiring and I wish more of the film was devoted to it.

The final portion of the film is set in the present--and shows the efforts of the old man and his grandson to get the US government to recognize the contributions of the Mason's crew. This was a nice epilogue BUT it was ruined, for me, by the silly characters and writing- -particularly the character of the son. His actions and dialog made no sense whatsoever and was embarrassingly badly handled. What had been an inspiring story was made trite due to the writing and acting here. It's a shame. Perhaps there is a documentary out there on the subject--as this semi-ficitonalized story just seemed very poorly written at times and the dialog made me cringe towards the end. The men of the Mason deserve a better tribute than this.

Sadly, one of the Great Ossie Davis' last films. Proud enlightened the viewers of the group of many people of that era that cast a blow to the downfall of segregation within the United States. Showing that we all are citizens, no matter what the color. I only have heard of the hardships endured of many Black Americans within the military. Now I was able to view first hand through this informative film. It is a film that I would recommend history classes to see the accomplishments that have been made throughout the growth of the United States. This film has brought to life the forgotten and shameful history of the USA. Many youth of today a blind to America's history and embarrassing past. Enjoy the Movie, Juan (Elmira, NY)

I watched this movie last night and was a bit disappointed. A lot of the "time facts" were off. At the beginning of the movie, the grandfather made a comment to this grandson and his friends about how they felt when 9-11 hit. This movie was supposed to be taking place in 1994. Also, one of the grandsons friends was wearing an Eagles Donovan McNabb jersey. He hadn't even been drafted as of yet. The story line was good but the facts and actuality of the time frame was so far off base that it made the movie seem cheesy. My boyfriend is an avid reader of WWII books and memorabilia. I rented this movie hoping that it would be good. The acting was so-so. The dog was cute. But the way that this movie was carried out made me glad that I only paid 4 dollars to rent it as opposed to the 50 it would have taken me to watch it in a theater. I hope that who ever reads this understands that I mean no discontent to those who fought the war but the facts and time frame should have been a little more closely monitored.

Just saw 'Proud" on a tape last night and didn't know that there was an all black enlisted man crew on a U.S. Navy ship during WWII. Maybe the acting and direction left something to be desired, but the message came across loud and clear.

I enlisted in the Marines at the age of 17, right after WWII was over. In the 3 years I served, I never saw a black Marine. I understood there were some black Marines that served in service and supply units, but they did not go through boot camp with white Marines and were completely segregated from us.

On the Navy ships I boarded, the only black sailors I ever saw were messmen and stewards in the galley and they kept pretty much to themselves. In 1948, when the armed forces were desegregated, I still didn't notice any difference in the racial makeup of our outfit. At the time I didn't think anything of it, but in hindsight, it was an awful way to treat black Americans. I'm glad that era is over.

This is an independent feature telling the story of average men, caught performing heroic acts in a time of war. These men served their country, performed numerous duties to help a convoy succeed in its mission to bring supplies to England. Men had died during this trip across the Atlantic, not to mention getting caught in one of the worst storms in this century, dubbed "the storm of the century during wartime".

These men were supposed to have received commendations for their numerous acts of bravery. The Commander of the convoy, Alfred Lind, wrote those recommendations (ultimately found in naval archives), but they were never given. Why? This was the only ship in the Navy that had black sailors serving on it, which was sent into combat during World War II (the other 11,000 black sailors served in menial jobs). Those same men that served their country couldn't even buy a hot dog on the pier.

Those recommendations were written because the men deserved them. They were never awarded because it was during a time when the color of a their skin somehow disqualified them.

Our society still has a way to go. Hopefully this story helps pave the way for future generations to achieve color blindness.