My Sweet Charlie

I first saw this movie 30 years ago, and it still remains as fresh and timely as when it was made. I have always been a Patty Duke fan, and even if you aren't you should check this out for the acting of both lead actors. A masterpiece!

Naive, pregnant white teen and black lawyer hide in an abandoned house to escape racial and social prejudice in the 1960's South. Theatrical-quality main performances, solid supporting cast and still-relevant theme. Elements of "In the Heat of the Night" (1967) and "Badlands" (1973). (Rating: A)

One of the best films to come out of the 1970's was originally made for television. MY SWEET CHARLIE was a sensitive and intense film originally broadcast on NBC directed by Lamont Johnson with a solid screenplay by famed television writing team Richard Levinson and William Link. The film stars Patty Duke as Marlene, a 17-year old, Southern, bigoted, uneducated girl, who, upon learning she's pregnant, runs away from home and finds refuge in one of those boarded up summer houses on the Carolina coast. Her solitude is broken when Charlie (Al Freeman Jr.) also arrives at the house. Charlie is a well-spoken, intelligent, African American attorney who is also seeking refuge because we learn he is on the run and it is the relationship that develops between these two polar opposites brought together by circumstance that forms the basis of this involving story as we watch instant mistrust and resentment between these two people trapped for very different reasons learn to trust and respect each other. Patty Duke won an Emmy for her superb performance and Al Freeman Jr.'s equally memorable performance earned him a nomination as well. Detailed direction by Johnson and a meticulously crafted script are just icing on the cake. A groundbreaking film from the 70's that earned so much acclaim that it was actually released theatrically overseas. A classic, pure and simple.

Though Patty Duke is probably best known for her Oscar-winning work as Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker", this extraordinary made-for-TV movie contains what is easily her finest screen performance. She is never less than believable as the frightened, immature, uneducated Southern girl who, pregnant with her lover's child and abandoned by both him and her family, takes refuge in a deserted seaside house. There, her solitary wait for the birth of her child is broken by the unexpected arrival of Al Freeman Jr., a black militant on the run for killing a white man. Their relationship, at first defined by mutual contempt and hostility, slowly evolves into a touching love story. The ending is unforgettable. Duke and Freeman share a wonderful chemistry and both were deservedly Emmy-nominated (Duke won; Freeman, regrettably, did not). Patty Duke was as talented as any leading actess of her generation and her work here confirms that.

I was roughly 11 when this movie hit the TV, it was a clean direct to the point first time view of what life was really like in regards to race from that time period. It was a classic eye opener, and yes what a heart warming story, I would love to see it again. I was not even sure who starred in it until I finally started punching in movie names with Charlie in it and found it on this site. Sadly I think only my generation could appreciate such a movie back then, this generation would turn it off. Seeing these comments on this movie reminds me that I grew up at the very best time anyone could, the 60's and 70's. Thank you