The Age of Commercialism

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

When the film begins, Adele (Bette Davis) is taking in a VERY unusual sort of border--a teen* who is being placed in her care for probation! This old white lady is doing this because she needs the income and her new roommate, B.T. (Ernest Harden, Jr.) is about as much unlike her as possible. He's a black street-wise teenager and their personalities are certainly different. While I would never call Adele tender towards B.T., she does later come to really care for the kid and pushes him to be a better person. She is horrified when B.T. takes up boxing...but it does help pay the bills. Later, after she's helped B.T. to get on his feet, it's now turn for him to help her when she is dispossessed from her home...but Adele has a very hard time asking for or accepting help. The film is not perfect--especially since I think they could have worked a bit more at relationship building. But the story is unique and it's nice to see Davis in one of her nice, non-cringeworthy** roles later in her career.*B.T. is supposed to be 16. The actor was 28 and looked at the least, about 23. This was bad casting or they should have just had the character be in his 20s.**Late in their careers, Bette Davis and her arch-rival, Joan Crawford, would appear in ANYTHING as long as the check cleared. Both claimed they needed the money but based on some of these films I have a hard time believing they needed money THAT badly.

"White people don't know what good is", wise-cracking black teenager Ernest Harden Jr. tells Bette Davis when she takes him into her home to earn extra income in helping juvenile delinquents stay off the streets. At first, there's a definite wariness between the two, but it quickly dissolves when she decides to teach him how to read. It is obvious that she sees him more than just a troublesome black teen and wants to believe in something. He has ambitions of becoming a professional fighter which she at first tries to convince him to change his goals. But when a sudden argument erupts between the two over his future, she comes to the belief that he robbed her and is forced out onto the street after being evicted. Briefly helped by bag lady Eileen Heckart, she becomes very sick but Harden shows up in the nick of time to help her out."How ya doin', white mama?", he asks her during a practice bout. "Better than you are!", she responds as only Bette Davis could. She becomes very fond of him and takes care of him when a tough bag lady (Anne Ramsey of "Throw Mama From the Train") stabs him. It's very touching to see both of their hearts opening to each other, to cross the racial barriers that society both fights for and against. It's not only racial barriers, but age barriers and educational barriers as well. It's no longer about a kind white lady taking in someone from the other side of the society spectrum because they believe it is their duty or need the money, but doing it because it's right. "You can be anything you want to be if you work hard at it", she tells him, teaching him the first values he's ever known in his life and more importantly, giving him an inside scoop on what it is like to have dignity.This is more than just trying to raise the status of white folks helping out black folks to try and make up for the past (it's time to move on and find new battles to strike out at), but two human beings helping each other during the times of crisis. Made during very troublesome racial times, this dared to show that the races can co-exist and come to love each other beyond what society claims is right and wrong, black and white or rich or poor. The final fight scene shows Davis feeling each hit that Harden takes. Davis is riveting in a scene where she begins calling all these different New York City agencies to prevent herself from being evicted and ends up getting the typical city hall run-around.I didn't like the whole twist of the furniture being stolen as it left Davis with distrust and pretty much gave her no other option than being on the street, but other than that little plot twist, I think this is a practically perfect T.V. movie with excellent performances that truly stands the test of time and hopefully will wake people up to seeing race relationships in a new light rather than sweeping down the drain. Excellent New York City location footage is another plus!

An unusual tale of friendship is told in White Mama where Bette Davis plays the title role and Ernest Harden, Jr. is the one who's in need of one of any pigmentation. If you can imagine Bette Davis's character from The Catered Affair some 20 years after that film came out. Her children are married and gone, her husband has died some time ago and she's having trouble making ends meet, but won't go on welfare. But she will take in a troubled youth and supervise his probation until he's of age.Davis and Harden are one unlikely pair to bond and not just because of race. But strangely enough they do and prove to be of invaluable assistance in moments of crisis.No bigger crisis for Davis can be in that she lost her apartment she cannot find a place to live and is forced to become a bag lady. Harden happens to know them from the street and they're an interesting new circle of friends, Eileen Heckart and Virginia Capers being two of them. And there's a deadly Anne Ramsey who carries a switchblade for protection and knows how to use it.Davis and Harden have a real good chemistry between them and that's half the enjoyment of watching White Mama. Those bag ladies are good support and I also can't forget Lurene Tuttle her long time neighbor in that apartment building she lives in who says she's found a good living situation with one of her children. No matter how good it is it ain't the same as being on your own.I was lucky to see this on YouTube, hopefully it will come out on DVD at some point.

White Mama is a fine and well made television film starring screen legend Bette Davis, as a poor aging old woman living in a decaying apartment building in the black ghetto of the city. She is befriended by a black boy, who treats her like she was his own mother. Touching and sometimes sad, this made for TV film earned Davis an Emmy Award nomination and has good a good supporting cast including Oscar winner Eileen Heckart (Butterflies are Free), Oscar nominee Anne Ramsey (Throw Momma from the Train) as well as fine African American actors Ernie Hudson and Tony Burton. This film is sometimes hard to find, but should be viewed and recommended for touching stories and fans of Bette Davis's fine work, especially here in television which was even rare for her.