Taglines: Their forbidden friendship changed a nation.
The Long Walk Home movie storyline. Set in Montgomery, Alabama, United States, during the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, it features Whoopi Goldberg as Odessa Cotter, an African-American woman who works as a maid/nanny for Miriam Thompson, a well-to-do white woman played by Sissy Spacek. Odessa and her family confront typical issues faced by African Americans in the South at the time: poverty, racism, segregation, and violence. The black community has begun a widespread boycott of the city-owned buses to end segregation; Odessa takes on a long walk both ways to work.
Miriam Thompson offers to give her a ride two days a week to ensure she gets to work on time and to lessen the fatigue her “long walk home” is causing. Around the city, some informal carpools and other systems are starting, but most of the blacks walk to work.
As the boycott continues, tensions rise in the city. Blacks had been the majority riders on the city-owned buses, and the system is suffering financially. Miriam’s decision to support Odessa by giving her a ride becomes an issue with her husband, Norman Thompson (Dwight Schultz), and other prominent members of the white community who want the boycott to end. Miriam has to choose between what she believes is right or succumb to pressure from her husband and friends.
The Long Walk Home is a 1990 American historical drama film starring Sissy Spacek and Whoopi Goldberg, and directed by Richard Pearce. Set in Alabama, it is based on a screenplay about the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956) by John Cork and a short film by the same name, produced by students at the University of Southern California in 1988.
The Long Walk Home (1990)
Directed by: Richard Pearce
Starring: Sissy Spacek, Whoopi Goldberg, Dwight Schultz, Ving Rhames, Dylan Baker, Erika Alexander, Lexi Randall, Richard Habersham, Crystal Robbins, Cherene Snow
Screenplay by: John Cork
Production Design by: Blake Russell
Cinematography by: Roger Deakins
Film Editing by: Bill Yahraus
Costume Design by: Shay Cunliffe
Set Decoration by: Gretchen Rau
Art Direction by: Margery Z. Gabrielson
Music by: George Fenton
Distributed by: Miramax Films
Release Date: December 21, 1990
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