Educational Media Reviews Online

As a lifelong resident of Rochester, NY (where Douglass published his newspaper The North Star from 1847-1863) I have some degree of awareness of the life and work of Frederick Douglass and a much greater degree of respect for the man, his accomplishments, and his importance as a role model to people of all races. With that in mind, I really tried to like this video, described in a promotional flyer as a "series of fast-paced vignettes," but, even after repeated viewings, I am unable to find enough of merit to be able to recommend this earnest and seemingly well-intentioned production. And it is the vignette format that is the principle downfall of the program. Simply stated, most of the acting is unbearably poor - wooden, flat, and hollow. (The intimate and private moments that are depicted, especially the dramatizations of family life which seem to serve only as awkward segues, are particularly painful.) The few actors who are exceptions to this generalization are burdened with stilted and outrageously pretentious dialogue. Even Hugh Morgan, who portrays Douglass with skill and dignity, is too often forced to speak words meant to be read on paper as though they were extemporaneous speech. The few moments that we see and hear Douglass deliver a public speech, or hear his written words spoken as narration, are stirring and magnetic. Why must the impact that men and women of words may have so often be lessened by dramatization when the words themselves, as speech and narration, are so eloquently powerful?

The production makes extensive use of historical locations which sometimes results in muddled sound, although an inability to hear some of the acting may not be totally detrimental. I also am disturbed that a historian who has provided a blurb on the case of the videotape (lauding this program on Douglass as a "film docu-drama by William Greaves, which vividly recaptures his life and times") is also listed in the credits as "Historical Consultant." Frederick Douglass deserves better than this. Not recommended.