Actor Denzel Washington (1954)

Mo’ Better Blues (1990) is an American musical comedy-drama film featuring a talented cast including Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, and Spike Lee. In the film, set in Brooklyn in 1969, four young boys invite Bleek Gilliam to play baseball with them outside his home, but Bleek’s mother interrupts with a reminder of his trumpet lesson. This leads to a heated family argument as Bleek’s father expresses concerns over his son’s interests. Despite this, Bleek continues to pursue his passion for music ...

Heart Condition (1990) is an American comedy film featuring a star-studded cast including Bob Hoskins, Denzel Washington, and Chloe Webb. Washington plays Napoleon Stone, a persuasive lawyer, while Hoskins takes on the role of Jack Moony, a police officer. These two rivals are both determined to bring down the drug rate in their community and team up to solve the murder of Stone’s mysterious killers. Moony, known for his ...

The American mystery comedy thriller film, The Mighty Quinn (1989), features Denzel Washington as the titular character. Quinn is the chief of police for a small US territory in the Caribbean. When Donald Pater, the millionaire owner of a luxury resort hotel, is murdered, Quinn’s best friend Maubee becomes the prime suspect. Despite this assumption, Quinn remains doubtful and clashes with Governor Chalk and his cocky political advisor Thomas Elgin. The murder case adds to Quinn’s personal struggles; he is estranged from his wife Lola and has little time for his son. Maubee continuously evades arrest by the ...

Glory (1989) is a historical war drama film by Edward Zwick that follows the story of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the first all-black regiments in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Captain Robert Gould Shaw, having been injured at Antietam, returns to Boston on medical leave with the help of his influential father. Shaw is later promoted to colonel and given command of the 54th regiment, with his friend Cabot Forbes as his second-in-command. The initial recruit for their unit is Thomas Searles, an intelligent African-American who previously worked as a secretary for the Shaw family. ...

For Queen and Country (1988) is a crime drama film co-written and directed by Martin Stellman. Set during the height of The Troubles, the story follows Black British paratrooper Reuben James, who is attacked by IRA militants while leaving a pub in Northern Ireland. He is rescued by fellow soldier and Londoner Tony, also known as ‘Fish’. Together with another soldier from London, Bob Harper, they later fight in the Falkland Islands in 1982. After leaving the army in 1988, Reuben returns to his old East End neighbourhood in London, where he faces harassment from police officers like Challoner and Kilcoyne. ...

Cry Freedom (1987), an epic apartheid drama film directed and produced by Richard Attenborough, takes place in late-1970s South Africa during the time of apartheid. After seeing news coverage of a slum being demolished in East London, journalist Donald Woods seeks out more information and meets with anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko. Biko is a member of the Black Consciousness Movement and has been banned from leaving his designated ‘banning area’ in King William’s Town by the South African government. While Woods disagrees with Biko’s political views, he is invited to witness the conditions in ...

The film Power (1986), directed by Sidney Lumet and featuring Richard Gere, follows the story of Pete St. John, a ruthless media consultant. He finds himself handling multiple political candidates when he is approached to join the campaign of Jerome Cade, a wealthy businessman vying for a Senate seat. This race happens to be for the position that is being left vacant by St. John’s close friend, Sam Hastings. However, complications arise as St. John clashes with Arnold Billings, a public relations expert hired by Cade’s team.

The George McKenna Story (1986), a biographical television film directed by Eric Laneuville, features Denzel Washington and Lynn Whitfield from St. Elsewhere. It depicts the true story of a teacher in Los Angeles who becomes the Principal of George Washington Memorial High School. The school and its students struggle with the pervasive presence of gangs and drugs in their community. McKenna’s goal was to provide the students with a real choice in education and all the opportunities it offered for their ...

Jud Taylor directed License to Kill (1984), a television film. The Peterson family is devastated when their daughter Lynne is killed by a drunk driver on the day of her high school graduation and safe driving award ceremony. John becomes fixated on seeking justice for his daughter’s death at the hands of Tom Fiske, an unremorseful businessman responsible for the accident. Despite Fiske hiring a clever defense lawyer who repeatedly delays the trial and successfully suppresses evidence of his intoxication, prosecutor Martin Sawyer persists in proving Fiske’s guilt by presenting his bar bill from the day of the ...

A Soldier’s Story (1984) is an American mystery drama film directed and produced by Norman Jewison. The screenplay was written by Charles Fuller, based on his Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name. Set during World War II in 1944, the film follows the events surrounding the death of Master Sergeant Vernon Waters, a Black soldier at Fort Neal in Louisiana. While many believe he was killed by members of the Ku Klux Klan due to his race, others are skeptical. Captain Richard Davenport, a Black officer from the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, is tasked with investigating the case, despite objections from ...

St. Elsewhere (1982–1988) is an American medical drama television series originally airing on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. Created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey, it follows the lives of staff at the fictional St. Eligius Hospital in Boston’s South End neighborhood. The hospital’s nickname, ‘St. Elsewhere’, is a slang term in the medical field for hospitals that may not have the same resources as others, but still provide care to patients who are turned away elsewhere. This term can also be used in medical academia for teaching ...

Directed by Michael Schultz, Carbon Copy (1981) is a comedy-drama film featuring the story of Roger Porter, a 17-year-old African-American man. He is the long-lost son of Walter Whitney, a successful businessman living in San Marino, California—a predominantly exclusive community. Despite his wealth and status, Walter secretly struggles with being Jewish in his gated community where he constantly has to ask his wife Vivian for things and deal with the disrespectful antics of his step-daughter Mary Ann. One day, Roger surprises Walter at his office and reveals that he is Walter’s biological son from a past ...