Claudine

Claudine (1974)

A heart and soul comedy. Can you dig it?

Claudine is a single mother in New York City who endures an exhausting commute to the suburbs where she works as a maid for wealthy families. In one carefully tended white community, she meets Roop, a charismatic but irresponsible garbage collector. Romance quickly ensues, but Claudine doubts that their relationship is good for her six children, and Rupert, despite his good nature, is reluctant to take on fatherhood.

Date of release
1974-04-22
TMDB
7.1 / 10 (47)
Runtime
1h 32m
Genres
Drama, Romance, Comedy
Director
John Berry

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: New York City
  • Awards: 0 · Nominations: 1

Claudine is a 1974 American romantic comedy-drama film, directed by John Berry. Claudine was written by Lester Pine and Tina Pine, produced by Third World Cinema, and distributed by 20th Century Fox, starring James Earl Jones, Diahann Carroll, and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs. The film was released on April 22, 1974, grossing about $6 million, a modest hit for the times. It was praised for showing a new dimension in black cinema during the height of blaxploitation.

Production

Production for the film began in August 1973. The location of this film was in the Harlem area Sugar Hill; Claudine's apartment was located near Edgecombe Avenue and 142nd street. The final shot of Claudine and her family walking together with Rupert was filmed several weeks after principal photography ended.

Actress Diana Sands was originally cast as Claudine, but after only a week of filming, Sands fell ill and was not able to continue. Just before her death, Sands called Carroll and insisted that she take the role in her place. Cicely Tyson also turned down the role of Claudine.

Curtis Mayfield wrote and produced the film's score and soundtrack, the vocals for which are performed by Gladys Knight & the Pips. The soundtrack for Claudine was released on Buddah Records, the group's record label, and "On & On", the film's theme song, was a #5 hit for Knight and the Pips on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart in 1974.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

Recommended