The Learning Tree

The Learning Tree (1969)

The story, set in Kansas during the 1920's, covers less than a year in the life of a black teenager, and documents the veritable deluge of events which force him into sudden manhood. The family relationships and enmities, the fears, frustrations and ambitions of the black teenager in small-town America are explored with a strong statement about human values.

Date of release
1969-08-06
TMDB
6.8 / 10 (26)
Runtime
1h 47m
Genres
Drama
Director
Gordon Parks

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Based on: The Learning Tree
  • Filmed in: Fort Scott

The Learning Tree is a 1969 American coming-of-age film written, produced and directed by Gordon Parks, who also scored the film. It depicts the life of Newt Winger, a teenager growing up in Cherokee Flats, Kansas, in the 1920s and chronicles his journey into manhood marked with tragic events. Based on Parks' 1963 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, The Learning Tree was the first film directed by a Black filmmaker for a major American film studio, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts.

Background

The film The Learning Tree is based on Gordon Parks's 1963 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. Parks also wrote the screenplay, and as a result, the script for the film did not deviate much from the book, except for featuring fewer characters for the sake of running time. In addition to being the screenwriter, he was the director, producer, and music composer.

Parks personally chose Kyle Johnson to play the character of Newt after a brief meeting with him in a Beverly Hills hotel. However, during the meeting, he gave no indication that he wanted to cast Johnson. Johnson kept getting called for screen tests, and after the fourth test, he learned that he had been hired and that the tests were meant to gauge the abilities of the other actors, not him.

According to Turner Classic Movies, the original name of the film was Learn, Baby, Learn, then it was changed to its current name. The current title appears to be taken from a line in the film, one that Sarah Winger tells her son Newt: "Let Cherokee Flats be your learning tree."

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

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