Sounder

1972 1h 45m EN

🙌

7.5

BANGER

★7.5TMDB · 58

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The oldest son of a loving and strong family of black sharecroppers comes of age in the Depression-era South after his father is imprisoned for stealing food.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Cicely Tyson
Rebecca Morgan
Paul Winfield
Nathan Lee Morgan
Kevin Hooks
David Lee Morgan
Taj Mahal
Ike
Janet MacLachlan
Camille Johnson
Carmen Mathews
Mrs. Boatwright
James Best
Sheriff Charlie Young
Eric Hooks
Earl Morgan

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Martin Ritt
Writers: Lonne Elder III
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

54 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Sounder Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Martin Ritt, shot by John A. Alonzo. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Taj Mahal. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Sidney Levin shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Cicely Tyson and Paul Winfield and Kevin Hooks carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0069303 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 58 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Martin Ritt directs. John A. Alonzo behind the camera. Taj Mahal scores. Sidney Levin cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

154 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Part of the "Sounder Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
3Directed by Martin Ritt, shot by John A. Alonzo. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Taj Mahal. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Sidney Levin shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Cicely Tyson and Paul Winfield and Kevin Hooks carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt0069303 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 58 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
9Classified under 10 themes, including "based on novel or book", "louisiana", "great depression", "family relationships".

The technical file

Cinematography: John A. Alonzo
Original score: Taj Mahal
Editing: Sidney Levin
Production design: Walter Scott Herndon
Runtime: 105 min · 1h 45m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: Sounder (1972)

Awards

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

Sounder Collection

Saga of African-American sharecroppers in the Depression-era South.

Also by

Martin Ritt

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-07-05
★ 7/10
After an energetic but fruitless coon hunt, “Nathan” (Paul Winfield) returns home to a family with his young son “David” (Kevin Hooks) and some empty bellies. They are a close and loving bunch and “Nathan” knows that nothing is likely to improve until the cropping season starts - but that is still some months away. Then he goes and gets himself imprisoned for stealing food and that leaves his wife “Rebecca” (Cicely Tyson) and the children to eke what they can and deal with the planting whilst he does twelve months hard labour. It doesn’t help their morale that they don’t even know where he has been detained, and so “David” with the help of their kindly neighbour “Miss Boatwright” (Carmen Matthews) sets about trying to track him down and make a contact that can reassure both that they are in each other’s thoughts and prayers. This film sees two strong performances. One from Tyson as a woman who will move heaven and earth to keep her family together and from starvation and the other from the enthusiastic and charismatic young Hooks who delivers quite poignantly as the young man who just wants to be with his dad. It shines the usual light on racism and iniquity, but it also extols some positivity as the young kids are determined to go to school, and they have parents who are equally determined that this opportunity should not be wasted. It’s touching but not sentimental and there is a degree of optimism for these children and, thanks to the somewhat risky intervention of “Miss Boatwright”, there might even be some roots of decency sprouting from the white folks too. The production is really quite effective at illustrating just how tough their lives was, and at the double-standards that prevailed amongst a community where hard work earned little but money for someone else.

Production companies