A Soldier's Story

"A Soldier's Story" is one of those movies that's about less than you might think. It begins with the murder of a
black sergeant, who is shot near an Army base in Louisiana in 1944. Suspicion immediately points to the local
whites, who are not too happy about all these blacks stationed in their branch of the deep South. An Army
lawyer, a captain, is sent from Washington to handle the investigation, and he turns out to be black, too -- the
first black officer anyone in the movie has ever seen.
As he conducts his investigation, we get to meet some of the important characters on the base, from black
privates to the white officers who brag about their experiences at "commanding Negroes." Each time the captain
conducts an interview, we get a flashback to another version of the events leading up to the murder. And
eventually, we find out who committed the crime.
As a storytelling device, this mechanism is excruciating. The problem is in the time structure. If an investigation
begins at the present moment and proceeds, suspense can build. But if the truth is going to emerge from a series
of flashbacks, then obviously the movie knows who did it, and is withholding the information from us, using it
as a hook to get us to sit through all of its other points. "A Soldier's Story" is not really a murder mystery, then.
What is it? I guess it's supposed to be a docudrama. A great deal of the plot revolves around the character of the
dead man, Sergeant Waters (Adolph Caesar), who is a scrappy little veteran of World War I, and believes that
blacks should always behave so as to favorably impress whites and reflect credit upon their race. He is filled
with self-hate, and takes it out on the black men under him who are not acting the way he thinks they should.
This fact is gradually revealed in a series of interviews conducted by the lawyer, Captain Davenport, who is
played by Howard E. Rollins, Jr. And what a disappointing performance it is, coming from the same actor who
won an Academy Award nomination for "Ragtime." He invests his character with little humanity; he tries to
seem dispassionate, curbed, correct, just a little more noble than anyone else in the picture. The result is such a
laid-back performance that the lawyer seems less interested in solving the case than in keeping his cool (the
murdered Sergeant Waters would have been proud of him).
The movie ends with a handshake between Davenport and one of the white officers who has made life hard for
him. This is a more ironic ending than was perhaps intended, because "A Soldier's Story" was directed by
Norman Jewison, the director who ended "In the Heat of the Night" with Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger
shaking hands. The ending worked in 1967, but in 1984 I think we expect a little more. Did this movie have to
be so lockstep, so trapped by its mechanical plot, so limited by a murder mystery? What the movie has to say is
so pale and limited that, ironically, the most interesting character in the movie is the victim--that black racist
sergeant. At least he has fire and life and, misguided as he is, at least he's vital.

A Soldier's Story (1984)
Hated Drill Sergeant Waters Was Killed By Black Pvt. First Class Peterson
In the conclusion of this murder mystery set at Fort Neal - a Southern military base for black platoons in 1944,
hated black drill instructor Master Sergeant Vernon Waters (Adolph Caesar) was found shot to death.
During the investigation (told through flashbacks) by African-American attorney Captain Davenport (Howard
E. Rollins) brought down from Washington, DC, it was at first thought that Waters was killed by white officers
or the Ku Klux Klan.
But later it was revealed that Waters was killed by unrepentant and militant Pvt. First Class Peterson (Denzel
Washington) who explained that he killed Waters in revenge for driving illiterate, guitar-strumming "Geechee"
C. J. Memphis (Larry Riley) to suicide (who Waters called a "Homey kind of nigger").
Peterson had confessed: "I didn't kill much. Some things need gettin' rid of. Man like Waters never did nobody
no good, Cap'n."
Plot
Conflicted, light-skinned Sergeant Waters (Adolph Caesar) ruthlessly heaps abuse upon his men. He calls them
all "worthless geechees", but he especially relishes torturing the jovial and highly talented C.J. Memphis (Larry
Riley). Racism is deep-rooted in the south during the time. Sergent Waters especially cannot stand the
buffoonery behavior from the fellow black men in the platoon.
When Waters is killed, there are plenty of suspects for Captain Davenport (Howard E. Rollins, Jr.). Some
soldiers also believe that Sergent Waters was killed by the Ku Klux Klan.
Art Evans plays Private Wilkie, a nervous man too acquiescent for his own good. David Alan Grier plays C.J.'s
closest friend, bonded by their Mississippi roots. Denzel Washington, in one of his earliest motion picture roles,
portrays the deeply embittered Pfc. Peterson.

Showing all 3 plot summaries
A black soldier is killed while returning to his base in the deep south. The white people of the area are
suspected at first. A tough black army attorney is brought in to find out the truth. We find out a bit more
about the dead soldier in flashbacks - and that he was unpopular. Will the attorney find the killer ?
- Written by Colin Tinto <cst@imdb.com>
In the towm of Tynen, Louisiana, a black Master Sergeant is found shot to death just outside the local
Army Base. A military lawyer, also a black man, is sent from Washington to conduct an investigation.
Facing an uncooperative chain of command and fearful black troops, Captain Davenport must battle
with deceipt and prejudice in order to find out exactly who really did kill Sergeant Waters.

An African American officer investigates a murder
in a racially charged situation in World War II.
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A Soldier's Story
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Soldier's Story

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Norman Jewison
Produced by Norman Jewison
Written by Charles Fuller
Starring
Howard E. Rollins, Jr.
Adolph Caesar
Music by Herbie Hancock
Cinematography Russell Boyd
Edited by
Caroline Biggerstaff
Mark Warner
Production
company
Columbia Pictures

Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates
September 13, 1984
Running time 101 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $21,821,347
[1]


A Soldier's Story is a 1984 American drama film directed by Norman Jewison, based upon Charles Fuller's
Pulitzer Prize-winning Off Broadway production A Soldier's Play. A black officer is sent to investigate the
murder of a black sergeant in Louisiana near the end of World War II. It is a story about racism and segregation
in a black U.S Army regiment with white officers deep in the Jim Crow South, in a time and place where a
black officer is unprecedented and bitterly resented by nearly everyone.
The film was first shown at the Toronto Film Festival. It won the New York Drama Critics Award, the Outer
Critics Circle Award, the Theater Club Award, and three Village Voice Obie Awards. It won the Golden Prize at
the 14th Moscow International Film Festival.
[2]
It was also nominated for three Academy Awards: for Best
Picture, Supporting Actor (Adolph Caesar), and Screenplay Adaptation (Fuller).
Plot
Conflicted, light-skinned Sergeant Waters (Adolph Caesar) ruthlessly heaps abuse upon his men. He calls them
names, but he especially relishes torturing the jovial and highly talented C.J. Memphis (Larry Riley). Sergeant
Waters especially cannot stand the light-hearted behavior from the fellow black men in the platoon.
When Waters is killed, there are plenty of suspects for Captain Davenport (Howard E. Rollins, Jr.) to
investigate. Some soldiers also believe that Sergeant Waters was killed by the Ku Klux Klan.
In the beginning, Davenport's investigation is difficult. Not only do white officers oppose him, but black
soldiers deride him. And he receives dishonest answers from those he questions about the murder. Eventually,
Davenport begins to put the pieces of his investigation together and discovers two white officers saw Waters
drunk on a road shortly before he was discovered dead at that scene, shot with two 45 caliber bullets. Davenport
questions the white officers who admit they confronted Waters after he insulted them, but deny they killed him.
Captain Taylor thinks the officers are lying and Davenport should have them arrested. Davenport refuses after
learning that the ammunition used to kill Waters was not issued to those officers. Davenport learns Waters
despised C.J. because C.J. acted like the stereotypical blacks of the Old South. Waters sets up C.J. on a false
charge and C.J. hangs himself in jail awaiting trial. Waters then has Sgt. Wilkie busted to private. Wilkie admits
his part in a cover up to get revenge on Waters and Davenport has him arrested. Waters then learns Pvt. Smalls
and Pvt. Peterson had guard duty the night Waters was killed. Both, coincidentally, have gone AWOL just after
it is announced the platoon will be shipped out to fight the Nazis. Smalls is caught first and admits to Davenport
that he was with Peterson when Peterson shot Waters. Peterson is caught and confesses. The film ends with the
platoon marching in preparation for their deployment to the European Theater.
Art Evans plays Private Wilkie, a nervous man too acquiescent for his own good. David Alan Grier plays C.J.'s
closest friend, bonded by their Mississippi roots. Denzel Washington, in one of his earliest motion picture roles,
portrays the deeply embittered Pfc. Peterson.