Sounder (1972)

Set in 1933 Louisiana, an African American family of sharecroppers struggle to survive raising sugar cane for the white landlord (Ted Airhart). When the father (Paul Winfield in an Oscar nominated performance) steals meat from a nearby smokehouse in order to feed his family, he is sentenced to one year at a work camp leaving his family to struggle without him. Based on the novel by William H. Armstrong and directed by Martin Ritt (THE LONG HOT SUMMER). When one hears the term "family film", one usually thinks of those generic Walt Disney comedies with Fred MacMurray as the father. But this is a family film in the purest sense of the term. It's heartwarming without being self indulgently sentimental and there's a simple and clean beauty to it. Anchored by a strong yet delicate performance by Cicely Tyson (also Oscar nominated), it's a well grounded observation of the African American experience in the Jim Crow era. The movie's title refers to the family's hound dog. With Kevin Hooks, Janet MacLachlan, James Best, Carmen Mathews, Sylvia Kuumba Williams and Taj Mahal.