Movies: William Greaves

Unsuccessful gambler 'Dollar Bill' Burton lives in a crummy New York basement room with old friend Bob and a new roommate, friendly blues singer 'Alabama' Lee. But, tired of being broke, Dollar Bill gets more steady employment...doing illegal errands...

After ex-con Joe Braxton violates his probation, he is given a second chance. All he has to do is drive a group of special kids across the country....

"This documentary film covers a 24-day arts festival in Dakar, Senegal that highlighted Black contributions to the cultural heritage of mankind and was attended by an extraordinary cast of over 2,000 luminaries - including Duke Ellington, Langston Hu...

This film records the struggle for life within the Arctic Circle. It reveals flowers of startling beauty, whose entire life cycles last less than thirty days, and strange animals like the shaggy musk-ox, the shy lemming, and migrant water birds that ...

In this intimate portrait—produced for a segment of National Education Television's "Black Journal" television program—legendary jazz musician Alice Coltrane plays the harp and discusses her thoughts on music, spirituality, family, and the legacy of ...

This 1959 documentary short is a frank portrait of the daily operations inside the Montreal General Hospital’s emergency ward....

A crooked real estate tycoon tricks a trusting young woman out of her small candy store. When he is found dead, the girl is suspected of the crime....

Exploring four of the world's major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity....

A short documentary subject made for National Educational Television's Black Journal television program documenting a political rally in Newark, the 1970 mayoral campaign of Ken Gibson, and an African-American voter registration drive with special mu...

A struggling songwriter abandons his girlfriend for a flashy woman after landing a hit....

Ida B. Wells: A Passion for Justice documents the dramatic life and turbulent times of the pioneering African American journalist, activist, suffragist and anti-lynching crusader of the post-Reconstruction period. Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morr...

This short documentary offers a look at the life forms on the Queen Elizabeth Islands within the Arctic Circle. Even in this frigid zone of icebergs and glaciers a surprising variety of wildlife and vegetation is seen. Writings from the logbooks of e...

Documentary about Ali's rise to glory, beginning with his "Cassius Clay" days back in Louisville....

The Salvation Army in action. Band rehearsals, personal reminiscences of an Army officer, and an unrehearsed "coming to Christ" in the Army Citadel make for a revealing film study of men and women dedicated to a life of service to humanity....

This director's cut of the William Greaves' documentary short film dramatizes the life and deeds of the noted abolitionist Frederick Douglass....

In Manhattan's Central Park, a film crew directed by William Greaves is shooting a screen test with various pairs of actors. It's a confrontation between a couple: he demands to know what's wrong, she challenges his sexual orientation. Cameras shoot ...

The camera traces the Trans-Canada Highway, unveiling Canada's people, resources, and diverse geography from east to west. It showcases remarkable engineering accomplishments integral to constructing the highway....

Few remember the name, much less the historical achievements, of Dr. Ralph Johnson Bunche. Yet, this African American mediator and United Nations diplomat was the first person of color anywhere in the world to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace....

The film questions whether the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s effectively changed the Black community, and American society more widely, and examines the notion of Black power itself. Greaves interviewed major Black leaders, such as Franklin Thom...

In 1971, maverick filmmaker William Greaves trained his cameras on both Muhammad Ali and his opponent, Joe Frazier, ahead of the “Fight of the Century” at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The epic battle was supposed to be Ali's big comeback followi...