Oh! Documentary!

Malcolm X’s life is a true story of regeneration, of a boy whose father was killed by whites, whose mother was driven insane by poverty and racism, whose brothers and sisters were separated by the state, whose youth degenerated into hustling, crime, indulgence, but who in manhood found first Elijah Muhammad and his Nation of Islam and then, after Elijah proved to be a false prophet, decided that whites weren’t all the devils Elijah said they were, and that brotherhood was possible between men of all colors.

Malcolm’s Autobiography (1964) is as inspiring in its way as the story of Saul of Tarsus, an odyssey of one exceptional man’s development from virulent racist into apostle of genuine love. Now that remarkable journey comes to the screen as Malcolm X. Narrated by James Earl Jones, but mainly composed of black-and-white clips of Malcolm speechifying and being interviewed, and color clips of Negroes marching, rioting, being hosed down and beaten by cops, the film moved me and the audience of initially somewhat rowdy kids—moved several of us to tears.

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David Brudnoy

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Malcolm X’s life is a true story of regeneration, of a boy whose father was killed by whites, whose mother was driven insane by poverty and racism, whose brothers and sisters were separated by the state, whose youth degenerated into hustling, crime, indulgence, but who in manhood found first Elijah Muhammad and his Nation of Islam and then, after Elijah proved to be a false prophet, decided that whites weren’t all the devils Elijah said they were, and that brotherhood was possible between men of all colors.

Malcolm’s Autobiography (1964) is as inspiring in its way as the story of Saul of Tarsus, an odyssey of one exceptional man’s development from virulent racist into apostle of genuine love. Now that remarkable journey comes to the screen as Malcolm X. Narrated by James Earl Jones, but mainly composed of black-and-white clips of Malcolm speechifying and being interviewed, and color clips of Negroes marching, rioting, being hosed down and beaten by cops, the film moved me and the audience of initially somewhat rowdy kids—moved several of us to tears.