THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 9, 1996 TAG: 9603080071
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Interview
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 118 lines
TIM REID CALLED to talk about the time the KKK marched in Norfolk, and his new, and very first, job of directing a movie.
The two, after all, are connected.
Reid, who left Norfolk in 1963 with a degree in business from Norfolk State University, has since added TV stardom (for his role in ``WKRP in Cincinnati''), an Emmy nomination (for the series ``Frank's Place'') and a glamorous wife, actress Daphne Reid.
It wasn't enough.
Now, he's a fledgling movie director as well as the head of United Image Entertainment, with projects galore in the works.
He admits, though, that the most unexpectedly risky of them all was ``Once Upon a Time . . . When We Were Colored,'' his first effort at directing. An adaptation of Clifton Taulbert's memoir about growing up in small-town Mississippi from 1946 to 1962, it presents a view of the black community that is not often seen on current screens - the family life, the communal support.
``Directing is not really my goal in life,'' Reid said. ``I wanted, more, to be a producer. I'm interested in the business side of entertainment. I've used my degree to a purpose.
``But I grew up in Norfolk. I felt I knew this material. The young guys are only making movies about dysfunctional people in urban situations. The only black people I'm seeing onscreen are drug dealers and pimps. I felt those directors didn't know the material. I thought of someone like Gordon Parks or Ivan Dixon. They could do it but, unfortunately, they're not available.
``I decided to do it myself. There are a lot of directors who are more technically experienced, but not as emotionally and spiritually right for the project.''
Reid said that he identified with young Clifton in the movie.
``My experiences are the same,'' he said. ``My mother was from Suffolk and I often visited her family in Whaleyville, Va. They were tenant farmers - growing cotton and peanuts.''
He remembers getting on the back of the bus.
``I remember the black community in Norfolk. It was a safe place - a loving place. There was the Journal and Guide newspaper and Baker's Store, where we shopped. When the bus crossed Church Street and headed downtown, down Brambleton Avenue, I was taught to change. A boy was taught that when you go outside, you put on your face. You be careful.
``I saw the KKK march down Church Street,'' he said.
But he claims his movie is not really about that.
``That's a part of our history, but the movie is more about family. In movies today, you see, mainly, black men who have left the family. `Once Upon a Time' is closer to the truth. If it's about racism at all, it's about the subtleties - the little things. Hollywood usually does the big scenes - the lynchings, the floggings. That is not getting at reality. That's an exaggeration, at least to most. Hollywood always does it bigger than life.''
Trying a tamer, quieter project was not without its price.
``In the first place, they wouldn't give me any money,'' he said. ``My final budget was $2.5 million, which is very low for this movie. We had over 80 speaking parts. Everyone turned me down. American Playhouse turned me down. The studios turned me down. They all felt the film was `too soft.' They felt it was not an image moviegoers would buy. They wanted more action. They wanted to be what they consider politically correct. What they were really saying, when you get to the bottom of it, was that the movie was too human.
``What I'm seeing on film currently are only black people who are angry and disappointed - people who are dependent upon the government. People who are unable to take care of their families. This is not reality.''
Reid didn't listen.
``People have been telling me what couldn't be done for years, since I left Norfolk in 1963. They didn't think `Frank's Place' could be done as a TV series. They keep thinking I'm too out-spoken.''
The easiest part was getting his cast. The cast includes Al Freeman Jr., Polly Bergen, Richard Roundtree, Phylicia Rashad, Leon, Paula Kelly, Bernie Casey, Isaac Hayes and many more.
``I put the call out, and they all came,'' Reid said. ``They agreed to work for less than their normal fee. I'll never forget the feeling that this gave me.''
The film was photographed in and around Wilmington, N.C. In the movie, the cotton was glued onto the plants.
``We couldn't wait for the right time of year,'' he explained.
He's currently juggling a half dozen other projects, assisted by wife Daphne. In pre-production is a love story called ``Hoochie Coochie Man.'' He's just completed the erotic thriller, ``Spirit Lost.'' He will host, and produce, the second season of the reality-based television series, ``Save Our Streets,'' returning in October.
Eventually, he plans to get out of acting altogether and center upon producing, with, perhaps, another foray into directing.
``I wouldn't mind being entirely behind the scenes,'' he said. ``The business side of things, to me, is more exciting than acting. Getting projects made is the real challenge.''
Of the hundreds of reviews for ``Once Upon a Time . . . When We Were Colored,'' he got mad about only one. That was a Washington critic who claimed that the film's houses looked too clean.
``When I think about how my mother took care of our house, it made me mad to think that he couldn't accept this. The women in our community were good enough to keep the houses of the white doctors clean, but did he think they didn't keep their own houses clean? There is a great ignorance about the black family's past in small towns. A great ignorance.''
He's checking the receipts at every theater and is particularly pleased about one thing he's hearing. ``We're getting the older black audience, people who haven't been to movie theaters lately. I'm noting that we're getting sell-outs on Sunday more than we are on Saturday nights. This is interesting. These are women with hats on. It's not just that kind of movie, but it is that kind of movie. The church folks are coming.'' MEMO: ``Once Upon a Time . . . When We Were Colored'' is playing at the Regal
Cinemas at Greenbrier Mall in Chesapeake, Lynnhaven Mall (upper level)
in Virginia Beach, and Regal Cinemas 14 in Newport News.
ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
Tim Reid
BET Pictures
``Poppa'' (Al Freeman Jr.) holds baby Clifton (Charles Earl Taylor
Jr.) in ``Once Upon a Time . . . When We Were Colored.''
by CNB