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employee of Jake, who was at the scene of the crime for another reason, is being accused of a murder he did not commit. Encouraged by his mother Sarah (who dies from the stress of all the goings-on), Newt reveals to Judge
Cavanaugh that Booker committed the murder, and he testifies in court. Newt's testimony leads to the suicide of Booker, who seized a gun at the courthouse. Later, Newt is nearly killed by Marcus, who is then shot in the back by the sheriff while running away, and dies in the same river that Newt's and Marcus' friend was shot in. Newt refuses a lift home from the sheriff, and he walks away to an uncertain future.
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Newt's girlfriend
Arcella, he does his best to protect her and ultimately he comes to term with his loss without showing aggression; he tells the truth in the Kiner murder trial despite that it exposes Booker Savage as the killer and shows some African Americans in an unfavorable light. Newt's determination to act ethically is a reflection of his moral character.
458:". Among those who traveled were the ancestors of Gordon Parks. His father, Andrew Jackson Parks, was a tenant farmer in Kansas. Given that Gordon Parks was born in Fort Scott, Kansas, in 1912, he was the "issue of the second generation of exodusters". His ancestral background played a role in choosing Fort Scott as the filming location for
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Arcella (implied to be through rape), who ultimately moves away out of shame. (The judge later apologizes to Newt and his family and says things will be taken care of) After Marcus leaves jail, he works as a janitor at a brothel. Another scene depicts Newt's winning a boxing match at the county fair, in which he beats Marcus.
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In contrast, Marcus is a young man who also is upset by the racial injustice of the day, but retaliates with violence. His rocky relationship with his father does not help his psyche and predisposes him to violence. In the case of Marcus, he begins to embody violence, specifically when he beats Kiner
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Parks personally chose Kyle
Johnson to play the character of Newt after a brief meeting with him in a Beverly Hills hotel. However, during the meeting, he gave no indication that he wanted to cast Johnson. Johnson kept getting called for screen tests, and after the fourth test, he learned that he had
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is based on Gordon Parks's 1963 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. Parks also wrote the screenplay, and as a result, the script for the film did not deviate much from the book, except for featuring fewer characters for the sake of running time. In addition to being the screenwriter, he was
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Newt is a young man who tries to adhere to morals, but he is upset by the racial injustice of the day. When adversity occurs, he tries to act with dignity: when he and his friends steal from Jake Kiner, he attempts to make amends by working for him pro bono; when
Chauncey Cavanaugh takes a liking to
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Until a few years ago blacks didn't even dream about getting into movies, except as actors. It was a closed world, sealed off by discrimination. Ken Hyman, the president of Seven Arts, liked my book and knew my photography. We had a meeting that lasted 15 minutes and he gave me the job of directing
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In 1920s Kansas, a group of
African-American boys, Newt Winger, Marcus Savage, and friends steal apples from Jake Kiner's orchard, and when Jake (who is white) confronts the boys, he is beaten and left for dead by Marcus, who later is sent to jail for his actions. While chasimg after Marcus and the
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One day when Newt had just woken up from a nap in the loft of Jake's barn, he witnesses the brutal attack and murder of Jake by Booker Savage, Marcus' father, who was stealing liquor. Newt initially keeps quiet about what he has seen, but is bothered that Silas
Newhall, a white man and disgruntled
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While Marcus is in jail, Newt begins to work for Jake to make up for his actions and those of his friends and begins a relationship with
Arcella Jefferson, a new girl in town, but his relationship with her is destroyed when Chauncey Cavanaugh, a white boy and son of the local judge, impregnates
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juxtaposes the lives of Newt Winger and Marcus Savage, two former friends that are trying to find themselves in a white-dominated
Midwestern society. Although these two young men have different personalities and different goals in life, both characters represent two examples of black manhood.
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The
Exodusters earned their name after nearly 6,000 black Americans migrated to Kansas after the Emancipation. Their exodus was prompted by the 1879 Windom Resolution that encouraged African Americans to leave the southern states where they were still met with much hatred, even though the
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Newt, despite escapades like ending up in a barn during a tornado with a large local girl who takes off her clothes, does well in school and aims to go to college; a white teacher tries to dissuade him, but the white principal opposes the racism of the town and encourages his ambitions.
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Kyle
Johnson remembers that when production began there was a circus in town. As a result, the circus scene in the film features an actual circus rather than a staged one. Moreover, the circus scene included citizens of Fort Scott, who were there for the circus in town anyway.
239:, who also scored the film. It depicts the life of Newt Winger, a teenager growing up in Cherokee Flats, Kansas, in the 1920s and chronicles his journey into manhood marked with tragic events. Based on Parks' 1963 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name,
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During the film production, executives from Warner Bros. often visited the set. Warner sent representatives over to check on Parks and make sure that production was running smoothly, allegedly because Parks was an African-American director.
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wrote in his review that the scenes in the film took on a "kind of ceremonial vitality and lifelikeness". Parks' and Guffey's strong attention to detail helped to make this film beloved and well-remembered to the American public.
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Parks is said to have followed his instincts while filming and encouraged the actors to follow their own instincts while acting. This ease while filming arguably contributed to the fact that scenes were shot in very few takes.
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the director, producer, and music composer. Burnett Guffey served as cinematographer, and Parks was assisted by Jack Aldworth and Fred Giles. Parks tried to include as many black technicians as possible on the film.
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for me it was like being part of a tight-run ship, a well-oiled machine. You do your part, and you recognize its importance and relationship to all the other parts, cast, crew, director and so forth.”
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had ended a little more than a decade earlier. Kansas promised a fresh start for the Exodusters, who wanted to begin a new life, in a new land, away from the southerners who had once enslaved them.
416:, in the fall of 1968, and the production process was scheduled to take three months. Fort Scott had been where Parks grew up, and it was also the basis for the fictional town of Cherokee Flats.
381:, then it was changed to its current name. The current title appears to be taken from a line in the film, one that Sarah Winger tells her son Newt: "Let Cherokee Flats be your learning tree."
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446:(1969) that film presents a behind-the-scenes look at the production of a feature film based on "The Learning Tree," produced by Allegro Films and directed by Meyer Odze.
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been hired and that the tests were meant to gauge the abilities of the other actors, not him. Johnson characterized the audition process as "not normal".
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by essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010
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Additionally, Johnson recalls that his “most enjoyable work as an actor” was done under Gordon Parks. Specifically, Johnson says “I really enjoyed
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reviewer Roger Greenspun praised the film's score in his review, saying that the music "telegraphs and then drains each crisis".
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was among the first group of 25 films to be listed on National Film Registry when the registry was created in 1989.
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boys, the racist white sheriff shoots dead an innocent black boy crossing a river, and the sheriff is not punished.
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premiered at the Trans-Lux East and West in New York City on August 6, 1969, it was well received by critics.
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683:"Soldier of Cinema: Reflections on Gordon Parks and The Learning Tree. My Interview with Kyle Johnson"
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861:"Exodusters - Homestead National Monument of America (U.S. National Park Service)"
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1021:"The Learning Tree (1969) - Essay on the National Film Registry Website"
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It grossed $ 33,000 in its opening week and reached number one at the
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According to Turner Classic Movies, the original name of the film was
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for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
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Gordon Parks composed and wrote the following score for
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was the first film directed by a black filmmaker for a
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was among the first group of 25 films selected by the
707:"ENTERTAINMENT: Film Registry Picks First 25 Movies"
19:"Learning Tree" redirects here. For other uses, see
913:"Movie Review - - The Learning Tree' - NYTimes.com"
738:"The Learning Tree (1969) - Full Credits - TCM.com"
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885:"Gordon Parks - The Learning Tree (1970)"
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571:(feat. Kyle Johnson & Joel Fluellen)
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235:film written, produced and directed by
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262:for preservation in the United States
1305:Films about rape in the United States
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715:. Washington, D.C. September 19, 1989
813:"National Archives NextGen Catalog"
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1265:American coming-of-age drama films
911:Greenspun, Roger (7 August 1969).
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681:Mitchell, Robert A. (2011-03-11).
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607:in its seventh week of release.
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311:Mira Waters as Arcella Jefferson
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985:. October 1, 1969. p. 11.
965:. August 20, 1969. p. 11.
945:. August 20, 1969. p. 11.
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977:"50 Top-Grossing Films"
957:"50 Top-Grossing Films"
553:Questions & Answers
444:My Father: Gordon Parks
442:produced a film called
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150:Warner Bros.-Seven Arts
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769:. Chicago Sun-Times
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396:. Parks later said:
260:Library of Congress
231:is a 1969 American
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1270:Films about racism
1203:Shaft's Big Score!
1173:Films directed by
1106:TCM Movie Database
917:The New York Times
841:St. Louis American
468:American Civil War
425:The Learning Tree;
414:Fort Scott, Kansas
379:Learn, Baby, Learn
335:as Judge Cavanaugh
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712:Los Angeles Times
687:Soldier of Cinema
611:The Learning Tree
593:The Learning Tree
533:(Arcella's Theme)
526:The Swimming Hole
516:The Storm To Calm
500:The Learning Tree
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460:The Learning Tree
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321:Richard Ward
297:Kyle Johnson
285:
281:
277:
273:
255:
253:
240:
237:Gordon Parks
227:
226:
225:
189:Running time
166:Release date
136:Gordon Parks
109:Richard Ward
85:Kyle Johnson
76:Gordon Parks
64:
56:Gordon Parks
47:Gordon Parks
1133:Entire film
865:www.nps.gov
773:24 February
193:107 minutes
98:Mira Waters
88:Alex Clarke
73:Produced by
43:Directed by
1250:1969 films
1244:Categories
1124:0826429777
1033:2018-09-12
1006:2018-09-12
922:2017-12-08
894:2017-12-08
870:2017-12-08
846:2017-12-08
822:2024-04-23
798:2017-12-08
747:2017-12-08
692:2018-09-12
634:References
511:O.C. Smith
509:, sung by
494:Soundtrack
456:Exodusters
450:Exodusters
361:Background
342:Dana Elcar
214:Box office
177:1969-08-06
142:Production
95:Dana Elcar
1219:Leadbelly
1055:essay by
719:April 22,
587:Reception
564:The Fight
548:Poor Tuck
365:The film
254:In 1989,
219:(rentals)
125:Edited by
1073:AllMovie
617:See also
531:Concerto
521:Bluebird
206:Language
133:Music by
81:Starring
61:Based on
1138:YouTube
1104:at the
1063:website
1059:on the
982:Variety
962:Variety
942:Variety
649:Variety
542:Chorale
209:English
198:Country
175: (
144:company
1230:(1984)
1222:(1976)
1214:(1974)
1206:(1972)
1198:(1971)
1190:(1969)
1122:
1195:Shaft
1024:(PDF)
591:When
1120:ISBN
1084:IMDb
775:2022
721:2020
438:The
291:Cast
270:Plot
1136:on
1093:at
1082:at
1071:at
1246::
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903:^
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729:^
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657:^
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247:,
1166:e
1159:t
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