runamokprods An important film in its day, it still holds up well. Claudine was one of the first mainstream American dramas to deal with the struggles of urban poor African-Americans without exploitation, violence or exaggeration on one side, or sugar coating or soft peddling on the other. It has sadness, anger and heartache, but also joy, love and humor. It has two smashing central performances by Diahann Carroll as the mother of six, trying to survive on welfare and an off the books job as a housekeeper, and James Earl Jones as a very charming garbage man who woos her despite the risk their getting together could cut her welfare payments. Carroll is a wonder. One of the most beautiful actresses of her era, here she manages to be believable as an over-worked, under loved mother in the ghetto. Equal parts pain, pride, vulnerability, smarts and strength she was one of the first African Americans to get an Oscar nomination in a drama. Jones does some of his best film work. Always a great of the American theater, in his early films Jones often came off as too theatrical, larger than life. But here is he subtle, sly, complicated, and very sexy. The young actors playing Carroll's six children are uniformly excellent, often a weak spot in a film like this. There are problems; some plot turns are predictable, some moments feel a bit 'Hollywood', some of it feels awkwardly dated. But much of it is as relevant as ever, and not afraid to be upsetting and angry along with it's gentle comedy. Two notes, while often marketed as a 'family' film, this deals with sex and nudity in an honest and realistic way, and it's language is salty and true. Also, sadly, the only available DVD is full screen – too bad since the film was quite nicely shot in its gritty way.

preppy-3 Calaudine (Diahann Carroll) is 36, unmarried and has six children and is trying to raise them all on Welfare. Garbage truck guy Roop (James Earl Jones) starts romancing her. Her kids don't trust him and she doesn't trust herself. This movie chronicles how shes deals with her relationship with Roop and how to deal with her six kids--two who are teenagers and starting to fight back.I've never even HEARD of this movie until FXM showed it one night. It seems to have disappeared and thats too bad. It's easily got to be one of the most honest and accurate portrayals about growing up poor and black in the city. I'm not black but I've read books on the subject and had some friends who lived like this and this movie hits the subjects right on. Also this is one of the few movies where the kids act and talk like kids--not like little adults. The language is strong (there's plenty of casual swearing and sex talk) but that's how people act and talk. Also this film doesn't shrink from Claudine and Roop having sex--it presents it in a matter of fact way. The script is OK but tries to cover all the bases of being poor and struggling with kids--that's WAY too much for one movie. Also it seems to pile one disaster after another on Claudine. It's gets to be overkill. I also didn't buy the happy shots during the closing credits. Still this is an exceptional movie that seems to have fallen between the cracks. The acting is great--Carroll and Jones are so young and full of life and energy. Carroll was nominated for an Oscar for this film. Also, among her kids, is Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs who went on the star in the TV series "Welcome Back Kotter".I do have to point out that the language is STRONG in this one and it has flashes of nudity (female). It wouldn't get a PG today--it would get an R. Still it's just being honest and there's nothing wrong with that!

stevenfallonnyc How is "Claudine" a fantasy film? We'll get to that in a bit.I remember seeing "Claudine" in the late 70's on cable TV, and just watched it for the first time since then. It's not bad, but it does indeed say a few things. It also challenges what many people consider "stereotypes" in today's politically-correct world, portraying these "stereotypes" as cold-hearted truisms.Of course, things were not "PC" back in 1974 when this was made. Claudine is a black mother of six (count 'em, six) children, living in Harlem, surviving on welfare and her secret housekeeping job on the side. The six kids are all total brats - they do nothing but scream at each other, fight each other, and give their mother Claudine a hard time. Despite that she breaks her back for them, they show no respect towards her whatsoever.They do act as a team, however, whenever the welfare social worker comes to the apartment to check on things (she's white of course), which they always manage to see her coming up the block - do they take turns as full-time lookouts? They then hide whatever "extras" they have, like a toaster, etc., to appear even more poor than they are so welfare doesn't deduct any money for the extra things.Welfare is a villain in the film, and it's made clear many times. Claudine always complains she can't take care of her family - but she has six kids! And she's 36 years old! Even James Earl Jones's character, Roop, expresses shock when she reveals she's a 36-year old mother of six. (Claudine was pretty angry.) Now, it takes two to tango, but six kids at 36! Another "villain" of the film, is the black man as a father. It is made very clear that black men run out on their kids and families. In today's time, that is a popular "stereotype," and here, in the non-PC world of 1974, it is presented as fact. So what's the truth? Claudine's children even express severe skepticism at her new beau Roop, just waiting for him to eventually leave their mom, which of course, he does.Claudine, incidentally, looks amazing. Diahann Carroll is a very beautiful woman, and in the film, as a mother of six, she is in amazing physical condition. That's part of the fantasy of the film. Have you ever seen a mom, at 36 who had six babies, look so amazing? The funny thing is, it's Darth Vader's body we keep seeing almost nude, not Claudine's. As they spend their first night together, Jones gets out of bed a lot, and the camera always shoots Jones in a clever way as we always see something blocking his "private parts" (although we are lucky enough to see his nude butt though). So if you want to see "sexy" James Earl Jones walk around nude, you got it! Diahann Carroll, well with her we're just not as fortunate. Roop, a garbage man with kids in other parts of the country, has been eying Claudine for a while before finally asking her on a date, then meeting her six wild kids.One of the kids is the oldest, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, a very radical teenager who shows zero respect for his mom like the other kids. he does warn Roop that he'll pay if he makes his mother cry, which he does when Roop leaves her. Jacobs then tracks down Roop and beats the hell out of him, the only show in the film that Jacobs cares about his mom. We never get a scene that shows her reacting to his showing of caring, even if the caring was beating Roop up. Jacobs even disrupts and destroys their eventual wedding by running in the middle of it while being chased by the cops (he also obviously had better things to do, like go to a protest, than attend his mom's wedding).Which leads to another fantasy of the film, how a black man, after it is established that black men always leave their fatherly responsibilities behind, marries a woman with six kids, none of which are his. Even forgetting about race, any man marrying a woman with six children who are not his children is something that you simply never hear of, and one of the things that turns this "real life drama" into a fairy tale.The "white man" is another of the film's villains, even to Claudine, who says to Jacobs that "the white man tries to take away your manhood, but you go do it yourself" after he gets himself "fixed." Her oldest daughter gets pregnant, of course, by yet another uncaring black man. I was surprised that the one time we see Claudine's white couple she works for, that they weren't all nasty and mean white people. The husband was actually a very nice guy, and the wife wasn't bad, although she complained on the telephone that Claudine was late for work again. We also overhear the wife talking some "big business" on the phone, just to remind the audience how well-off all white people are, of course. The ending of the film sees them all race away in the back of a police van (!), and then the film ends in perfect fairy-tale mode, with Claudine, Roop and the six kids all walking on the street, everyone all smiles, hand-in-hand, including Jacobs' rebel character! Jacobs is going to move out, the oldest daughter is going to move into a place with her boyfriend (turns out he cares about the baby they're going to have, but we never meet him on screen), and Roop will move into Claudine's apartment. Everything works out great, no wonder everyone is smiling and laughing as they walk in the street for the finale! "Claudine" isn't really a bad film, but it is important to recognize all the fantasy elements that make it quite an unrealistic film.

iama The great film of an early urban afro-american family struggling through hard time and racism, this is an emaculate film. I am in love with this particular classic film because it shows reality, its emotion, its funny, and its a urban fairytale. I read the review by Brian Koller and basically he's saying that the film left him confused and without a plot. Well! I think that what he seemed to have missed was the fact that they did indeed get married, yes! the police did take Charles (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs) to jail and the family went with him in the wagon to jail right after the wedding. To me that meant that the family was sticking together, no matter what the problem or finances were. Also I love the sound track performed by Gladys Knight and the Pips, titled "On and On". I would love to purchase this film, every time it comes on TV, I miss it. This film is truly a classic and should be in every afro-americans home. I wish somebody had some information for me about purchasing this film......Iama