Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored

Watch Movie

Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored

1996

1h 55m

4.2(6 votes)

Romance

Drama

Overview

A narrator tells the story of his childhood years in a tightly knit Afro-American community in the deep south under racial segregation.

Links & Resources

IMDbView

Social & External

IMDb

Production Companies

Cast & Crew

13 members

Acting

Al Freeman Jr.

Poppa

Acting

Phylicia Rashād

Ma Ponk

Acting

Paula Kelly

Ma Pearl

Acting

Salli Richardson-Whitfield

Miss Alice (as Salli Richardson)

Acting

Anna Maria Horsford

Miss Annie

Acting

Bernie Casey

Mr. Walter

Acting

Isaac Hayes

Preacher Hurn

Acting

Ray J

Cliff (12 Yrs.) (as Willis Norwood Jr.)

Acting

Polly Bergen

Miss Maybry

Acting

Taj Mahal

Mr. Will

Acting

Leon

Uncle Melvin

Acting

Richard Roundtree

Cleve

Acting

Frank Hoyt Taylor

Straw Boss

Similar Movies

5.4

2019

My Family and the Wolf

When Hugo, a boy who spends his summer vacation with his cousins, discovers that the wolf Rong intends to take his grandmother Sara, he devises a plan to save her.

Movie

6.3

2003

Hearts of Gold

An old-fashioned love story set in the South Wales valleys during the 1930s. Well-to-do doctor Andrew joins his father's infirmary, and in miner's daughter Bethan finds a spirit lacking in his previous girlfriends. The two fall in love, but their differing backgrounds prove a major sticking point.

Movie

3.7

1999

Plastic Man

A seemingly happily married, successful plastic surgeon embarks on a torrid affair with tragic consequences for his marriage and those close to him.

Movie

6.6

1992

White Men Can't Jump

Two street basketball hustlers try to con each other, then team up for a bigger score.

Movie

7.8

2019

The Sky Is Pink

The 25-year-old love story of a couple is told through the lens of their teenage daughter after she is diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis.

Movie

6.6

2004

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers

The turbulent personal and professional life of actor Peter Sellers (1925-1980), from his beginnings as a comic performer on BBC Radio to his huge success as one of the greatest film comedians of all time; an obsessive artist so dedicated to his work that neglected his loved ones and sacrificed part of his own personality to convincingly create that of his many memorable characters.

Movie

7.7

1967

In the Heat of the Night

African-American Philadelphia police detective Virgil Tibbs is arrested on suspicion of murder by Bill Gillespie, the racist police chief of tiny Sparta, Mississippi. After Tibbs proves not only his own innocence but that of another man, he joins forces with Gillespie to track down the real killer. Their investigation takes them through every social level of the town, with Tibbs making enemies as well as unlikely friends as he hunts for the truth.

Movie

7.6

2000

Remember the Titans

After leading his football team to 15 winning seasons, coach Bill Yoast is demoted and replaced by Herman Boone – tough, opinionated and as different from the beloved Yoast as he could be. The two men learn to overcome their differences and turn a group of hostile young men into champions.

Movie

6.4

2014

My Summer in Provence

In the wake of their parent's separation, three siblings spend the summer in the south of France with their estranged Grandfather. In less than 24 hours, a clash of generations has occurred between the teenagers and the old man. During this turbulent summer, both generations will be transformed by one another.

Movie

6.6

2020

Nimic

A professional cellist has an encounter with a stranger on the subway which has unexpected and far-reaching ramifications on his life.

Movie

The Cruel Story of a Woman Who Spins and Spins the Wheel

6.6

1984

The Cruel Story of a Woman Who Spins and Spins the Wheel

A young and beautiful woman born in the Korean countryside has to go through the many hardships arising from jealousy, lust and overbearing social control.

Movie

7.2

2018

Life Itself

As a young New York couple goes from college romance to marriage and the birth of their first child, the unexpected twists of their journey create reverberations that echo over continents and through lifetimes.

Movie

6.9

1992

Our Twisted Hero

Han Byung-tae, who teaches at a private after-school academy in Seoul, receives word that his old teacher has passed away and sets off to the rural village where he attended elementary school. In the train, he reminisces about the tough fights he used to get into back in the day.

Movie

5.8

2023

Brother

Sons of Caribbean immigrants, Francis and Michael face questions of masculinity, identity and family amid the pulsing beat of Toronto's early hip-hop scene. A mystery unfolds when escalating tensions set off a series of events which changes the course of the brothers’ lives forever.

Movie

3.7

2015

Mandorla

The only journey is the one within. Mandorla explores a man's search for a meaningful life despite conflicts between his inner and outer worlds. Ernesto is a visual artist and seeker stuck in a corporate job, who is drawn by dark magical visions to a medieval French city. There he seeks an elusive banker to help him unlock an obscure dream that threatens his job, family, and sanity.

Movie

7.1

1987

The Year My Voice Broke

Set in 1962, a young prepubescent boy in rural Australia watches painfully as his best friend and first love blossoms into womanhood and falls for a thuggish rugby player, changing the lives of everyone involved.

Movie

6.0

2016

Canine

Karin and Peter have been married for almost 15 years. From the outside, they seem happy, but behind the closed doors of the house there is a repression. Then the dog Orion steps into their lives ...

Movie

7.6

2022

The Fabelmans

Growing up in post-World War II era Arizona, young Sammy Fabelman aspires to become a filmmaker as he reaches adolescence, but soon discovers a shattering family secret and explores how the power of films can help him see the truth.

Movie

6.1

2025

Anemone

Middle-aged Jem sets out from his suburban home on a journey into the woods, where he reconnects with his estranged hermit brother Ray. Bonded by a mysterious, complicated past, the men share a fraught, if occasionally tender relationship—one that was forever altered by shattering events decades earlier.

Movie

5.6

2018

Boundaries

Single mom Laura, along with her awkward 14 year-old son Henry is forced to drive Jack, her estranged, care-free pot dealing father across country after he's kicked out of yet another nursing home.

Movie

Recommended Movies

6.4

1991

Mississippi Masala

Years after her Indian family was forced to flee their Uganda home, twentysomething Mina finds herself co-operating a motel in the faraway land of Mississippi. Her passionate romance with charming Black carpet cleaner Demetrius challenges the prejudices of their conservative families and exposes the rifts between the region's Indian and African-American communities.

Movie

6.4

1946

Duel in the Sun

Beautiful half-breed Pearl Chavez becomes the ward of her dead father's first love and finds herself torn between her sons, one good and the other bad.

Movie

7.2

2013

Safe Haven

A young woman with a mysterious past lands in Southport, North Carolina where her bond with a widower forces her to confront the dark secret that haunts her.

Movie

Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between

6.2

2022

Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between

Clare and Aidan make a pact to break up before college — no regrets, no broken hearts. But will one epic goodbye date offer them a last chance at love?

Movie

6.9

1960

The Fugitive Kind

Val Xavier, a drifter of obscure origins, arrives at a small town and gets a job in a store run by Lady Torrence. Her husband, Jabe M. Torrance, is dying of cancer. Val is pursued by Carol Cutere, the enigmatic local tramp-of-good-family.

Movie

7.5

2014

The Best of Me

A pair of former high school sweethearts reunite after many years when they return to visit their small hometown.

Movie

6.7

1999

Mansfield Park

Fanny Price is sent to live with her wealthy relatives, the Bertrams, where she is treated poorly by most except her cousin Edmund. Her life is complicated by the arrival of the worldly Mary and Henry Crawford.

Movie

7.7

1993

What's Eating Gilbert Grape

Gilbert Grape is a small-town young man with a lot of responsibility. Chief among his concerns are his mother, who is so overweight that she can't leave the house, and his mentally impaired younger brother, Arnie, who has a knack for finding trouble. Settled into a job at a grocery store and an ongoing affair with local woman Betty Carver, Gilbert finally has his life shaken up by the free-spirited Becky.

Movie

6.0

1987

China Girl

Teenage lovers Tony and Tyan-Hwa tip the balance of power in New York's Little Italy and Chinatown.

Movie

6.3

2009

The Yellow Handkerchief

A road trip through Louisiana transforms three strangers who were originally brought together by their respective feelings of loneliness.

Movie

7.3

1942

The Magnificent Ambersons

The spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved.

Movie

7.4

2016

Love Everlasting

Bridger is a young outsider who's always wanted more. He and his mother flee an abusive home, eventually finding a small town in the middle of nowhere. Once there, Bridger finds true acceptance with another misfit.

Movie

8.0

1962

To Kill a Mockingbird

Scout Finch, 6, and her older brother Jem live in sleepy Maycomb, Alabama, spending much of their time with their friend Dill and spying on their reclusive and mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. When Atticus, their widowed father and a respected lawyer, defends a black man named Tom Robinson against fabricated rape charges, the trial and tangent events expose the children to evils of racism and stereotyping.

Movie

6.3

2009

Not Easily Broken

A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.

Movie

6.5

2001

Save the Last Dance

After the death of her mother, Sara moves to the South Side of Chicago to live with her father and gets transferred to a majority-black school. Her life takes a turn for the better when befriends Chenille and her brother Derek, who helps her with her dancing skills.

Movie

6.4

1992

That Night

A coming-of-age story about an eleven-year-old girl who idolizes her troubled sixteen-year-old neighbor.

Movie

6.6

1962

Two for the Seesaw

After leaving his wife, lawyer Jerry Ryan moves from Omaha, Nebraska to New York City to start a new life. While studying for the New York Bar Examination and working to finalize his divorce, Ryan meets dancer Gittel Mosca, and the two begin a cautious courtship. However, Ryan feels that he must come to terms with his failed marriage and overcome his lingering attachment to his ex-wife before he can redefine himself and embrace his budding romance.

Movie

6.6

1992

Wuthering Heights

Young orphan Heathcliff is adopted by the wealthy Earnshaw family and moves into their estate, Wuthering Heights. Soon, the new resident falls for his compassionate foster sister, Cathy. The two share a remarkable bond that seems unbreakable until Cathy, feeling the pressure of social convention, suppresses her feelings and marries Edgar Linton, a man of means who befits her stature. Heathcliff vows to win her back.

Movie

7.1

2013

Labor Day

Two strangers are drawn together under incredible circumstances. What starts as an unforeseen encounter over a long holiday weekend soon becomes a second chance love story.

Movie

6.1

2005

Nine Lives

Captives of the very relationships that define and sustain them, nine women resiliently meet the travails and disappointments of life.

Movie