Malcolm X (1992 film)

In 1968, Worth commissioned a screenplay from novelist James Baldwin, who was later joined by Arnold Perl, a screenwriter who had been a victim of McCarthy-era blacklisting.[7] However, the screenplay took longer to develop than anticipated. Perl died in 1971.[6]

Baldwin developed his work on the screenplay into the 1972 book One Day, When I Was Lost: A Scenario Based on Alex Haley's The Autobiography of Malcolm X. In 1976, Baldwin wrote of his experience, "I think that I would rather be horsewhipped, or incarcerated in the forthright bedlam of Bellevue, than repeat the adventure".[8] Baldwin died in 1987. Several authors attempted drafts, including David Mamet, David Bradley, Charles Fuller and Calder Willingham.[6][9] Once Spike Lee took over as director, he rewrote the Baldwin-Perl script. Due to the revisions, the Baldwin family asked the producer to take his name off the credits. Thus Malcolm X only credits Perl and Lee as the writers and Malcolm X and Alex Haley as the authors of The Autobiography of Malcolm X.[6]

The production was considered controversial long before filming began. The crux of the controversy was Malcolm X's denunciation of whites before he undertook his hajj. He was, arguably, not well regarded among white citizens by and large; however, he had risen to become a hero in the African-American community and a symbol of blacks' struggles, particularly during the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. In the three years before the movie's release, sales of The Autobiography of Malcolm X had increased 300 percent, and four of his books had a nine-fold increase in sales between 1986 and 1991.[9]

Once Warner Bros. agreed to the project, they initially wanted Oscar-nominated Canadian film director Norman Jewison to direct the film. Jewison, director of the seminal civil rights film In the Heat of the Night, was able to bring Denzel Washington into the project to play Malcolm X. Jewison and Washington previously worked together in the 1984 film A Soldier's Story. A protest erupted over the fact that a white director was slated to make the film.[9] Spike Lee was one of the main voices of criticism; since college, he had considered a film adaptation of The Autobiography of Malcolm X to be a dream project. Lee and others felt that it was appropriate that only a black person should direct Malcolm X.[10]

After the public outcry against Jewison, Worth concluded that "it needed a black director at this point. It was insurmountable the other way...There's a grave responsibility here." Jewison left the project, though he noted he gave up the movie not because of the protest, but because he could not reconcile Malcolm's private and public lives and was unsatisfied with Charles Fuller's script. Lee confirmed Jewison's position, stating, "If Norman actually thought he could do it, he would have really fought me. But he bowed out gracefully." Jewison and Denzel Washington would reunite several years later for The Hurricane, in which Washington played imprisoned boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, who spent nearly twenty years in prison for a murder he claimed he did not commit before his conviction was overturned in 1985.

Spike Lee was soon named the director, and he substantially edited the script. "I'm directing this movie and I rewrote the script, and I'm an artist and there's just no two ways around it: this film about Malcolm X is going to be my vision of Malcolm X. But it's not like I'm sitting atop a mountain saying, 'Screw everyone, this is the Malcolm I see.' I've done the research, I've talked to the people who were there."[9] Soon after Spike Lee was announced as the director and before its release, Malcolm X received criticism by black nationalists and members of the United Front to Preserve the Legacy of Malcolm X, headed by poet and playwright Amiri Baraka, who were worried about Lee's portrayal of Malcolm X. One protest in Harlem drew over 200 people.[9][11] Some based their opinion on dislike of Lee's previous films; others were concerned that he would focus on Malcolm X's life before he converted to Islam.[9][11][12] Baraka bluntly accused Spike Lee of being a "Buppie", stating "We will not let Malcolm X's life be trashed to make middle-class Negroes sleep easier", compelling others to write the director and warn him "not to mess up Malcolm's life."[9] Some, including Lee himself, noted the irony that many of the arguments made against him mirrored those made against Jewison.[11]

Although Washington agreed to play Malcolm X while Jewison was scheduled to direct the film, Lee stated he never envisioned any actor other than Washington in the role. The two had previously worked together on Mo' Better Blues (1990), and Lee noted that Washington had "really captured Malcolm" in his Off Broadway performance as him.[13]

Spike Lee also encountered difficulty in securing a sufficient budget. Lee told Warners and the bond company that a budget of over US$30 million was necessary; the studio disagreed and offered a lower amount. Following advice from fellow director Francis Ford Coppola, Lee got "the movie company pregnant": taking the movie far enough along into actual production to attempt to force the studio to increase the budget.[10] The film, initially budgeted at $28 million, climbed to nearly $33 million. Lee contributed $2 million of his own $3 million salary. Completion Bond Company, which assumed financial control in January 1992, refused to approve any more expenditures; in addition, the studio and bond company instructed Lee that the film could be no longer than two hours, fifteen minutes in length.[12] The resulting conflict caused the project to be shut down in post-production.[10]

The film was saved by the financial intervention of prominent black Americans, some of whom appear in the film: Bill Cosby, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Janet Jackson, Prince, Tracy Chapman, and Peggy Cooper Cafritz, founder of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Their contributions were made as donations; as Lee noted: "This is not a loan. They are not investing in the film. These are black folks with some money who came to the rescue of the movie. As a result, this film will be my version. Not the bond company's version, not Warner Brothers'. I will do the film the way it ought to be, and it will be over three hours."[12] The actions of such prominent members of the African American community giving their money helped finish the project as Lee envisioned it.[9][10]

The dissatisfaction Warners had for how Lee funded the film by completing it through the help of his African American friends later resulted in Warner Bros. blocking out Lee from participating in the development of Space Jam, as Lee had approached Joe Pytka about polishing the film's script.[14]

A month before the film was released, Lee asked that media outlets send black journalists to interview him. The request proved controversial. While it was common practice for celebrities to pick interviewers who were known to be sympathetic to them, it was the first time in many years in which race had been used as a qualification. Lee clarified that he was not barring white interviewers from interviewing him, but that he felt, given the subject matter of the film, that black writers have "more insight about Malcolm than white writers."[15]

The request was turned down by the Los Angeles Times, but several others agreed including Premiere magazine, Vogue, Interview and Rolling Stone. The Los Angeles Times explained they did not give writer approval. The editor of Premiere noted that the request created internal discussions that resulted in changes at the magazine: "Had we had a history of putting a lot of black writers on stories about the movie industry we'd be in a stronger position. But we didn't. It was an interesting challenge he laid down. It caused some personnel changes. We've hired a black writer and a black editor."[15]

Malcolm X's widow, Dr. Betty Shabazz, served as a consultant to the film.[11] The Fruit of Islam, the defense arm of the Nation of Islam, provided security for the movie.[13]

When Denzel Washington took the role of Malcolm X in the play, When the Chickens Come Home to Roost, which dealt with the relationship between Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad, he admitted he knew little about Malcolm X and had not yet read The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Washington prepared by reading books and articles by and about Malcolm X and went over hours of tape and film footage of speeches. The play opened in 1981 and earned Washington a warm review by Frank Rich, who was at the time the chief theater critic of The New York Times. Upon being cast in the film, he interviewed people who knew Malcolm X, among them Betty Shabazz and two of his brothers. Although they had different upbringings, Washington tried to focus on what he had in common with his character: during the making of the movie Washington was close to Malcolm X's age when he was assassinated, both men were from large families, both of their fathers were ministers, and both were raised primarily by their mothers.[13]

Malcolm X is the first non-documentary, and the first American film, to be given permission to film in Mecca (or within the Haram Sharif). A second unit film crew was hired to film in Mecca because non-Muslims, such as Lee, are not allowed inside the city. Lee fought very hard to get filming in Mecca but Warners initially refused to put up the money for location shooting. New Jersey was considered for filming the Mecca segments. In the end, Lee got money and permission together for filming in Mecca.[16]

In addition to Nelson Mandela, the film featured cameos by Christopher Plummer (as the prison's Catholic chaplain), Peter Boyle (as a police officer), William Kunstler (as a judge), as well as activists Al Sharpton and Black Panther Party co-founder Bobby Seale (as street preachers).[17]

The film was made shortly after Mandela's 1990 release from prison and during the negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa. Lee explained that he made "the connection between Soweto and Harlem, Nelson and Malcolm, and what Malcolm talked about: pan-Africanism, trying to build these bridges between people of color. He is alive in children in classrooms in Harlem, in classrooms in Soweto."[7] Mandela ends the film with a quote from Malcolm X himself, with Malcolm in a film clip saying the last four words. The quote goes: "We declare our right on this earth, to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being, in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary."

Malcolm X was released by The Criterion Collection on Ultra HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray Disc on November 22, 2022.[19]

In the United States and Canada, the film grossed $9.9 million in its opening weekend, finishing third after Home Alone 2: Lost in New York ($30 million) and Bram Stoker's Dracula ($15 million).[6] According to Box Office Mojo, the film ended its domestic run with a gross of $48,169,910.[20] Due to the budget issues and costs of promotion, Warner Bros. claimed the film lost over $30 million in 1992.[21]

Upon its United Kingdom release in 1993, it grossed £2,140,598[22] ($3,209,292).[23] Limited UK re-releases sold 136 tickets in 2016 and 172 tickets in 2017.[24] The film also sold 594,984 tickets in France,[25] 127,306 tickets in Germany,[25] and 133,798 tickets in Spain.[18] In South Korea, it sold 28,159 tickets in the capital city of Seoul.[26] The film grossed $24,933,000 internationally in its original release,[27] for a worldwide total of $73,102,910.

Upon release, the film received widespread critical acclaim. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating 89% based on 72 reviews, with an average rating of 7.70/10. The critics' consensus states: "Anchored by a powerful performance from Denzel Washington, Spike Lee's biopic of the legendary civil rights leader brings his autobiography to life with an epic sweep and a nuanced message."[28] On Metacritic, the film holds a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[29] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an "A+" to "F" scale.[30]

Critic Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times ranked the film No. 1 on his Top 10 list for 1992 and described the film as "one of the great screen biographies, celebrating the sweep of an American life that bottomed out in prison before its hero reinvented himself."[31] In 1999, Ebert and director Martin Scorsese, the latter sitting in for Ebert's late co-host Gene Siskel, both ranked Malcolm X among the ten best films of the 1990s.[32]

Denzel Washington's portrayal of Malcolm X was widely praised and he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Washington lost to Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman), a decision which Lee criticized, saying "I'm not the only one who thinks Denzel was robbed on that one."[33]

• In 2010, Malcolm X was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[44][45]

The film is recognized by the American Film Institute in several lists:

• 2003: AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains:
  • Malcolm X – Nominated Hero[50]
• 2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
  • Malcolm X: "We didn't land on Plymouth Rock -- Plymouth Rock landed on us!" – Nominated[51]
• 2006: AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – Nominated[52]
• 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10:
  • Nominated Epic Film[53]