Watermelon Man ** (1970, Godfrey Cambridge, Estelle Parsons, Howard Caine) – Classic Movie Review 9443

Director Melvin Van Peebles’s interesting but undernourished 1970 race relations satirical comedy Watermelon Man stars Godfrey Cambridge as a white, married bigot, suburban insurance agent Jeff Gerber, who turns black overnight through a biological accident.

The well-meaning premise is fine and so are the players (especially Estelle Parsons, who plays Cambridge’s loyal wife Althea), it is just that screen-writer Herman Raucher’s script does not seem to know how to develop it, though the angry urgency of its message comes through effectively.

But Cambridge is excellent, and Van Peebles gives it as much oomph as he can both as director and composer. He also has a cameo as a Sign Painter.

It runs 98 but the TV print is 91 minutes.

Also in the cast are Howard Caine, Mantan Moreland, Erin Moran, Kay Kimberly, D’Urville Martin, Kay E Kuter, Scott Garrett, Emil Sitka, Lawrence Parke, Karl Lukas, Irving Selbst, Paul Williams, Charles Lampkin, Vivian Rhodes, Erik L Nelson, Frank Farmer, Mae Clarke, Ron Pinkard, and Almira Sessions.

Watermelon Man is directed by Melvin Van Peebles, runs 98 minutes, is made by Johanna, is released by Columbia Pictures, is written by Herman Raucher, is shot in Technicolor by W Wallace Kelley, is produced by Leon Mirell (executive producer) and John B Bennett, is scored by Melvin Van Peebles and is designed by Malcolm C. Bert (Art Direction), Sydney Z Litwack (Art Direction) and John Burton (Set Decoration).

It was released on 27 May 1970, the same day as Godfrey Cambridge’s Cotton Comes To Harlem.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9443

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