My Sweet Charlie

*My Sweet Charlie*
My Sweet Charlie
	Videotape cover
Based on	My Sweet Charlie; by David Westheimer
Written by	Richard Levinson; William Link
Directed by	Lamont Johnson
Starring	Patty Duke; Al Freeman Jr.
Theme music composer	Gil Melle
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producer	Bob Banner
Producers	Richard Levinson; William Link
Cinematography	Gene Polito
Editor	Edward M. Abroms
Running time	97 minutes
Production company	Universal Television
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	January 20, 1970

My Sweet Charlie is a 1970 American made-for-television drama film directed by Lamont Johnson. The teleplay by Richard Levinson and William Link is based on the novel of the same name by David Westheimer. Produced by Universal Television and broadcast by NBC on January 20, 1970, it later had a brief theatrical release. It is considered a landmark in television films. The film was made on location in Port Bolivar, Texas.

Synopsis

Set during the Civil Rights Movement, Charlie Roberts is a militant African American attorney from New York City falsely accused of murder during a demonstration in rural Texas.

Escaping from his captors, Charlie breaks into a vacant coastal vacation home, where he encounters white Marlene Chambers, an uneducated, prejudiced, unwed pregnant teenager who has been shunned by her father and boyfriend due to her pregnancy and who sought refuge in the vacant home a few weeks before Charlie arrives.

Realizing their survival depends upon their willingness to help each other, their relationship, at first defined by mutual contempt, prejudice, and hostility, slowly evolves into a touching friendship.

Production notes

In 1966, Westheimer adapted his novel for a play that opened at Broadway's Longacre Theatre with Bonnie Bedelia and Louis Gossett in the leading roles. It ran for 12 previews and 31 performances.^[1]

The television production was filmed on location in Port Bolivar, Texas in 1968 and was plagued by almost as many racial tensions as those depicted in the film. According to Patty Duke in her autobiography, her friendship with Freeman led to rumors of an affair. Marijuana was planted in Duke's Galveston hotel room by locals, though it was quickly determined not to belong to Duke. Texas governor John Connally intervened with local authorities to stop harassment of the production company and Duke.^[2]

Principal cast

Patty Duke ..... Marlene Chambers
Al Freeman Jr. ..... Charlie Roberts
Ford Rainey ..... Treadwell

Principal production credits

Producers ..... Bob Banner, Richard Levinson, William Link
Original Music ..... Gil Melle
Cinematography ..... Gene Polito
Art Direction ..... Robert Luthardt
Costume Design ..... Charles Waldo

Reception

The film earned very high ratings, with a Nielsen rating of 31.7, an audience share of 48% and a record audience for a TV movie with 18.5 million homes watching.^[3]^[4]

Both leading actors were nominated for Emmy Awards, and Patty Duke won.^[5]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
1970	NAACP Image Awards	Best Program of the Year		Won	^[6]
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Dramatic Program		Nominated	^[7]
		Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role	Al Freeman Jr.	Nominated
		Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role	Patty Duke	Won
		Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Drama	Lamont Johnson	Nominated
		Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama	Richard Levinson and William Link	Won
		Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography for Entertainment Programming – For a Special or Feature Length Program Made for Television	Gene Polito	Nominated
		Outstanding Achievement in Film Editing for Entertainment Programming – For a Special or Feature Length Program Made for Television	Edward M. Abroms	Won
		Outstanding Achievement in Film Sound Mixing	Roger Heman Jr., Melvin Metcalfe Sr., Clarence Self, and John Stransky Jr.	Nominated
1971	Directors Guild of America Awards	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television	Lamont Johnson	Won	^[8]

References

^ My Sweet Charlie at the Internet Broadway Database
^ ^ a b c d e Duke, Patty; Kennen Turan (1987). Call Me Anna: The Autobiography of Patty Duke. Bantam Books. pp. 8. ISBN 0-553-27205-5
^ "Alltime Top 20 Movies on TV". Variety. December 13, 1972. p. 26.
^ GENT, GEORGE (27 February 1970). "Movies Made for TV Are Gaining in Importance at Networks". The New York Times. p. 56.
^ "My Sweet Charlie World Premiere: 8 Awards & Nominations". Emmys.com. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
^ "NAACP Sets Annual Image Awards Show". Los Angeles Times. 1970-09-08 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "My Sweet Charlie: World Premiere". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
^ "23rd DGA Awards". Directors Guild of America Awards. Retrieved June 5, 2023.

External links

My Sweet Charlie at IMDb

[1] My Sweet Charlie at the Internet Broadway Database

[2] Duke, Patty; Kennen Turan (1987). Call Me Anna: The Autobiography of Patty Duke. Bantam Books. pp. 8. ISBN 0-553-27205-5

[3] "Alltime Top 20 Movies on TV". Variety. December 13, 1972. p. 26.

[4] GENT, GEORGE (27 February 1970). "Movies Made for TV Are Gaining in Importance at Networks". The New York Times. p. 56.

[5] "My Sweet Charlie World Premiere: 8 Awards & Nominations". Emmys.com. Retrieved August 12, 2024.

[6] "NAACP Sets Annual Image Awards Show". Los Angeles Times. 1970-09-08 – via Newspapers.com.

[7] "My Sweet Charlie: World Premiere". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved June 5, 2023.

[8] "23rd DGA Awards". Directors Guild of America Awards. Retrieved June 5, 2023.

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v t e Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
1950s	Reginald Rose for Twelve Angry Men (1955)
1960s	Rod Serling for The Twilight Zone (1960) Rod Serling for The Twilight Zone (1961) Reginald Rose for The Defenders (1962) Robert Thom & Reginald Rose for "The Madman" (1963) Ernest Kinoy for "Blacklist" / Rod Serling for "It's Mental Work" (1964) David Karp for "The 700 Year Old Gang" (1965) Millard Lampell for "Eagle in a Cage" (1966) Bruce Geller for "Mission: Impossible" (1967) Loring Mandel for "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" (1968) JP Miller for "The People Next Door" (1969)
1970s	Richard Levinson & William Link for "My Sweet Charlie" (1970) Joel Oliansky for "To Taste of Death But Once" (1971) Richard Levinson & William Link for "Death Lends a Hand" (1972) John McGreevey for "The Scholar" (1973) Joanna Lee for "The Thanksgiving Story" (1974) Howard Fast for "Benjamin Franklin: The Ambassador" (1975) Sherman Yellen for "John Adams: Lawyer" (1976) William Blinn & Ernest Kinoy for "Show #2" (1977) Gerald Green for "Holocaust" (1978) Michele Gallery for "Dying" (1979)
1980s	Seth Freeman for "Cop" (1980) Michael Kozoll & Steven Bochco for "Hill Street Station" (1981) Steven Bochco & Michael Kozoll & Jeff Lewis & Michael Wagner & Anthony Yerkovich for "Freedom's Last Stand" (1982) David Milch for "Trial by Fury" (1983) John Ford Noonan, John Masius & Tom Fontana for "The Women" (1984) Patricia Green for "Who Said It's Fair, Part 2" (1985) Tom Fontana, John Masius & Joe Tinker for "Time Heals, Parts I & II" (1986) Steven Bochco & Terry Louise Fisher for "The Venus Butterfly" (1987) Paul Haggis & Marshall Herskovitz for "Business as Usual" (1988) Joseph Dougherty for "First Day/Last Day" (1989)
1990s	David E. Kelley for "Blood, Sweat, and Fears" (1990) David E. Kelley for "On the Toad Again" (1991) Diane Frolov & Andrew Schneider for "Seoul Mates" (1992) Tom Fontana for "Three Men and Adena" (1993) Ann Biderman for "Steroid Roy" (1994) Lance A. Gentile for "Love's Labor Lost" (1995) Darin Morgan for "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" (1996) David Milch, Stephen Gaghan and Michael R. Perry for "Where's Swaldo?" (1997) David Milch, Nicholas Wootton and Bill Clark for "Lost Israel: Part II" (1998) James Manos Jr. and David Chase for "College" (1999)
2000s	Rick Cleveland & Aaron Sorkin for "In Excelsis Deo" (2000) Mitchell Burgess & Robin Green for "Employee of the Month" (2001) Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran for "12:00 a.m. – 1:00 a.m." (2002) Mitchell Burgess & David Chase & Robin Green for "Whitecaps" (2003) Terence Winter for "Long Term Parking" (2004) David Shore for "Three Stories" (2005) Terence Winter for "Members Only" (2006) David Chase for "Made in America" (2007) Matthew Weiner for "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" (2008) Kater Gordon & Matthew Weiner for "Meditations in an Emergency" (2009)
2010s	Erin Levy & Matthew Weiner for "Shut the Door. Have a Seat." (2010) Jason Katims for "Always" (2011) Alex Gansa & Howard Gordon & Gideon Raff for "Pilot" (Homeland) (2012) Henry Bromell for "Q&A" (2013) Moira Walley-Beckett for "Ozymandias" (2014) David Benioff & D. B. Weiss for "Mother's Mercy" (2015) David Benioff & D. B. Weiss for "Battle of the Bastards" (2016) Bruce Miller for "Offred" (2017) Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg for "START" (2018) Jesse Armstrong for "Nobody Is Ever Missing" (2019)
2020s	Jesse Armstrong for "This Is Not for Tears" (2020) Peter Morgan for "War" (2021) Jesse Armstrong for "All the Bells Say" (2022) Jesse Armstrong for "Connor's Wedding" (2023) Will Smith for "Negotiating with Tigers" (2024)