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The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

Play trailer Poster for The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman TV-PG 1974 1h 50m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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90% Tomatometer 10 Reviews 87% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Beginning during the racial turmoil of 1960s Louisiana, 110-year-old ex-slave Jane Pittman (Cicely Tyson) grants an interview to a persistent journalist and relates the remarkable story of her life. Orphaned early, she toils on a plantation until a chance meeting with a white Union soldier named Brown changes her outlook. Jane's emancipation marks only the beginning of an arduous and heartbreaking odyssey, framed by the horrors of slavery and the justice of the civil rights movement.
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The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

Critics Reviews

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Pauline Kael The New Yorker Sep 21, 2023
John Korty tells the story at a satisfyingly leisurely pace, befitting a woman who accumulates a hundred and ten years. Go to Full Review John J. O'Connor New York Times Feb 5, 2021
[Tyson's] performance, though, goes far beyond the make-up. She absorbs herself completely into Miss Jane, in the process creating a marvelous blend of sly humor, shrew perceptions and innate dignity. Go to Full Review Time Out Staff Time Out Feb 5, 2021
Aiming for the stars, the film hits a magazine spread by Norman Rockwell, and obstinately stays there: a respectable enough achievement in its way, but one that ultimately dims the mind as it stirs up the emotions. Go to Full Review David Parkinson Radio Times Feb 5, 2021
5/5
Cicely Tyson gives a towering performance. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Mike W @MikeW269 Mar 28, 2025 This would be a good though very incomplete history lesson for younger people say under 45, and for some older folks as well. Ours is not a pretty picture. To make America great again you must know the past that it comes from. See more CodyZamboni Z @CodyZamboni Jun 12, 2024 Compelling TV movie. Pushes all the right emotional buttons, Supported by an understated, but powerful performance by Cicely Tyson, who so deservedly won the Emmy, See more Sep 28, 2012 Tremenda actriz Cicely Tyson, como de aquellas que ya casi no se ven. See more Jun 25, 2012 i think it's a cool movie See more Jun 24, 2012 it wuz kinda boring, lol See more Apr 3, 2012 This a story of a woman's life from slavery to the human rights movement in the 60's. Cicely Tyson portrays Mrs Jane Pittman, who becomes the first African-American to drink from the "White's Only" fountain in front of the courthouse in a small southern town at the age of 104. It tells of her struggles after the emancipation of the slaves...the griefs she has to bear as an African-American woman and her triumphs. See more Read all reviews
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

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Cast & Crew

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John Korty

Director

Cicely Tyson

Jane Pittman

Odetta

Big Laura

Richard Dysart

Master Bryant

Josephine Premice

Mme. Gautier

Eric Brown

Young Jimmy

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The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974) The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974) The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Beginning during the racial turmoil of 1960s Louisiana, 110-year-old ex-slave Jane Pittman (Cicely Tyson) grants an interview to a persistent journalist and relates the remarkable story of her life. Orphaned early, she toils on a plantation until a chance meeting with a white Union soldier named Brown changes her outlook. Jane's emancipation marks only the beginning of an arduous and heartbreaking odyssey, framed by the horrors of slavery and the justice of the civil rights movement.
Director
John Korty
Producer
Rick Rosenberg, Robert W. Christiansen
Production Co
Tomorrow Entertainment
Rating
TV-PG
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
May 23, 2017
Runtime
1h 50m
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