Three different rebellions/rebels and the film portrayals of them:
Denmark Vesey originally Telemaque, (1767? – July 2, 1822) was an African American slave brought to the United States from the Caribbean of Coromantee background. After purchasing his freedom, he planned what would have been one of the largest slave rebellions in the United States. Denmark Vesey’s rebellion was the subject of the 1980s made-for-television drama, Denmark Vesey’s Revolt, in which his character was played by actor Yaphet Kotto. Vesey’s character also appeared in the 1991 TV movie Brother Future, in which he was played by the then-too young Carl Lumbly, who was 40 years old at the time.
Nathaniel “Nat” Turner (October 2, 1800 – November 11, 1831) was an American slave who led a slave rebellion in Virginia on August 21, 1831 that resulted in 56 white deaths and over 55 black deaths, the largest number of fatalities to occur in one uprising prior to the American Civil War in the southern United States. Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property, a film by Charles Burnett, was released in 2003.
John Brown (May 9, 1800 – December 2, 1859) was a revolutionary abolitionist from the United States, who led the Pottawatomie Massacre in 1856 in Bleeding Kansas and made his name in the unsuccessful raid at Harpers Ferry in 1859. The two most noted screen portrayals of Brown have both been given by actor Raymond Massey. The 1940 film Santa Fe Trail, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, depicted Brown completely unsympathetically as an out-and-out villainous madman, and Massey added to that impression by playing him with a constant, wild-eyed stare. The film gave the impression that it did not oppose African-American slavery, even to the point of having a black “mammy” character say, after an especially fierce battle, “Mr. Brown done promised us freedom, but… if this is freedom, I don’t want no part of it”. Massey portrayed Brown again in the little-known, low-budget Seven Angry Men, in which he was not only unquestionably the main character, but was depicted and acted in a much more restrained, sympathetic way. Brown was also portrayed on film by John Cromwell in the 1940 Abe Lincoln in Illinois. Cromwell was the director of the film and was not credited in the role. Oddly enough, Lincoln was played by Raymond Massey. Singer Johnny Cash portrayed John Brown in Book I, Episode Five of the 1985 TV miniseries North and South. He is revered by character Virgilia Hazard (Kirstie Alley). During the Harpers Ferry episode, he exchanges brief words with character Orry Main (Patrick Swayze) and appears noble in his aims, but unrealistic. Sterling Hayden also portrayed John Brown in the 1982 miniseries The Blue and the Gray.
Sources:
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_Turner#In_popular_culture
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark_Vesey#In_art
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown_%28abolitionist%29#Visual_portrayals
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Composing members:
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