CRISIS AT CENTRAL HIGH (TV)

Summary

This made-for-television drama depicts the 1957 racial integration of Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas from the perspective of English teacher Elizabeth P. Huckaby as nine black students struggle to persevere in the face of overwhelming hostility from their classmates and the town at large.

As the production opens, Elizabeth - the school's vice president for girls - reflects back on the school year of 1957-1958. Her recollections start with the mobilization of the National Guard to keep order at Central High as incoming senior Ernest Green and eight other black students enroll. Elizabeth tries to conduct her class over the noise outside from protesters, just as black student Caroline Fuller attempts to enter the school and is immediately harassed by angry locals. A white woman rescues her and brings her home via bus. Meanwhile, Ernest and the remaining black students arrive and are turned away. The next day, student Billie Hobbs is defiant after a photo of her yelling at Caroline appears in newspapers. Other students exhibit equally truculent attitudes, despite counseling from Elizabeth, school principal Jess Matthews, and vice president for boys J.O. Powell. In addition, a bomb threat is called in to the school office, though nothing is found in a search of all lockers.

After the National Guard is removed and replaced by local police, the black students are allowed to return, though residents turn out en masse to protest. Student unrest is at an all-time high as parents swamp the school office to have their children removed from the premises. Despite the efforts of Jess, Elizabeth, and J.O. to welcome the new students, the nine are told to leave Central High after police fear that protesters will jump their barricade. President Dwight D. Eisenhower subsequently sends in the 82nd Airborne to escort the new students into the building and monitor the halls. Elizabeth's dawning social conscience eventually leads her to quit teaching classes and devote herself fully to the problems facing the courageous students. Yet another bomb threat is defused after Elizabeth treats it like a fire drill.

Soon, local guards replace the 82nd and the harassers step up their game. When two boys push Ernest down the stairs, Elizabeth suspends the perpetrators and tries to counsel Ernest on how to deal with the epithets. Elizabeth next convinces Caroline not to leave after students spit on her. Elizabeth then starts getting hate mail at home, much to the chagrin of her husband Glenn. Elizabeth finds herself unable to prevent the defiant Minnijean Brown, a focal point of trouble and persecution, from being driven out of Central High when the school board insists on expelling her. NAACP spokesman Lula Richards tries to intercede, to no avail. Troublemaking student Donna Kirby celebrates by handing out cards that read: one down, eight to go. When Elizabeth learns of Donna's actions, a belligerent Donna is suspended. Donna subsequently goes to School Superintendent Virgil Blossom with her parents to complain against Jess and Elizabeth. After the meeting, Donna's parents physically attack Elizabeth until Jess intercedes. A worried Glenn starts driving Elizabeth to work, knowing that many of the students are now targeting her for harassment.

Elizabeth's colleagues give her a red petticoat as a symbol of her courage. After Donna returns to school, she begins to target Ernest and accuses him of manhandling her. Elizabeth tells him to avoid Donna at all costs. Elizabeth and J.O. also warn Ernest that things could become increasingly ugly for him as he advances toward his goal of being the first black student to graduate from Central High. Ernest won't be deterred, though two young men unsuccessfully try to ambush him at the ceremony. Instead, Ernest receives his diploma in person and leaves with his guest, Martin Luther King. Elizabeth and Glenn joyfully watch and cheer on Ernest's accomplishments. The film concludes as Elizabeth summarizes how each of the nine black students went on to graduate and thrive in their chosen fields. Commercials deleted.

Details

• NETWORK: CBS
• DATE: February 4, 1981 8:30 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 2:00:27
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: T84:0141
• GENRE: Drama, Historical
• SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, Historical; Civil Rights Movement; Black Civil Rights; School integration; 1950s
• SERIES RUN: CBS - TV, 1981
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Richard Levinson … Executive Producer, Writer
• William Link … Executive Producer, Writer
• David Susskind … Executive Producer
• Freyda Rothstein … Supervising Producer
• Robert A. Papazian … Producer
• Lamont Johnson … Director
• Elizabeth P. Huckaby … Based on the book by
• Billy Goldenberg … Music by
• Joanne Woodward … Cast, Elizabeth P. Huckaby
• Charles Durning … Cast, Jess Matthews
• Henderson Forsythe … Cast, Glenn Huckaby
• William Russ … Cast, J.O. Powell
• Calvin Levels … Cast, Ernest Green
• Tamu (See also: Tamu Blackwell) … Cast, Caroline Fuller
• Regina Taylor … Cast, Minnijean Brown
• Shannon John … Cast, Donna Kirby
• Bill Morey … Cast, Virgil Blossom
• Tony Frank … Cast, Hildebrand
• John William Galt … Cast, Mr. Kirby
• Robert Ginnavan … Cast, Thomas Woods
• Lori Grupe … Cast, Marlene
• Irma Hall (See also: Irma P. Hall) … Cast, Lula Richards
• Rosanna Huffman … Cast, Mrs. Farrow
• Suzie Humphreys … Cast, Mrs. Kirby
• Ray LePere … Cast, George Truitt
• Pat Long … Cast, Billie Hobbs
• Riona Martin … Cast, Carlotta Walls
• Bonnie Pemberton … Cast, Maggie Armstrong
• Annabelle Weenick … Cast, Dorothy Truitt
• Nina Wilson … Cast, Miss Pettijohn
• Norma Young … Cast, Miss Opie
• Tad Black … Cast, Charles Taggard
• Scott Campbell … Cast, Lenny Bell
• Ben Stephenson … Cast, Ben
• Rex Cumming … Cast, Wagner
• Jerry Haynes … Cast, General
• Mark D. Andrews … Cast, Soldier
• William B. Jones … Cast, Reporter
• Jerry Biggs … Cast, Bigot
• Beau Hughey … Cast, Bigot
• Gary Lee Cavagnaro … Cast, Thug
• James Healy Jr. … Cast, Hoodlum
• Lynette Walden … Cast, Student
• Susan Williams … Cast, Student
• Michael Minton … Cast, Student
• Michael R. Keane … Cast, Student
• Jess Sherman … Cast, Student
• Anne Kathleen Murphy … Cast, Onlooker
• Jackie Stewart … Cast, Onlooker
• Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Martin Luther King