Denzel Washington

From legendary director Ridley Scott, Gladiator II continues the epic saga of power, intrigue, and vengeance set in Ancient Rome. Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius (Paul Mescal) is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to its people.

Finding himself surprisingly at home in Southern Italy, Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) discovers his new friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall must become his friends protector by taking on the mafia.

When a soldier gets deployed in Iraq, he decides to author a journal full of advice for his infant son. The journal is inherited by his son after his death, and in adulthood, his son finds a way to reconnect with his father.

Deputy Sheriff Deacon is sent to L.A. where he is embroiled in the search for a killer with Detective Baxter, who is unaware that the case is dredging up secrets of Deacon`s past.

Denzel Washington returns as Robert McCall, serving an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed - but this time it`s personal.

After doctors resuscitate Sam, he goes on the adventure of a lifetime. 48 hours around London ticking off everything he should have done already. Some follow in his footsteps , yet others want to give him a reality check. Sam, Riel John-Baptiste, is an anxious teenage boy in London, who watches his regretful life flash before his eyes as he lays on his death bed in a state of purgatory. After the miracle of being brought back by the doctors he decides to live by committing to what matters most. Through social media he invites friends on his 48 hour crazy adventure around London ticking off regrets, before he 'travels around the world'. He strongly inspires one of his friends Michael, Younes Dean, who is an extreme introvert and decides to join Sam on this London adventure. Sam's mother, Niti Dhingra, is deeply worried about her son after what has just happened to him, she does not want to him to leave the nest. One of Sam's most opinionated and ignorant friends Tony, Phillip Herd, is angered by Sam's new crazy approach to life. Sam has a difficult decision to make, to live life more reasonably or to continue living like everyday is his last. —Alistair Chekaoui

A widow, Emma Cullen, left heartbroken by the tyrannical rule of the unjust industrialist, Bartholomew Bogue , seeks the help of a bounty hunter Sam Chisolm, who gathers a team of seven associates to battle against Bogue.

A former black ops commando who faked his death for a quiet life in Boston comes out of retirement to rescue a young girl and finds himself face to face with Russian gangsters.

For the past 12 months, DEA agent Bobby Trench (Denzel Washington) and U.S. naval intelligence officer Marcus Stigman (Mark Wahlberg) have been reluctantly attached at the hip. Working undercover as members of a narcotics syndicate, each man distrusts his partner as much as the criminals they have both been tasked to take down. When their attempt to infiltrate a Mexican drug cartel and recover millions goes haywire, Trench and Stigman are suddenly disavowed by their superiors. Now that everyone wants them in jail or in the ground, the only person they can count on is the other. Unfortunately for their pursuers, when good guys spend years pretending to be bad, they pick up a few tricks along the way.

Airline pilot Whip Whitaker miraculously lands his plane after a mid-air catastrophe. But even as he is hailed for his heroic efforts, questions arise as to who or what was really at fault.

Oscar winner Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds star in the action-thriller Safe House. Washington plays the CIA`s most dangerous traitor, who stuns the intelligence community when he surfaces in South Africa. When the safe house to which he`s remanded is attacked by brutal mercenaries, a rookie (Reynolds) is forced to help him escape. As the masterful manipulator toys with his reluctant protege, the young operative finds his morality tested and idealism shaken. Now, they must stay alive long enough to uncover who wants them dead. Legendary spy Tobin Frost (Washington) has eluded capture for almost a decade.

A post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind.

A New York City subway dispatcher`s day is thrown into chaos when an armed gang hijack a train, leaving him to use his knowledge of the subway system to outwit their leader.

When his boss dies, Frank Lucas establishes himself as the number one importer of heroin in Harlem, but soon finds a policeman named Richie Roberts on his tail.

A drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school's first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship. Marshall, Texas, described by James Farmer, Jr. as "the last city to surrender after the Civil War," is home to Wiley College, where, in 1935-36, inspired by the Harlem Renaissance and his clandestine work as a union organizer, Professor Melvin Tolson coaches the debate team to a nearly-undefeated season that sees the first debate between U.S. students from white and Negro colleges and ends with an invitation to face Harvard University's national champions. The team of four, which includes a female student and a very young James Farmer, is tested in a crucible heated by Jim Crow, sexism, a lynch mob, an arrest and near riot, a love affair, jealousy, and a national radio audience. —<jhailey@hotmail.com>

As the entire nation watches the presidential campaign hurtle towards Election Day, one soldier races to uncover the conspiracy behind it - a conspiracy that could destroy democracy itself.

Chief Matthias Whitlock (Denzel Washington) gets a call from a woman about an intruder. He finishes his beer and heads over. She invites him in to her bedroom for the investigation, they end up on the bed kissing, it was a ruse and just foreplay. The chief gets another call interrupting the "assault with a deadly weapon" fun. In Banyan Key, FL, Chief Whitlock has breakfast in a cafe, he engages the owner, Chris Harrison (Dean Cain) with some edgy banter. Chris' wife, Ann (Sanaa Lathan) the caller from the previous evening, says hello politely. Matt goes to his office and meets his friend Jay (John Billingsley), the medical examiner. Ex wife Alex Diaz-Whitlock (Eva Mendes) comes asking for keys to get some stuff, Matt gives her a hard time. Matt goes fishing from his deck and Ann arrives her husband, is away for the weekend. They have a quickie in the hallway. Later in bed, Ann gets a call and has to leave. At Mercy Hospital Oncology she meets a Dr (Alex Carter) and has Matt there acting as her brother. The Dr says her cancer is out of remission, she has 6 months to live. Matt asks about alternative approaches, the Dr says they are expensive, no guarantees. Matt talks to a tearful Ann. There is a clinic in Switzerland with 17% success rate. Ann wants to break off the relationship. Matt buys flowers for her. Ann shows Matt a $1mil insurance policy her husband took out on her on her 32 birthday, her mother died at 33. Chris arrives and Matt slips out. Chris grills her about the Dr visit, they argued loudly. Matt knocks on the front door and says he is checking out a prowler. Ann calls Matt and says she had figured out how to get to Switzerland. She takes Matt to meet a guy who will give her $750k in return for being named the beneficiary on the insurance. Later she is upset, there Is a rule that one cannot change beneficiaries after 1 year, which is in 2 days. Matt and Jay have beers at a bar. Chris confronts him after Jay leaves. Chris hints he knows Ann is seeing another guy, Matt. Matt almost admits it is him as tensions rise between the two. Ann comes by Matt's house the next day apologetic. She gives him an envelope, making him the beneficiary. She is leaving town, needs some peace. Matt is served with divorce papers and is upset. He brings Ann police custody drug money to pay for Switzerland. Later, back at his house Jay is there but Matt herds him out. He tries to phone Ann, the phone keeps ringing. He drives to her house, it is dark. A motion sensor light comes on, the neighbor sees him. Matt leaves. Later the house explodes in flames. In the morning two burnt corpses are in the embers. Alex shows up, she is a homicide detective. The fire chief shows a device, it was arson. Alex catches a lift with Matt and apologizes for the divorce paper timing but says it has been 8 months. Alex and Matt go to Ann's work, her boss, a dentist, says she had cancer. A co-worker says she was having an affair, she received flowers. Matt fakes a call to the flower shop and reports the husband sent them. Next Alex plans to go to the oncologist, Matt begs off, they argue. Matt shows off his GPS device that allows him to track everyone on his force. She gets him to come but in the office, he goes to the washroom but stops when he hears the doctor's name. They see her doctor, a woman who says Ann was healthy. Matt rushes to the hospital office he was in with Ann, it is another Dr. Friedland, but he has no patient named Ann. Matt takes a gold pen in an envelope. In the car Alex is calling for phone records, Matt is nervous. Back at the cop shop the neighbor is giving info to a sketch artist. The woman says Matt was the man, no one believes her. Matt sends a junior staff to Miami with the pen to check fingerprints. The DEA (Terry Loughlin) calls and says they are coming for the evidence money that afternoon. Matt becomes very tense. A cop has found a lead on the insurance policy, Matt says he will track it down. At the fax machine Whitlock intercepts the incoming records with his name on the list. He scans the list and tries to edit the file. He re-sends it to the fax machine from his PC but then has to go and delete the first incoming resend from the phone company without anyone noticing. Jay arrives with the autopsy report. Then another cop shows up with cell phone records, there is one regular number, it is Matt's. He quickly uses his cell to turn off his voice mails. Jay is there, recognizes the number and tells Alex it is his. Outside, Matt comes clean to Jay and says he was setup, he gave Ann the drug money. The phone call comes in from Miami, the fingerprints on the pen are from Tony Cabot, an ex-con. Matt asks for the last known address, it is closeby. Matt goes with Jay to the address. It is deserted but they find a credit card statement in a trash can and Cabot's Mercy Hospital pass. They return to the station, Jay offers to drive him to the airport to go to Costa Rica. Matt says he is not running. At the office, the insurance company phones and on speakerphone tells the cops Chris Harrison was the beneficiary, but wait, there seems to be a change form coming, might be in the mail room. Alex asks him to find it and call back in half an hour. Matt finds out from the credit card company where the card was last used, a hotel in Miami. He hears Alex also asking about Paul Cabot in the squad room. As he is leaving two DEA agents arrive for the evidence money, DW buys time by telling them he sent it to their office, he has a telecon with their angry boss. In the hotel Cabot is on the phone with Chris, planning their escape. At the hotel Matt pretends to be Cabot and gets a new room key from the front desk, he goes up to room 715. Entering with gun drawn he is jumped by Cabot and the two men fight. They end up crashing through the slider onto the balcony, it collapses and both men hang in mid air. Finally Cabot falls to his death, Matt crawls back up and finds a briefcase, the money is there. Trying to leave, Alex arrives with backup, the front desk clerk points him out as Matt dashes to a stairwell, the chase is on, but Alex didn't get a good look at the runner. Then Matt re-appears and says he just got here too. In the confusion he manages to get out the back door with the money to his car. He calls Jay to say he has the money. Alex arrives at his car and says they need to talk. They go to a bar and talk about their relationship, then Alex asks Matt if wants to say anything, he doesn't. They return to Banyan Key in silence. Back in the squad, Alex once again looks at the cell phone records. She tells Matt the hotel clerk will be there in 30 minutes. A weeping Ann phones and says she is sorry but Chris made her do it, she still needs the money. Matt gets the address and ducks out the washroom window. The hotel clerk arrives. Alex looks again at the face sketch and clues in it is Matt. The call comes in, the new beneficiary is Matthias Whitlock. The three DEA agents show up asking to see Whitlock, Alex hears all the details about the $485,000. Jay is driving when the GPS unit in the glovebox beeps and he sees a dot flashing at Runyon Pt. A short time later his car breaks down. Matt arrives at a dark shack. He enters warily and sees a beaten Ann. Chris appears and starts shooting, a gunfight. Chris is out of ammo, trying to escape he is shot by Ann. She points the gun at Matt, and admits she was behind it all. She shoots Matt in the thigh but before she can kill him as he screams, Alex shoots and kills her from behind. Alex checks the briefcase and only sees a GPS tracking unit. The rest of the police arrive, Alex gives a plausible explanation. The three DEA agents arrive demanding the money, just then Jay arrives with the satchel, saying there was a mistake with the address. As Matt is loaded into an ambulance Alex asks if he loved Ann he says no, but was just stupid. Later, Matt is fishing from his deck. Alex arrives relaxed and friendly talking about moving her stuff. Jay arrives with mail, the insurance company informing him he is to get $1 mil. Alex says he can't accept it as conflict of interest. Matt agrees as Alex says she is moving back in together.

The film begins somewhere in Canada where a young woman is driving dangerously into oncoming traffic, as she attempts to pass a semi she is clipped by another semi, which causes her to spin and stalls, then right into the path of the first semi that slams into the side of her car killing her instantly. A few weeks earlier in Chicago, Illinois, John Quincy Archibald (Denzel Washington) and his wife Denise (Kimberly Elise) are getting behind with their payments. One day after witnessing their young son Michael (Daniel E. Smith) collapse at his baseball game. After a series of tests at the hospital, John is informed by Dr. Raymond Turner (James Woods) and Rebecca Payne (Anne Heche), a hospital administrator, that Michael has an enlarged heart and will need a transplant. Because the company he works for dropped John from full-time to part-time, his health insurance has been changed, and the new policy does not cover the surgery, leaving them to raise $250,000 to get their son's name on the donor list. The family tries to raise the money (they sell everything of value they have and even try and approach TV show hosts to run special interest pieces for the family) but are only able to come up with a third of the necessary payment. The hospital uses the money to clear their current dues and demands the full $250K for the transplant procedure. The hospital tires of waiting and releases Michael; Denise shouts at John to do something, or else Michael dies. Unwilling to let his child die, John walks into the hospital ER with a handgun, gathers hostages, and sets demands: his son's name on the recipient list as soon as possible. The hostage negotiator, Lt. Frank Grimes (Robert Duvall), stands down to let John cool off. Meanwhile, John and the eleven hostages learn more about each other. They begin to understand John's situation and support him a little as he ensures each of them receives the treatment they came to the emergency room for. One of them, Miriam (Troy Byer as Troy Beyer), is pregnant, and her husband Steve (Troy Winbush) is hoping that their first child is healthy. A young hostage, Julie (Heather Wahlquist), has a broken arm, and she and her boyfriend Mitch (Shawn Hatosy) claim that a car crash caused it. Due to holes in their story, John and another hostage, Lester (Eddie Griffin), conclude that the two are lying and that Mitch beat up Julie. After a while, John agrees to release some hostages to have his son's name added to the list an hour afterward. He releases Steve, Miriam, and a hostage named Rosa (Martha Chaves) with her baby. Meanwhile, Frank and Rebeca talk to Denise and tell her that the hospital is putting Michael on the list of donors and will cover all expenses. Frank knows this is a lie and that the plan is to use Denise to misguide John into thinking that Michael is on the list when he is not. The Chicago Chief of Police, Gus Monroe (Ray Liotta) is a sadistic s.o.b. and doesn't agree with Frank's tactics (he wants to bring down the hostage taker ASAP for the TV audiences and his own personal ratings with the Mayor's office), gives a SWAT unit permission to insert a sniper into the building via an air shaft. John is shot while he is distracted talking to Denise, but he ends up receiving only a minor wound, which is treated right away. After taking the shot, the sniper's leg falls through the ceiling tiles. Outraged, John pulls him out of the air shaft and beats him up. Meanwhile, Rebecca is moved listening to John's conversation with his son and decides to put him on the list right away, which nobody else knows. Using the bound SWAT policeman as a human shield, he steps outside to the sight of dozens of policemen pointing weapons at him and a large, supportive crowd. John demands that his son be brought to the emergency room. The police agree to his demand in exchange for the SWAT sniper. Once his son arrives, John reveals to the hostages his intention to commit suicide so his heart can be used to save his son. He persuades Dr. Turner to perform the operation, and two of his hostages bear witness to a will stating his last request. John says his last goodbyes to Michael and enters the operating room. He loads a single bullet into the gun and pulls the trigger, but the safety is on. As he prepares to end his life a second time, his wife learns that an organ donor, the woman who died in a car accident, has been flown to the hospital for organ recovery. She runs to the emergency room and stops John from shooting himself, and John allows the hostages to go free. Michael is given the life-saving operation, and after watching the procedure with Denise, John is taken into police custody after the operation is a success. John became a nationwide hit. Three months later, at his trial, all of the witnesses speak on his behalf. He is later acquitted of charges of attempted murder and armed criminal action but is found guilty of kidnapping. It is never revealed what his sentence for the crime will be, but his lawyer is overheard saying that no judge will give him "more than three to five (years)" and that she will try to get it reduced to two.

The film follows a single day in the life of an LAPD cop, Jake Hoyt (Hawke), who is scheduled to be evaluated by Detective Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington), a highly decorated LAPD narcotics officer who could advance Jake's career. In Alonzo's car, the pair of officers observe teenage Mara Salvatrucha members dealing drugs in a park. Instead of arresting the buyers, Alonzo confiscates the drugs and tells Jake to take a hit from the marijuana. Jake initially refuses, but Alonzo puts a gun to his head and says Jake's failure to use drugs could get him killed by a street dealer. Jake relents and smokes the marijuana, but shortly thereafter, Alonzo tells him the marijuana was laced with PCP. While driving, Jake notices a female high school student being sexually assaulted by two men in an alley. Jake jumps out to help her and subdues the attackers, but Alonzo refuses to report the incident. He tells the girl to leave, telling Jake that the girl's gang member (Sureno) cousin will seek the attackers out for revenge. Jake discovers the girl's wallet on the ground and takes it. Jake objects to Alonzo's use of vigilante "street justice," but Alonzo characterizes Jake as naive. Alonzo and Jake then go to the home of a drug dealer named the Sandman and serve a phony search warrant, which is actually a cover for Alonzo to steal drug money. Jake again objects to Alonzo's actions, especially since it could have gotten them killed. The duo then arrive at Baldwin Village to visit Alonzo's Salvadoran girlfriend Sara (Eva Mendes) and their young son. Afterward, Alonzo meets with a group of high-ranking police officials dubbed the "Three Wise Men" (Tom Berenger, Harris Yulin and Raymond J. Barry). They tell Alonzo that they know he owes money to the Russian Mafia and suggest that he leave town. But Alonzo insists he can control the situation and gets permission from the Wise Men to "cash in on an account" with the caveat that he avoids a scandal. Alonzo later tells Jake that he had to give Sandman's money to the Three Wise Men to obtain an arrest warrant. Alonzo takes Jake and several other narcotic officers to the home of Roger (Scott Glenn), a drug dealer and former police officer the two visited earlier. Using the warrant, they seize several million dollars from underneath the floor of Roger's kitchen, but Jake refuses to take his share of the cash -- much to the suspicion of the other cops. Alonzo then shoots Roger and arranges the scene to appear like a justified shooting. Jake refuses to lie, and after being threatened seizes Alonzo's gun. A Mexican standoff ensues, with Jake threatening to shoot Alonzo while the other officers threaten to shoot Jake. Alonzo then reveals that the LAPD will run a blood test on Jake following the shooting, thus detecting the PCP he had smoked earlier. Alonzo offers to have the test results falsified in exchange for Jake's cooperation. Jake reluctantly agrees, and Alonzo again urges Jake to drop his naive view of police work. Alonzo then drives Jake to the home of a Mexican gangster named "Smiley" (Cliff Curtis), allegedly to run an errand. Alonzo gives Smiley a package containing a large stack of money, which Smiley asks his sister to count while he plays poker with two other gang members. Jake is persuaded to join the game and engages in tense conversation with the three men. After Smiley's sister confirms to him that the count is correct, Smiley receives a message on his phone. Smiley then reveals to Jake that Alonzo has abandoned him, and explains Alonzo's situation: by midnight, Alonzo must pay $1 million to the Russian mob for killing one of their couriers in Las Vegas or be killed himself. Alonzo has paid Smiley to kill Jake. Jake tries to escape but is overpowered and dragged into the bathroom to be executed. The men search his pockets, finding the wallet he had picked up earlier from the girl he rescued, who is Smiley's cousin. Smiley calls the girl, who confirms that Jake defended her against the attackers. In gratitude for protecting his cousin, Smiley lets Jake go, and asks for no hard feelings because the planned execution was "just business". Jake returns to Sara's apartment looking for Alonzo. He attempts to arrest Alonzo, but Alonzo resists and they fight. Jake eventually subdues him, after which the local gang members and residents begin congregating to watch. Alonzo tries to get the crowd on his side by offering a reward to whoever kills Jake, but they have grown tired of Alonzo's arrogance and allow Jake to walk away with the money. In his escape to LAX, Alonzo is surrounded by Russian hit-men who kill him. The final scene has Jake pulling into his driveway and going home to his wife, Lisa (Charlotte Ayanna), and daughter, while a radio broadcast describes Alonzo's death as occurring honorably while "serving a high-risk warrant near LAX."

Homicide detective John Hobbes (Denzel Washington) and Edgar Reese (Elias Koteas), a serial killer, are talking just before the latter is going to be executed in prison. Reese is proud of all his crimes, and doesn't repent at all. Hobbes witnesses the execution of Reese. At the last second, Reese starts shouting that he is innocent, that it wasn't him, all his cocky demeanour lost. However, this doesn't finish the matter. Soon after the execution the killings start again, and they are very similar to Reese's style. Hobbes starts hearing people on the street singing the same tune that Reese sang in the gas chamber. He is told that maybe the fallen angel Azazel is behind it all. Azazel is cursed to roam the Earth without a form, and he can switch bodies by any contact, making him hard to track. The last clue is given by Gretta Milano (Embeth Davidtz), a semi-mad woman who lives in a flat crammed with bric-a-brac, pictures, and small statues representing all kind of of angels. When Hobbes is forced to kill a man possessed by Azazel, he must clear his name while protecting his family and others from the evil, vengeful Azazel. Milano tells him to kill Azazel in a place where no other person is around. If Hobbes kills the person who is at the moment possessed by Azazel, and he himself commits suicide, the fallen angel will die, because he can't survive for long without a body. Hobbes is determined. His workmates are suspicious of him. They think that he has tricked them all, being the serial killer from the very beginning, or that he has become so obsessed with the serial killer that now he's copy-cattting him. His co-worker and closest friend, Det Jonesy (John Goodman), is one of those who seem to have changed their minds concerning Hobbes. Lou and Stanton (James Gandolfini and Donald Sutherland) start having no doubts that Hobbes is the killer. Hobbes goes to a lonely cottage kilometers away from nowhere where he has dared Azazel to go. To his surprise, it's Jonesy who goes. He tells him that it was about Hobbes from the beginning. When Hobbes and Reese had the conversation, there was a second when they shook hands, but Azazel could not move inside Hobbes because he was an honest and good person. There is a final confrontation and Hobbes kills Jonesy, and then kills himself. It seems that evil has died. However, a voice tells the audience that there is only an animal which can hold a demon, a cat. We see a cat which is making its way to the nearest inhabited town. The audience now knows that Hobbes didn't succeed.

In 1948 Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins has seen better days. So he accepts a job to locate the mysterious Daphne Monet but ends up in a web of murder, brutal cops and city politics.

A law student`s theory about the deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a web of greed, corruption and murder that goes to the top of the United States government.

As the opening credits roll, we hear Malcolm X (Denzel Washington) delivering a speech about the oppression of the black race by the white race, openly and loudly accusing whites of murder, rape and slavery. Intercut with the credits is footage of the 1991 beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers and an American flag burning into an "X". In the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, during the early 1940s in the early years of World War II, a teenage Malcolm Little meets with his friend, Shorty (Spike Lee) at a local barber shop to have his hair straightened to make him acceptable to whites. The process is a painful one, with a concoction of eggs and lye applied to Malcolm's head and combed out. Malcolm admires himself in the mirror and he and Shorty take to the streets dressed in colorful "zoot" suits. In a flashback sequence, Malcolm narrates that he grew up poor in rural Nebraska. When his mother was pregnant with him, a small group of Ku Klux Klan riders broke the windows of his parents' house, looking for his father, a local minister and activist. Malcolm later narrates that his family's home was burned down and his father was murdered when he was four or five, thrown in front of a train after suffering a skull injury. The case was falsely recorded as a suicide and his family received no compensation, becoming destitute. Malcolm's mother Louise (Lonette McKee), who was of Caribbean descent and partially white, married his father because he was black and a follower of Marcus Garvey, who preached that Black Americans should return to Africa to have their own region of the world, free of white influence. Eventually, his mother was remanded to a mental institution and Malcolm and his brothers and sisters became wards of the state. Malcolm, while in grade school, showed excellent academic skills and told a teacher he wanted to be a lawyer. However, his racist teacher tells him that it "isn't a practical career for a negro". Flashing back to contemporary 1944, Malcolm and Shorty and their girlfriends go to a jitterbug club. After a rigorous dancing number, Malcolm meets Sophia (Kate Vernon), a white, blond woman who becomes infatuated with him. Malcolm's black girlfriend, Laura (Theresa Randle), is a devout Catholic and has avoided Malcolm's sexual advances. Eventually, Malcolm takes up with Sophia. At one point, he treats her with obvious racial misogyny, getting her to feed him breakfast. Working for a local railroad company, Malcolm travels to Harlem, New York City. He goes to a bar where his drink is doubled unexpectedly by a man named West Indian Archie (Delroy Lindo), who runs numbers locally. When Malcolm is harassed by another patron who insults his clothes and speaks ill of his mother, Malcolm hits the man on the head with a liquor bottle. Archie recognizes that Malcolm won't back down in a fight and calls him over to his table. Malcolm sees immediately that Archie is a person of considerable influence and goes to work for him, running numbers. One night, while Malcolm, Sophia and Archie drink and snort cocaine, Malcolm places a bet for several numbers with Archie. One of Malcolm's numbers hits and he stands to collect a large sum of money. Archie denies that Malcolm had the number and reminds his protege of his reputation for never forgetting a number. Malcolm chooses to break his ties with Archie. A few nights later, at a dinner club, Archie threatens Malcolm. Malcolm escapes through the bathroom window. He returns to Boston, reconnects with Shorty and the two resolve to become petty thieves. One of their first partners, Rudy (Roger Guenveur Smith), tells them about a elderly man he takes care of who has money and many valuable items in his house. When Rudy declares he'll lead the group, Malcolm plays Russian Roulette, threatening to blow off Rudy's nose. A terrified Rudy tells Malcolm to lead the group. The robbery is a success and over a period of time, Shorty and Malcolm loot a considerable amount. One night in early 1946, while Shorty and Malcolm straighten Malcolm's hair, they discover the water has been turned off. Malcolm is forced to rinse his head in the toilet bowl and he and Shorty are arrested when the police burst in. Sophia and Peg (Debi Mazar) are also arrested. The racist judge (a cameo by civil rights attorney William Kuntsler), after hearing a guilty verdict, sentences the two white women to 18 months for their association with the robbery group, but harshly sentences both Shorty and Malcolm to eight to ten years for 14 different robbery charges and declares the sentences will be served concurrently (a devastated Shorty literally faints in the courtroom, thinking he'd serve over 100 years until Malcolm explains to him what "concurrent" sentencing is). Malcolm is sent to a Massachusetts penitentiary. On his first day he refuses to recite his incarceration number and is thrown into solitary confinement. The prison priest (Christopher Plummer) tries to reach Malcolm but is obscenely rebuffed. Malcolm is eventually released from solitary and recites his number. While in the showers, straightening his hair, he is met by Baines (Albert Hall), a member of the Nation of Islam, the black Muslim organization of the United States. Baines tells Malcolm that the best way out of prison, both the penitentiary and the figurative prisons of his mind, is through the teachings of Elijah Muhammad (Al Freeman Jr.), the founder and leader of the Nation of Islam. Malcolm refuses at first but grows more interested in Baines' preaching, especially when he sees the confidence and courage Baines has -- he refuses to show any fear when the prison's guards threaten him. Malcolm becomes a willing student; Baines tells him that all white people are not to be trusted. Baines has Malcolm copy out an entire English language dictionary, pointing out the double-standards that guide words like "black" and "white", telling his student that he must learn the meanings behind every word and that language is the key to using the white race's power against them. Malcolm is reluctant at first to pray directly to Allah until he has a vision in his jail cell of Elijah Muhammad. Muhammad tells him that the only path to truth is through Allah. Malcolm finally gains the courage to pray as a Muslim. Malcolm also becomes a sore point for the prison priest; Malcolm challenges the traditional images of Jesus and the apostles, claiming they were anything but white. Malcolm is paroled from prison in 1952 after serving six years. A few days after his release, he travels to the Nation's headquarters in Chicago where he meets Elijah Muhammad himself. Malcolm is noticeably humbled by the experience and breaks down in awe-filled tears at meeting his savior. As part of joining the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad instructs Malcolm to drop his last name of 'Little', which his ancestors inherited from a white slave owner, and replace it with the letter 'X' which is a symbol of his lost African surname. Malcolm X returns to Harlem and begins his life as a preacher for the Nation of Islam. The Nation sets up a mosque in a single room and their congregation quickly grows over the next few years. At one point, Malcolm, while preaching a sermon, sees Shorty in the crowd. He embraces him, kindly pointing out that Shorty is a representative of his former criminal life and the two go out for coffee. Shorty tries to get Malcolm to join him for a cocaine fix but Malcolm tells him that he's clean. Malcolm gets news about West Indian Archie and his old gang from Shorty and finds out where Archie is living. Archie has since suffered a stroke and lives as an invalid in a squalid Bronx apartment. Malcolm visits him and comforts him when he sees how poor life has become for his old boss. In 1957, Malcolm challenges the Harlem division of the New York City Police Department when one of his temple's members, Brother Johnson, is beaten in the streets and taken to jail and denied medical attention. Malcolm gathers the Fruit of Islam, the Nation's security force, and, joined by a growing mob of local protesters, marches on the police precinct, demanding to see Johnson. When he is turned down he calmly and firmly tells the officers in charge that neither he nor the Fruit of Islam will move until they are satisfied that Johnson is being cared for properly. The silent protest works and Johnson is taken to the hospital. Malcolm orders the Fruit of Islam to disperse and leaves the angry crowd on the street for the police to deal with. As the Nation leaves, the captain (a cameo by Peter Boyle) remarks "that's too much power for one man to have." A short time later, while drinking coffee in a nearby cafe, a young man named Benjamin (Jean LaMarre), who'd witnessed the police beating of Brother Johnson and was impressed with Malcolm's stolid handling of the police, approaches Malcolm and asks him how he can become a Muslim. Malcolm questions Benjamin carefully, saying he shouldn't join an organization if he doesn't understand it. Benjamin becomes disappointed and begins to leave when Malcolm tells him he shouldn't give up that easily either. Malcolm invites him to come to his temple the next day. Benjamin leaves, promising he'll make Malcolm proud of him. In 1958, Malcolm meets his future wife, nurse Betty Sanders (Angela Bassett). The two are instantly attracted to each other and Malcolm eventually proposes to her. They are married in a private ceremony and plan to have children. They are soon the parents of four daughters. Over the next few years as Malcolm's influence grows, he soon finds himself in a high advisory position to Elijah Muhammad himself, which draws much jealously from Baines. As a result, Malcolm receives less attention in the Nation's official publication, "Muhammad Speaks". Baines speaks to Muhammad directly, telling him that Malcolm may be shamelessly courting the white media for himself, rather than for the good of the Nation. Following a formal public speaking session, Malcolm is confronted by a disgruntled man who suggests that Muhammad may not be the benevolent leader the Nation believes him to be. In 1962, Malcolm and Betty argue bitterly over reports in the New York Post that claim Muhammad may have fathered illegitimate children with at least two unmarried women who served on his office staff. Betty's argument also points to the manner with which Malcolm has been largely ignored by the leadership of the Nation. Following their small fight, Malcolm talks to the women who confirm the reports and have been ostracized within the Nation. Malcolm privately confronts Muhammad who claims that, because he himself never married, that he must father his progeny any way he can. Baines also tries to justify Muhammad's philandering by recounting the stories of both Noah (a drunk) and Solomon (who had many wives). Malcolm is not convinced and loses much of his stature and faith in the Nation of Islam. In late November 1963, Malcolm's candid and brutally truthful reputation is further damaged when, following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, publicly states that the president's death was an example of the historical violence of the white race and the United States itself, referring to the incident as an example of "the chickens coming home to roost." The remark is quickly misconstrued in American newspapers, prompting anger from both the black and white establishments. Muhammad, who appears to be in poor health, decides to sideline Malcolm by informing him that his duties as the Nation of Islam's spokesperson are suspended for 90 days. Malcolm is enraged by what he sees as a clear case of betrayal by both Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam, but he none the less accepts and submits to the punishment. In early 1964, during his suspension, Malcolm announces publicly that he'll be establishing a new organization called Muslim Mosque Inc, one that will allow white people to aide them but not permit them to join. Malcolm also announces he will complete a "hajj", a holy journey of self-discovery to the Middle East and Mecca in Saudi Arabia, required of all Muslims if they are able. He tours the ancient pyramids at Giza, knowing that he's being tailed by two men he assumes are CIA agents. Arriving in Mecca, he participates in the Muslim ritual of the seven circuits around the Kaaba, drinks from the Well of Zamzam and kisses the Black Stone. He also realizes that Islam is not limited to people of Arab, Middle Eastern or African descent, but the many people in his pilgrimage include quite a few Caucasian whites, mixed race people and Asians as well. Malcolm willingly eats and prays with them. The hajj changes Malcolm's outlook and he experiences a spiritual re-awakening, realizing that exclusion of races other than African-Americans from Islam cannot accomplish anything. Returning to the United States, he gives a press conference where he declares that his days of preaching for African-American separation from white America are over. He forms a new Islamic organization, the Organization for African-American Unity (OAAU), one that will spread the word of tolerance of all who wish to worship Allah and the Qur'an, and which involves breaking his relations with the Nation of Islam. Malcolm also gives himself a new Arab Islamic name, "El-Hajj Malik Al-Shabazz." Very soon, Malcolm's family begins to receive death threats on the phone from Nation of Islam members. In September 1964, Malcolm is photographed guarding his house at night with a rifle. One night in February 1965, two firebombs are thrown at Malcolm's house in Queens and he gives a public statement to a television news crew outside that if he'd actually seen the bombers himself, he'd have opened fire on them in the street. Baines himself gives a public statement to the media, suggesting Malcolm may have fire-bombed his own house as a publicity stunt. Afterwords, Baines sends a message via a written note to five men that Malcolm survived the firebombing and they are to continue to carry on with their orders to kill Malcolm. Malcolm receives further death threats and becomes somewhat despondent. He arranges to speak at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem on February 21, 1965, his first such public speech since founding OAAU. Malcolm goes to a New York hotel and stays overnight there, possibly to draw attention away from his family. He receives more death threats from the Nation of Islam in his hotel room. He drives to the Audubon and meets a woman on the street who tells him not to listen to his detractors and that Jesus will protect him -- Malcolm acknowledges her kindness. One of his men, Brother Earl (James McDaniel), wants to position guards around the stage and podium and wants everyone attending to be searched to insure Malcolm's safety. Malcolm refuses, saying he wants the attendees of the speech to feel relaxed. Malcolm also becomes angry when his staff inform him that the OAAU program hasn't been completed and that the reverend scheduled to speak before Malcolm cannot attend. The rest of the staff are excused and Malcolm speaks alone to Brother Earl, muttering about the present day being "a time for martyrs." He also refuses to postpone the engagement when Earl suggests it. Earl leaves and Malcolm prepares his notes. In the auditorium, Betty and Malcolm's four daughters are seated in the front row while Brother Benjamin 2X (the same young man from the cafe scene) speaks ahead of Malcolm and introduces him. Malcolm steps to the podium and greets the crowd when a man in the back row suddenly starts shouting at someone... intended as a distraction. While the security guards run over and deals with the yelling man (exactly as planned), a man in the second row pulls out a sawed-off double-barreled shotgun, runs up to the stage and opens fire. Malcolm (seeing the armed man approach and aware that he is a dead man) smiles slightly and is hit in his left shoulder and chest by two shotgun blasts and falls to the stage. Two additional assassins seated in the front row also run forward to the stage and shoot Malcolm several more times with semi-automatic pistols. As the killers run out of the auditorium, one of handgun shooters, Thomas Hayer (Giancarlo Esposito), is shot in his right leg by one of Malcolm's bodyguards. Hampered by his bullet wound, he is caught and beaten by the angry crowd outside the front entrance of the building. The police arrive a minute later to place the captured assassin under arrest before quietly entering the building to find Betty holding her dead husband and crying. Malcolm's body is taken to a nearby hospital just down the street where he is declared dead-on-arrival from multiple gunshot wounds. The story ends with Martin Luther King's weary statement on Malcolm's death and the violence that caused it. The same eulogy delivered by Ossie Davis at Malcolm's memorial services plays over a montage of film and photographs of the real Malcolm. Footage of Nelson Mandela (recently released from prison after 30 years) speaking to a South African grade school class is also shown. The final shot is of Malcolm himself proclaiming "By any means necessary!"

Jazz trumpeter Bleek Gilliam makes questionable decisions in his professional and romantic lives. Bleek Gilliam is a talented and self-centred jazz trumpeteer, whose single-minded concentration on his music leaves many, especially the women in his life, scrambling for his attention. Bleek forms his own band The Bleek Gilliam Quartet, and a rivalry emerges with bandmate Shadow that threatens to tear apart the quartet. Opens with Bleek as a child learning to play the trumpet, his friends want him to come out and play but mother insists he finish his lessons. Bleek grows into adulthood and forms his own band - The Bleek Gilliam Quartet. The story of Bleek's and Shadow's friendly rivalry on stage which spills into their professional relationship and threatens to tear apart the quartet. —David <DGOWERS6@CHECLABA.SCU.EDU.AU>

When police officer Xavier Quinn's childhood friend, Maubee, becomes associated with murder and a briefcase full of ten thousand dollar bills, The Mighty Quinn must clear his name. Or try to catch him, which could be even trickier.

Donald Woods, a South African journalist, is forced to flee the country after investigating the death of his black activist friend, Steven Biko

Louisiana, 1944. In her nightclub, Big Mary's Catfish Ribs and Liquor, Big May (Patti LaBelle) is belting out a blues tune. The club is filled with black soldiers from a nearby segregated Army base. Sergeant Waters (Adolph Caesar) stumbles out of the club. He staggers down the street, past black soldiers, civilians, to the edge of town and into a wooded area. He looks up at the camera, and pleads with a hoarse, drunken cackle: 'They still...hate you! They still...hate you!' A semi-automatic handgun goes off, blowing him on to his back. Seconds later, a second round is fired. At the Army barracks, Captain Taylor (Dennis Lipscomb) has the troops searched. He doesn't want anyone going into Tynin, the nearby town, looking for rednecks. The men are convinced the Klan murdered Sergeant Waters. Captain Davenport (Howard E. Rollins, Jr.), a graduate of Howard University Law School, is called in to investigate the murder. He arrives in Tynin on an interstate bus. He is wearing aviator sunglasses and is asleep in the back, behind the white passengers. 'Hey, wake up, boy! You said Tynin, didn't ya?' says the driver. Corporal Ellis (Robert Townsend) is standing by his Army jeep, waiting for Davenport to disembark. He is shocked to see a black officer, but is also proud. He collects Davenport's bags and drives him back to base. Colonel Nivens (Trey Wilson) gives Davenport the Waters file. Nivens has doubts about Davenport's investigation. He doesn't want outsiders like the NAACP, the Negro Press, nor 'the paper-shuffling desk jockeys in Washington' involved. He instructs Davenport to complete his investigation in three days. He also expects Davenport, the first black officer the men ever saw, to be an 'example' to the colored soldiers. Captain Davenport is ushered in to see Captain Taylor, who commands the racially segregated Company. Taylor is shocked when Captain Davenport enters. Taylor inquires about Davenport's background. 'Had I known you'd be e a Negro I would have requested the immediate suspension of the investigation. These local people aren't going to charge a white man in this Parish on your say-so...Will you take off those damn sunglasses?' 'I like these,' says Davenport, 'they're like McArthur's.' Davenport is at the enlisted men's barracks. Ellis tells Davenport that Taylor had questioned two white officers who were on the road the night of the murder. Captain Davenport interviews his first soldier. Private Wilkie (Art Evans) gives a summary of the all-black Company. The soldiers were recruited from a baseball team in the Negro Leagues. As for Sergeant Waters-he was a veteran of the First World War, 'all spit and polish.' Waters had taken Wilkie's Sergeant's stripes-demoted him to Private-- because Wilkie was found drunk on duty. Davenport asks about Water's relationship with his men. Wilkie replies Waters didn't like the Southern men, except for C.J.-probably because C.J. was the best ball player on the team--and he could sing, too. 'Boy could he sing.' Flashback to C.J. playing his guitar and singing the blues at Big Mary's club. Big Mary joins him onstage, and the soldiers are enjoying C.J.'s tune, 'Low Down Dirty Shame.' After the song Waters and Wilkie approach C.J. Memphis (Larry Riley). Waters asks him if he's from Mississippi. 'Yessuh.' Waters tells C.J. he reminds him of Blues singers from Mississippi, and of a club in France during the First World War-the 'Café Napoleon.' Present day, Davenport's interview with Wilkie: The Sarge was a 'good' man, Wilkie says. Good to his men, wrote home to his wife every day. But, his attitude could change in an instant. 'Two people, sir. Mr. Warm and Mr. Cold.' Wilkie asks Davenport if it's true that when Sergeant Waters was found his stripes and insignia were still on his uniform. Yes. 'Something's wrong, ain't it, sir? 'The Klan boys can't stand to see us in these uniforms. They usually take the stripes and stuff off before they lynch us.' Private First Class Peterson (Denzel Washington) enters. He called Sergeant Waters 'Stone Ass'-no offense. Flashback: A baseball game between the soldiers and a white team. C. J. excels on defense-catching a long fly ball-and on offense, hitting a monstrous home run. Captain Taylor is ecstatic over the performance of his black players, to the chagrin of his fellow white officers. They win the game, then go to the mess hall to celebrate. The soldiers are laughing and drinking; C.J. sings another of his songs. Captain Waters enters and tells the men to 'knock it off. We don't need no more of that guitar-picking-sittin'-around-the-shack music today, C.J.' They've got a work detail, painting the lobby of the officer's club. Private Smalls (David Harris) asks: Why can't the officers paint their own damn club? Waters: The reason for issuing an order is none of your business. Waters is up in Private Small's face: When I give you an order, I want it done! As Waters leaves, Peterson asks: What kind of colored man are you? 'I'm a soldier, Peterson. The kind of colored man that don't like lazy, shiftless Negroes.' Peterson replies 'You don't have to call us names.' Waters: the Germans call you names too, you going to complain to Hitler? C.J. says they couldn't do too much to the Nazi's with paintbrushes. 'Are you mockin' me, C.J.? Whatever an ignorant low-class Geechee like you has to say ain't worth payin' attention to. Is it!' 'I reckon not, Sarge,' says C.J. Peterson: You're a creep, Waters! Waters: If it wasn't for you Southern niggers, white folks wouldn't think we was all fools. Peterson: Where are you from, England? The men nervously retreat from Peterson. 'Looks like we got us a wise-ass Alabama boy here.' Waters gets up in Peterson's face and pushes him. Peterson pushes back. 'Get your...hands off me!' Waters dares Peterson to hit him. Just then Captain Taylor enters and congratulates the team on their victory. Only seven more games and they'll be the first colored team in Army history to play the Yankees. He gives them the rest of the day off. After Taylor leaves, Waters promises Peterson he'll teach him a lesson, and demands Peterson fight him. Peterson accepts and Waters leaves. The men warn Peterson Waters will fight dirty. Outside the barracks, the two men fight. Peterson is winning. Down on his face Waters scoops up a handful of dirt and throws it in Peterson's eyes. Peterson is unable to see. Waters delivers a flurry of vicious punches and knocks him out. Present day, the interview with Peterson: Peterson says he never reported the incident. Waters left him alone after that so he 'just played ball.' 'I appreciate your honesty, Peterson,' says Davenport. 'Did you see Waters the night he was killed?' 'Uh, no sir. Smalls and I had guard duty.' Night. Davenport is typing his report. Taylor visits. He is submitting a request to have Davenport's investigation terminated. Taylor is emphatic that Davenport will not be able to get the truth on Waters' murder. Davenport asks Taylor why the file he received from Nivens did not include any mention of the two white officers who had an encounter with Waters the night he was murdered. Colonel Nivens had ordered it not included, Taylor says. Waters was killed with two .45 caliber slugs, Army issue. If the black soldiers had found out, there would have been a slaughter. Lt. Byrd and Captain Wilcox were the officers. 'Tell me what they told you,' says Davenport. 'Look, hotshot. They're not gonna let you charge those two men.' Flashback: The night Waters was murdered. Byrd and Wilcox are in their vehicle, in a wooded area approaching a bridge. They come across a drunken Sergeant Waters. 'I'll be damned. If it ain't the white boys,' says Waters. Though Waters is obviously drunk, Byrd is incensed that he won't salute. Wilcox implores him to let it go. Byrd refuses, insists Waters come to attention. Waters won't do 'nothin' white folks say to him, and starts crying. 'I've even killed for you.' Byrd knocks him to the ground and starts kicking him repeatedly. 'White men are killing for you, nigger. Good men are dyin' for you'. He cocks his pistol. Present day, Taylor and Davenport: Taylor: they claimed they left Waters at 23:10 and were back at the barracks by 23:30 and neither left until the following morning. Davenport replies: That's just white officers protecting their own. I'm arresting both of them, and you can consider yourself under arrest pending my charges against you. Captain Taylor: Colonel Nivens is part of their alibi. Nivens and other white officers were playing pool with Byrd and Wilcox until three in the morning. Davenport visits Colonel Nivens and requests authority to arrest Byrd and Wilcox. Nivens refuses, but does give Davenport permission to question them, provided a white officer is present. Davenport interviews another soldier, Private Henson (William Allen Young). Henson didn't like Waters on account of what he did to C.J. In fact he doesn't like officers at all, and doesn't want to talk to any officers, black or white. Davenport threatens to put him in the stockades unless he talks. Henson: There was a shooting. It happened last year at the end of the baseball season. Flashback: Waters barges into a darkened barracks with Wilkie, while the soldiers are sleeping. A colored soldier shot a white M.P., and he was chased down to the Army base. 'We got us a vicious, low down murdering piece of black trash in here somewhere-and a few people who helped him.' Waters has the barracks searched. Wilkie 'finds' a pistol under C.J.'s bunk. The men vouch for C.J.'s innocence. Private Henson says he saw someone sneaking into their barracks. Corporal Cobb (David Alan Grier) says C.J. was asleep before he, Cobb, went to bed. Waters is undeterred, and shows open contempt for 'C. J. Memphis' - 'cotton-picker', bowin', scrapin' in white folks faces. 'This man undermines us. That "yasser-boss" is hidin' somethin,' and jabs C.J. in the chest. With one punch, C.J. knocks Waters to the ground. Waters has C.J. arrested and taken away. Peterson gets dressed. He's seen the likes of Waters before: White man gives him a job as a servant, when the boss ain't lookin' ...he acts like the new boss...he can't look good unless he's standin' on you. Peterson leaves to tell the M.P.s that C.J. was in the barracks all night. Present day, the Davenport and Henson interview continues. Davenport asks Henson if Wilkie was the only one out of his bunk the night the white M.P. was killed. Henson: I guess...but I was a little juiced that night. Davenport questions Corporal Cobb about his best friend, C.J. Cobb tells Davenport C.J. was a 'country boy' and that jail cell started closing in on him in solitary. Flashback: Sergeant Waters visits C.J. in solitary. The charges are changed-he's now charged with striking a superior officer. They're talking about giving him five years. 'Why you doin' this to me, suh?' 'Don't feel too bad, C.J.. It has to be this way....The black race can't afford you no more...there used to be a time when we'd see someone like you singin', clowinin', yasser-bossin'..and we wouldn't do anything. Folks liked that. You were good. Homey kinda nigger. When they needed someone to mistreat...they paraded you. Reminded them of the good old days. Not no more. The day of the Geechee is gone, boy, and you're going with him. We can't let nobody go on beleivin' we're all fools like you. Waited a long time for you, boy, but I got ya.' Waters says he's already put three Geechees in jail, 'now, I've got you...one less fool for the race to be ashamed of.' Waters leaves. Tears stream quietly down C.J.'s face. Present day, Davenport and Cobb: Two days after speaking with Waters, C.J. was found hanging from the bars of his cell. The players protested C.J.'s suicide by throwing the last game of the season. After that the baseball team was broken up. The Sergeant 'started actin' funny, was drunk all the time.' Cobb gives Davenport the time he got in the night Waters was killed. And Peterson and Smalls? They were the last ones in--they had guard duty. Davenport interviews Lieutenant Byrd (Wings Hauser) and Captain Wilcox (Scott Paulin), the white officers who encountered Waters the night of his murder. Captain Taylor is present. Davenport: When did you last see Sergeant Waters? Lieutenant Byrd says it was the night he was killed-'I should have done it myself, the way he spoke to Wilcox and me...The goddamned nigger was disrespectful, no way a colored soldier speaks to a white officer like that.' Davenport challenges Byrd, 'You beat him up...and you shot him.' 'You get out of my face, boy, 'fore I kill you.' 'Like you killed Waters.' 'No!' Captain Wilcox says their weapons were turned in and cleared ballistics. Byrd adds: They were short of .45 caliber ammo. They were for M.P.s and special duty people only. 'No one on the bivouac was issued .45 caliber ammo.' Captain Taylor does not believe their stories. Why wasn't he told, he asks the officers. Wilcox: Nivens felt Taylor would go to Washington with it. Taylor: 'Consider yourselves under arrest, gentlemen. The charge is murder.' Davenport orders them released. Taylor: They're as guilty as hell. Charge them, I'll back you up. Davenport replies he does what the facts tell him, 'not you.' Davenport and Taylor are on the bridge near where Waters was killed. Davenport: I think Waters tricked the kid into attacking him. Davenport questions Wilkie again. Wilkie is seated in the barracks and wipes his sweaty palms on his uniform. He can't understand why Davenport wants to speak to him again. 'No, Waters was not a nice guy,' Wilkie says. Waters' demoting him made him mad, all the things he did for Waters. Davenport: You were his boy. You took care of the team. You ran his errands. You policed his quarters. You listened to his stories. You put the gun under C.J.s bunk. Wilkie: No! It wasn't me. It was Sarge who ordered me to do it. He said I'd get my stripes back. The Sarge just wanted to scare him; put him in jail for a few days, but then C.J. hit him, then he had C.J. where he wanted him. Waters despised C.J., but he hid it because everybody like C.J., but underneath there was a cray kind of hate, sometimes you could just feel it. Flashback: C.J. is singing in Big Mary's club. Waters is at the bar with Wilkie watching him. 'This kinda boy seems innocent...White boys envy his strength, his speed... He can't talk. Can't barely read or write his own name... he don't care. He'll tell you they like him. Colored folks ain't supposed to have so much sense. You know the damage one ignorant Negro can do?' He shares with Wilkie an incident that took place when he was in France during the First World War. 'We had won decorations. The white soldiers told the French gals we had tails. They found an ignorant colored soldier and paid him to tie a tail to his ass and run around half naked making monkey sounds...They put him on a big round table in the Café Napoleon. .. made him eat bananas in front of all them Frenchies. How the white boys danced that night...Passed out pictures with that boy's picture on it. Called him "Moonshine", "King of the Monkeys." And when we slit his throat you know that fool asked us what he'd done wrong? ...My Daddy told me we got to turn our backs to these kind, Wilkie...We are men. Soldiers. And I don't intend for our race to be cheated out of its place of honor and respect in this war because of fools like C.J. You watch everything he does. Everything.' Present day, Wilkie and Davenport: 'And I watched him,' says Wilkie. Davenport: Why didn't Waters pick on Peterson-they had the fight. Wilkie: Sarge liked Pete. Pete fought back. He was going to promote Pete. After C.J. died 'Pete' put together the protest that lost our last game. Then he kept to himself, or with Smalls. Outside a flare gun goes off. The soldiers are celebrating, and more flare guns are fired into the night sky, like fireworks. The men are shipping out; they are finally going to get a chance to fight. Davenport places Wilkie under arrest. Smalls goes AWOL but is caught. Davenport interrogates Smalls. Davenport: Peterson knew that I'd find out the two of you killed Waters. Smalls: It was Peterson, sir. It wasn't me. Flashback: Peterson and Smalls are walking across the bridge. They come across Waters, drunk on the ground. Peterson: I'm gonna enjoy this. He offers Waters a hand up, and then kicks him back down. Waters starts crying: C.J. could never make it. He was a clown. A clown in blackface. 'You got to be like them. But the rules are fixed.' In a high-pitched voice he sings a line from C.J.'s tune 'Low Down Dirty Shame' - the tune everyone loved. Then he says 'it doesn't make any difference...They still... hate you.' Peterson draws his weapon. 'Justice, Smalls. For C.J. For everybody.' He shoots Waters in the chest, knocking him on to his back. Present day: Davenport asks Smalls, 'And you call that justice?' Peterson is brought in, in handcuffs. He stares at Smalls. 'You told him, didn't you.' He laughs and turns to Davenport. 'I didn't kill much. Some things need getting rid of. Man like Waters never did nobody no good anyway, Cap'n.' Davenport: Who gave you the right to judge? To decide who is fit to be a Negro-and who is not? Who? Smalls and Peterson are taken away. Davenport is leaving the base as the soldiers are rolling out. Taylor, in aviator sunglasses, and Ellis, pull up alongside in a jeep. Taylor: So I guess that's it. You got your man. I was wrong. Davenport: So was I. Davenport, laden with bags and an overcoat, says to 'Charlie,' he could do with a lift. Captain Taylor offers Davenport a hand as he climbs into the back. 'I guess I'm gonna have to get used to Negroes with bars on their shoulders, Davenport. You know, being in charge.' Davenport puts on his sunglasses. 'Oh, you'll get used to it, Captain. You can bet your ass on that. You'll get used to it.'