Overview

An intimate look at life in the ghetto: Johnny Williams is a house painter who moonlights as a poet, struggling to financially and emotionally support his cancer-ridden wife Mattie. But times are tough and the poverty-troubled streets are even tougher, and it takes every ounce of Johnny's love and courage for the couple to make it through their strife, finding redemption in the River Niger.

Genres

Cast

James Earl Jones

Johnny Williams

Cicely Tyson

Mattie Williams

Louis Gossett Jr.

Dr. Dudley Stanton

Glynn Turman

Jeff Williams

Roger E. Mosley

Big Moe Hayes

Ralph Wilcox

Al

Teddy Wilson

Chips

Charles Weldon

Skeeter

Shirley Jo Finney

Gail

Ed Crick

White Police Lieutenant

Tony Burton

Black Policeman

Zakes Mokae