Product Description

A true story of a priest (Andre Braugher) in New Orleans who formed a group of black players and challenged an all-white prep school basketball team in the 1960's. Eventually events like these signaled the pivotal turn in the games' history leading to the integration in today's sport. Directed by Steve James (Hoop Dreams), these basketball players didn't just make shots, they made history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38031 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2006-01-10
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 94 minutes

Amazon.com
In this drama, set in New Orleans just as the civil rights movement was about to send shockwaves through society, Andre Braugher plays a priest from Baltimore who has offended his superiors and is sent southward to teach at a Catholic high school for young African American men. Braugher's character, Father Verrett, is to teach history and stay out of trouble, but before long he's making problems by raising the consciousness of his students. Named as the school's basketball coach, Verrett succeeds in instilling pride in his team, especially when, in a scene fraught with tension, he drives the team bus to a "whites only" diner after a game and insists on being served. As the sports leagues in New Orleans are segregated, Verrett's team will never play the team from the all-white high school that is supposed to be the best in the city. But one of his energized players issues a challenge to the white team, and a real championship game ensues. This all may sound simplistically moralistic, but the film does provide a multilayered look at segregation, and especially at the tensions it created within families when the younger generation sought change. And though the plot's outcome may not be surprising, the film's strongest points are the fine performances, in particular Braugher as the idealistic if abrasive priest. --Robert J. McNamara

Customer Reviews

In A Class By Itself
TNT has often called itself the best movie studio on telivision. PASSING GLORY would suggest that maybe it is. This is a first rate production. The performances are gripping. The basketball sequences are thrilling. I have rented this movie over and over again. It is truly a classic. This is a small gem that no one should miss.

AN OVERLOOKED MADE FOR TV GEM
This made for TV movie is based on a true story. It's 1965 in New Orleans and St. Augustine's Catholic High School (boys) does an admirable job of educating young men from the black community and preparing them for life ..... in the black community. They know their place and their limitations. They were turned down by a vote of 185-11 to be a member of the Louisiana State High School Athletic Association so they must continue to compete against other black schools. They have never played a white school in their history. They can only wonder how their championship teams would compete against the white champions. This is all about to change when Father Verrett, a black priest from Baltimore is transferred to St. Augustine. He grew up in New Orleans but has tasted freedom in the North. He doesn't have the patience to be passive while the white community decides the fate of the black community. Father Verrett turns the school, students and parents into an activist community that is willing to take on the system, albeit pretty reluctantly, having already experienced the retaliation of some whites. The film builds to a climax of the first ever racially mixed high school basketball game in New Orleans. Another terrific film about the struggle of black Americans for the equal rights guaranteed to all citizens but at that time only available if you had the correct skin color. The acting is excellent and the screenplay was written by an actual member of the 1965 team, veteran actor Harold Sylvester. Magic Johnson was an executive producer. An overlooked TNT gem.

A small gem
Based on a true story, the mixture of morality, sports, and quality acting and directing makes for a winning combination, especially for teenage viewers and the young at heart.