Go Man Go (film)

Go, Man, Go! is a 1954 American sports film directed by James Wong Howe, starring Dane Clark, Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Patricia Breslin, The Harlem Globetrotters and Slim Gaillard. Clark plays Abe Saperstein, the organizer of the Globetrotters. Poitier's character is Inman Jackson, the team's showboating center. Breslin plays Sylvia Saperstein, the love interest. Gaillard plays himself.

Go, Man, Go!
1954 Theatrical Poster
Directed by	James Wong Howe
Written by	Alfred Palca
Produced by	Alfred Palca
Starring	Dane Clark Sidney Poitier Ruby Dee The Harlem Globetrotters Patricia Breslin
Cinematography	William O. Steiner
Edited by	Faith Elliott
Music by	Alex North
Production company	Sirod Productions
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	January 27, 1954 (1954-01-27)
Running time	82 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$300,000[1]
Box office	$800,000 (US/Canada rental estimate)[1]

Plot

The film tracks the Globetrotters from humble beginnings through a triumph over a major-league basketball team, as they struggle to overcome racial discrimination. Actual Harlem Globetrotter players portray the team in basketball action throughout the picture.^[2] The friendship between Saperstein and Jackson, and their wives, is an important storyline.^[3]

Cast

• Dane Clark as Abe Saperstein
• Patricia Breslin as Sylvia Franklin Saperstein
• Sidney Poitier as Inman Jackson
• Anatol Winogradoff as Papa Saperstein
• Celia Brodkin as Mama Saperstein
• Carol Sinclair as Fay Saperstein
• Ellsworth Wright as Sam
• Slim Gaillard as Himself
• Frieda Altman as Ticket Seller
• Mort Marshall as Master of Ceremonies
• Jean Shore as Secretary
• Reece 'Goose' Tatum as Himself, Harlem Globetrotter
• 'Sweetwater' Clifton as Himself, Harlem Globetrotter
• Marques Haynes as Himself, Harlem Globetrotter
• Bill Stern as Himself
• Marty Glickman as Himself
• Ruby Dee as Irma Jackson

Production

The film was cinematographer Howe's directorial debut. It was filmed at the Fox Movietone Studios and at Madison Square Garden in New York in 20 days.^[4]

Hollywood blacklist

Screenwriter and producer Alfred Palca was accused by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1953 of being a Communist. He refused to cooperate with their investigations. No distributor was willing to release the film with his name credited, so he gave the producing credit to his brother-in-law, Anton Leader, and the screenwriting credit to his cousin, Arnold Becker, a pediatrician. He never worked in the film industry again. According to Palca, the F.B.I. saw his casting of Poitier as further evidence of his Communism.^[5]

In 1997, a ceremony at the Academy Theatre honored blacklisted Hollywood writers and directors and restored Palca's writing credit for the film.^[6]

Reception

Bosley Crowther, reviewing the film for The New York Times, observed, "This is the second little picture in which the Globetrotters have been starred. The encore is not excessive. They still give an entertaining show."^[2]

See also

• List of basketball films