10 Things to Know About 'A Soldier's Story' (1984)

10 Things to Know About A Soldier’s Story

10 Based on the Most Successful Play of the 80s Written and Performed by Black People

Before it became an Academy Award nominated film, A Soldier’s Story was known as A Soldier’s Play and made its way through the New York theater scene to widespread praise and success. A Soldier’s Play went on to become, for a time, the most successful black written play performed by a predominantly black cast.

9 Playwright Charles Fuller Won a Pulitzer Prize

Charles Fuller took home the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for A Soldier’s Play.

8 The Play Finally Made it to Broadway in 2020

For years, the closing line of A Soldier’s Play kept the play from moving to Broadway. Playwright Charles Fuller stated in a 1983 interview that he’d been asked to remove the line “You’ll have to get used to black people being in charge” from the play in order to secure a place on Broadway and he flatly refused. It wasn’t until 2020 when A Soldier’s Play finally arrived on Broadway with Blair Underwood and David Allen Grier leading the cast. Grier, by the way, is the only actor to have appeared in each iteration of A Soldier’s Play and a Soldier’s Story, with roles in the off-Broadway play, the movie and its triumphant arrival on Broadway.

7 Warner Bros Purchased the Movie Rights and Dropped Them

No one knows for sure why, but for some reason, Warner Bros. purchased the movie rights to A Soldier’s Play with plans to make it into a movie. That never happened. Instead, after briefly holding the rights, Warner Bros. dropped the deal and Columbia Pictures grabbed the rights, though they weren’t exactly playing the savior.

6 Columbia Pictures Shreds the Budget

According to director Norman Jewison, once Columbia Pictures picked up the film, the budget began to shrink. It began life in the 10 to 12 million dollar range before finally settling at around $6 million dollars. And according to Jewison, getting that much to make A Soldier’s Story was a challenge. Jewison pointedly stated that getting Hollywood studios to make a movie with a predominantly black cast, outside of the ‘Blaxploitation’ genre, was nearly impossible.

5 Charles Fuller Was Closely Involved Throughout A Soldier’s Story

Norman Jewison cultivated a strong working relationship with Charles Fuller, having Fuller adapt his play for the big screen with solo screenwriting credit, and keeping Fuller involved during filming to maintain the authenticity of his original work.

4 The Cast is Extraordinary

A Soldier’s Story is teeming with future stars. Howard Rollins leads the story on his way to stardom on television’s In The Heat of the Night. Meanwhile, Denzel Washington delivers a powerhouse supporting turn as PFC Peterson, a character central to the film’s murder mystery story. Also providing notable support are future groundbreaking director, Robert Townsend, and future comedy star on In Living Colour, David Alan Grier. And don’t forget the brilliant character Wings Hauser adding further personality to this remarkable cast.

3 Members of the Original Cast Made it to the Big Screen

Both David Alan Grier and Denzel Washington had been part of the Pulitzer Prize Winning off-Broadway play when they made the jump to the big screen. And, they weren’t alpine as Norman Jewison’s compromises with Columbia over the budget led to him getting the cast he wanted which included Drama Desk winning actor, Adolph Caesar in the role he originated off-Broadway, the victim, MSG Vernon Waters. Joining Caesar was Obie Award winner Larry Riley, as Private C.J Memphis.

2 A Soldier’s Story is ‘Not a Black Movie”

Playwright Charles Fuller, in an interview with Hollywood Hotline columnist Nancy Anderson in 1984, stated that A Soldier's Story was not a ‘black’ movie. According to Fuller:

“I’ve written an American story. As such, A Soldier’s Story is not about blacks and whites and racism but rather, about people.”

1 The Great Santini Haunted Norman Jewison

Watching what happened to the movie, The Great Santini in 1980, a film that struggled against a title few people understood and received almost no support from its studio, Norman Jewison was haunted by the title, A Soldier’s Story. Like The Great Santini, the title is both accurate and esoteric at once. A Soldier’s Story doesn’t exactly speak to what the story is about, it doesn’t do what a great title does to draw in skeptical audiences.

Recognizing that The Great Santini suffered greatly for its strange title, Jewison told Columbia Pictures that he’d be willing to change the title. When the studio came back with no options, A Soldier’s Story was finally released to tremendous critical acclaim on September 14th, 1984.

The film would go on to earn multiple Academy Award nominations and earned more than $20 million dollars against that modest $6 million dollar budget. Not a blockbuster but quite successful for an indie movie with no major stars at the time and a title that is a tad vague.