Technical:
Original Air Date/Time: Sunday, 6 November 1955 (BttF!), at
9:00 following the Ed Sullivan Show
Broadcast Network: CBS
Genre: Television Anthology Series ("Winner by Decision" - Drama)
Starring: Harry Belafonte (Vince), Ethel Waters (Mother), Diahann Carroll (Anna)
Host: Ronald Reagan
Notes: This story follows Vince. At the beginning of the half hour, he has just come from competing in an amateur boxing tournament, which he won handily, earning the golden gloves. His mother was less than pleased with his involvement in it, but his brother and other family members and friends eventually convinced him to compete in a prize fight, where he will get paid money if he wins. Vince does it in hopes of getting his mother a house. His mother tries to discourage him from competing. He does take the fight, and wins, but gets shellshocked following the match, coming to grips with his decision to fight for money. This is an early portrayal of an African-American family on television that did not go the route of "Beulah" or "Amos and Andy", marginalizing them as a stereotype or as a subculture. Instead, it portrayed them as sympathetic characters.
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