Gone Are the Days!

Gone Are the Days! or Purlie Victorious is a 1963 American comedy-drama film starring Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee and Godfrey Cambridge. It is based on the 1961 Broadway play Purlie Victorious, which was written by Davis. Davis, Dee, Cambridge, Beah Richards, Sorrell Booke and Alan Alda, reprised their roles from the Broadway production.

Cast

Ossie Davis as Reverend Purlie Victorious Judson
Ruby Dee as Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins
Godfrey Cambridge as Gitlow Judson
Hilda Haynes as Missy Judson
Beah Richards as Idella Landy
Alan Alda as Charlie Cotchipee
Charles Welch as Sheriff
Ralph Roberts as Deputy
Sorrell Booke as Ol' Cap', Stonewall Jackson Cotchipee

Reception

The New York Times review stated "The cancers of segregation, blind bigotry and Uncle Tom were made funny but real, and therefore howlingly effective, by the dual artistry of playwright-star Ossie Davis. As a Negro seeing his people and their tormentors comically plain, he filled the stage with humor, insight and passion." The critic noted, however, that "Mr. Davis's manufactured folk tale has, with the passage of just two years and the shedding of blood in Birmingham, lost some of its laughter. And the somewhat static quality of Nicholas Webster's direction, which clings to stage techniques, is not much of a help."