Set in 1944 on a racially segregated US Army base in Louisiana, the story begins with the mysterious shooting death of the deeply detestable and tyrannical Black Master Sergeant Vernon Waters (Adolph Caesar) just outside the base.
While initial suspicion points toward local white civilians or the Ku Klux Klan, the truth proves far more complex.
A sharp military lawyer from the North – Captain Richard Davenport (Howard E. Rollins Jr.) – is sent to investigate.
As the first Black officer anyone on the base has ever seen, Davenport faces intense hostility and scepticism from white officers who want the problem to go away, and fearful silence from the Black enlistees.
Through explosive interviews (and a series of flashbacks), Davenport uncovers the truth about Sergeant Waters.
Waters despised his own Southern, working-class Black subordinates, and – driven by an intense desire to appease white authority – he actively persecuted soldiers he believed made Black people “look bad” – ultimately revealing how systemic oppression can warp an individual’s psychology.
The film marked a pivotal early-career milestone for Denzel Washington, who reprised his off-Broadway stage role as Private First Class Melvin Peterson – a stubborn, defiant soldier who frequently clashed with Sergeant Waters’ tyrannical rules.
Despite heavy studio resistance (because of its controversial themes and predominantly Black cast), the movie became a major critical and commercial success, grossing over $22 million on a modest $6 million budget.
Captain Davenport
Howard E. Rollins Jr. Sergeant Waters
Adolph Caesar Private Wilkie
Art Evans Corporal Cobb
David Alan Grier Private Smalls
David Harris Captain Taylor
Dennis Lipscomb C.J. Memphis
Larry Riley Corporal Ellis
Robert Townsend Private First Class Melvin Peterson
Denzel Washington Private Henson
William Allen Young Big Mary
Patti LaBelle Lieutenant Byrd
Wings Hauser Captain Wilcox
Scott Paulin Sergeant Washington
John Hancock Colonel Nivens
Trey Wilson Ida Nivens
Patricia Brandkamp Captain Estes
Vaughn Reeves Private Seymour
Robert Tyler Sergeant Hooks
Warren Clements Chaplain
James W. Bryant Umpire
John Valentine
Director
Norman Jewison
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Waters despised his own Southern, working-class Black subordinates, and – driven by an intense desire to appease white authority – he actively persecuted soldiers he believed made Black people “look bad” – ultimately revealing how systemic oppression can warp an individual’s psychology.
