[39] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A" on scale of A to F.[40], Todd McCarthy praised the film saying, "Even with all contrivances and obvious point-making and familiar historical signposting, Daniels' The Butler is always engaging, often entertaining and certainly never dull. She’s mesmerizing and stunningly nuanced as she battles an alcohol addiction, struggles with guilt over an affair, and weathers the emotional torture of a fractured family—her husband devotes his life to the White House, her eldest son joins the front lines of the dangerous civil rights movement, and her younger son is killed in Vietnam. Over the years Allen rose in his position, becoming the butler to the president. Finally the film raised its needed $30 million budget through 41 producers and executive producers, including Earl W. Stafford, Harry I. Martin Jr., Brett Johnson, Michael Finley, and Buddy Patrick. (where he met his wife, Gloria), He is recommended to be butler in the White house. The following breakdown is based on Haygood’s profile and the accompanying book. "The Butler Review", New York Tribune, 2013. Allen came to public attention when a 2008 article about him and his wife, by journalist Wil Haygood, entitled "A Butler Well Served by This Election", was published in The Washington Post shortly after the 2008 presidential election. [7][8] In addition to Whitaker, the film's all-star cast also features Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey, John Cusack, Nelsan Ellis, Jane Fonda, Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, Minka Kelly, Elijah Kelley, Lenny Kravitz, James Marsden, David Oyelowo, Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Redgrave, Alan Rickman, Liev Schreiber, Robin Williams, and Clarence Williams III. Find out how you match to him and 5500+ other characters. In 1952, the real Cecil Gaines, Eugene Allen, was working as a waiter at a Washington D.C. country club. Company Credits Seeing him standing there, it's been worth it all. It was hard work, but he didn't mind because he got to spend all day with his father. One dies in the Vietnam War, leading to a confrontation with President Richard Nixon, and the other is involved with the Black Panthers and pushing for civil rights reform. Cultural depictions of Martin Luther King Jr. What happens when Cecil's father confronts Thomas Westfall about raping Hattie Pearl (Cecil's mother)? Born and raised on a cotton plantation in Macon, Georgia, in 1926 when he was seven, the owner rapes his mother Hattie, his father, Earl confronts him and is killed. It is now the basis for Lee Daniels’ The Butler (the director’s name is included thanks to silly copyright claims made by Warner Bros). You have reached your limit of 4 free articles. Forest Whitaker stars as Cecil Gaines, a character inspired by Allen's life, alongside an all-star cast that includes Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo and Terrence Howard. Cecil repeatedly approaches his supervisor at the White House over the unequal pay and career advancement provided to the black White House staff. Spoilers follow. Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture, Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, "Why 'Lee Daniels' The Butler' Has 41 Producers", "MPAA permits Weinstein Co. to use 'Lee Daniels' 'The Butler' title", "The Butler trailer: Oprah Winfrey in the White House", "Trailer for 'The Butler,' based on life of the White House's Eugene Allen", "UPDATE: David Boies Charges Extortion As He Returns Fire In 'The Butler' Spat Between Warner Bros And The Weinstein Company Directly", "The Butler to be re-titled – but only slightly – following dispute over name", "Lee Daniels' The Butler (2013) - Box Office Mojo", "Fame comes second for Evanston actor starring in 'The Butler', "N.O. Limited Time Offer. Filming & Production So how much of Allen’s real-life experience actually made it into the film? It’s a privilege to do the work, but if the President can’t practice what he preaches in his own home, Cecil can’t be a part of it for much longer. But not just any white man – the President of the United States. | In preparation for the film, Carter consulted period magazines such as Ebony and Esquire and Allen’s personal archive of photos from his time at the White House. Italian Wikipedia. The matre d’ character, Freddie Fallows, initially does not like Gaines when he comes to the White House. stated in. The Butler streaming: where to watch online? He was shocked at the treatment African Americans received no matter where he lived. Hattie Pearl. And his wife Helene did pass away just prior to Obama’s election (though it was the Sunday night prior, not the morning of, as the film implies). [1] He worked as a waiter for many years, in "whites-only resorts and country clubs", including The Homestead resort in Hot Springs, Virginia, and a club in Washington.[4]. "[4], Allen and other workers who served presidents were featured in a 32-minute documentary, Workers at the White House, directed by Marjorie Hunt and released on a 2009 DVD, White House Workers: Traditions and Memories by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.[10]. Cecil and Gloria Gaines. 1. According to his son, "My father came home late on the day that President Kennedy had been shot. Technical Specs, [looking at a picture of her granddaughter]. “He was there,” Haygood continued, “while America’s racial history was being remade: Brown v. Board of Education, the Little Rock school crisis, the 1963 March on Washington, the cities burning, the civil rights bills, the assassinations.” Allen undoubtedly lived a fascinating life, meeting countless historical figures during especially polarizing times, and it’s unsurprising that Haygood’s profile caught the eye of Hollywood. Almost 50 years later, Cecil wears that very tie to the White House when he goes to meet Barack Obama for the first time. | (They’re played by Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey.) Cecil Gaines Mariah Carey. Allen learned of a job at a country club in Washington, D.C., a fact that aligns with Cecil’s move to the nation’s capital. Gloria Gaines : Now you take that trife low class bitch out of this house. | name of the character role. Cecil Gaines -DailyBulletin.com, No. Relationship Status... rockily married. In 1980, during the Reagan administration, Mr. Allen was promoted to maitre d', the position he held when he retired in 1986. Stop calling him a nigger cause he ain't no nigger. Chicago siblings Loretta Fields and Clinton Fields believe that the head butler character is based on their uncle, Alonzo Fields, the first African-American to have that job in the White House.. Gloria Gaines. The Butler is based on a true story. Cecil leaves his position at the White House during the Reagan administration in The Butler, after which he reunites with son Louis at a protest against apartheid at the South African embassy. This includes Louis joining the Freedom Riders and the Black Panthers, and the rift that develops between Cecil and his son as a result. Cotton, wool, silk lapels. [32], Principal photography started in June 2012 in New Orleans. It placed Allen's life in the context of changing race relations and the personalities of the presidents he'd served. characters are most like you. Why does Miss Annabeth make Cecil a house servant? Films about presidents of the United States, Films based on newspaper and magazine articles, United States presidential succession in fiction, Articles with dead external links from June 2018, Articles with permanently dead external links, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Debra Denson, Beverly Jo Pryor, Candace Neal, Mariah Carey, John Cusack, Jane Fonda, Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, Lenny Kravitz, James Marsden, David Oyelowo, Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Redgrave, Alan Rickman, Liev Schreiber, Forest Whitaker, Robin Williams, and Oprah Winfrey, This page was last edited on 10 January 2023, at 19:18. Because of his profession, Cecil himself has to watch the struggle from the sidelines. King then asks Louis Gaines (David Oyelowo), a young man sitting next to him, what his father does for a living. She passed away on November 3, 2008, the day before Barack Obama won the election. In the film, a White House administrator, impressed with Gaines’ work at a D.C. hotel, immediately offers him the job. But in the hallway, he fell against the wall and started crying. The Butler is a movie who talks about Cecil Gaines: he gets older in a cotton field. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital One of The Butler’s few episodes of broad comedy comes when President Lyndon Johnson (an appropriately boisterous Liev Schrieber) barks orders at his staff while sitting on the toilet with the door open, capping it all off by asking Cecil to pass him a glass of prune juice. He did fight in the Vietnam War but survived to . Gloria encourages Cecil to mend his relationship with Louis. The Lyndon Johnson toilet scene: COULD BE TRUE. In 1957, Cecil is hired by the White House during Dwight D. Eisenhower's administration. The Butler Movie Trailer and Related Videos, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. Realizing his son's actions are heroic, he joins him at a protest against South African apartheid; they are arrested and jailed together. Much of the. Cecil Gaines grew up in the south a slave, until one day he decided to leave town. In "The Butler ," Cecil Gaines has two sons. It was the last film produced by Laura Ziskin,[9][10] who died on June 12, 2011, and it was also the final film appearance of Clarence Williams III, who retired from acting in 2018 and died on June 4, 2021. He worked for the family as a house boy doing chores such as washing dishes. Filming & Production Materials. [34][35] The film topped the North American box office in its first three consecutive weeks. Though tension between father and son over civil rights issues fuels most of the drama in the film, Charles Allen was not the radical political activist that Gaines’s son is in the movie. "I think it's gonna have to be somebody who is capable of delivering a nuanced performance, and Forest is more than capable.". He arrived in Washington during the Great Depression. After leaving the South as a young man and finding employment at an elite hotel in Washington, D.C., Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker) gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he is hired . No one would hire him, much less lend a helping hand. : Gloria, who feels Cecil puts his job ahead of her, descends into alcoholism. At least one key character, Cecil’s son Louis (David Oyelowo), is entirely made up. “Eyes watering, he watched the first black man take the oath of office of the presidency,” Haygood wrote in his obituary of Allen in 2010. He began as a pantry worker in 1952, and was promoted to butler years later. -WorldandFilm.com, Yes. After working at the White House for thirty years, he still gets paid less than white workers of equal or lesser tenure. That tie, however, Allen had framed. The Butler, from The Weinstein Co. and starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey, is based on Eugene Allen, a White House butler who served eight presidents from 1952 to 1986. After his mother (Mariah Carey, in a wordless performance) becomes catatonic after being raped by the plantation owner (Alex Pettyfer) and his father is subsequently murdered, Cecil is essentially orphaned. Yes she did. "Jack Kennedy was very nice," says Eugene. Film detailsThe Butler, 2013 Character Gloria Gaines played by Oprah Winfrey. “Had champagne that night,” Helene recalled to Haygood during their interview, as her husband grinned. 20h ago Entertainment Reality Tea Video . The only thing that can be said with certainty is that the President is not in the film aside from historic footage. The Butler is a fictionalized account of the life of Eugene Allen, a Black American who worked as a butler in the White House through eight administrations, from 1952 to 1986. [43] USA Today gave the film three out of four stars and noted that "It's inspiring and filled with fine performances, but the insistently swelling musical score and melodramatic moments seem calculated and undercut a powerful story". Let me look at her again then, real good. But the names have been changed: Allen and his wife, Helene, are called Cecil and Gloria Gaines. "[46] Several critics compared the film's historical anecdotes and sentimentality to Forrest Gump. . Nelsan Ellis - Martin Luther King Jr. [Tag: ethnicity, revolution, stereotype ] more on this quote ››. Notes. The Butler, with its Forrest Gump-like ambition to touch on every significant moment and movement in the country’s 20th century racial history, begins by showing Cecil Gaines on a Georgia plantation picking cotton with his father (David Banner). A look at the life of Cecil Gaines who served eight presidents as the White House's head butler from 1952 to 1986, and had a unique front-row seat as political and racial history was made. He went on to admit that they didn't include him because, "We couldn't get him!" Director Lee Daniels, Oprah Winfrey and After Kennedy is assassinated, his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, enacts the legislation. ", "I feel great about Forest portraying my father," says Charles Allen. Please enable Javascript and hit the button below! The biggest liberty taken, however, was giving Cecil two sons in the film.
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