Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Halls of Anger

Play trailer Poster for Halls of Anger R 1969 1h 40m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
Tomatometer 1 Reviews 30% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
The court-ordered desegregation of an inner-city Los Angeles high school brings 60 white students into the predominantly African-American student body. African-American teacher Quincy Davis (Calvin Lockhart) reaches out to all his students, enticing Lerone (DeWayne Jessie) to advance his reading skills with racy paperbacks, protecting new student Douglas (Jeff Bridges) after a race-motivated beating and trying to quell a potential student strike led by the militant J.T. (James A. Watson Jr.).

Critics Reviews

View All (1) Critics Reviews
Adrienne Manns Baltimore Afro-American [Halls of Anger] is considered by the white liberals to be a responsible movie because it shows there is hope, but not for what. You may agree but even if you don't you'll find it entertaining and isn't that after all the purpose of American movies? Jul 28, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (5) audience reviews
Audience Member another of the early films of the 1970's blaxploitation era but this one actually tackles the social and racial landscape of integration Calvin Lockhart stars as a principle, Quincy Davis of a Los Angeles LaFayette high school that just recently admitted 60 white students, the thing is though a majority of the student body is all blackand not all of them are thrilled to be sharing the same classrooms, social circles or cafeteria as you can imagine the tensions are high as is the discourse among the staff about how to handle certain loose cannonsmost of the white parents want to pull their kids out to avoid future conflict, most of the black students believe they shouldn't have to let the whites in since they've had it bad for so much longer so it's up to principal Davis to have everyone see reason to collaborate, work as equals, and not give into violenceit's tough too because each side has their own reasons for acting out the way they do, neither one is necessarily wrong given our American history is the first step to truly making it in school?, learning to read helps any of us understand better, is it true white isn't right, black isn't right but only right is right?, we can still have the guts to say I have the right to be here, not everyone will throw their arms around each other, and giving up isn't always the answer when things seems bleak Lockhart commands the screen as the principal using every non-violent solution to bring the students together and to break the racial barriers sure this thing is dated but it's one of those rare flicks from the time period willing to tackle race relations as well as the shaky politics of it all Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member “She’s vanilla ice cream- and I’m gon take a big lick!” Amen. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/31/18 Full Review Audience Member Dated but still interesting film. LOOK at how young Jeff Bridges is!!! Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member takes a look at busing in this powerful drama Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member They say this is one of Jeff Bridges' defining roles. I have no idea why. He's barely in it, and I can't really say he does a good job in the parts he is in. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Halls of Anger

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis The court-ordered desegregation of an inner-city Los Angeles high school brings 60 white students into the predominantly African-American student body. African-American teacher Quincy Davis (Calvin Lockhart) reaches out to all his students, enticing Lerone (DeWayne Jessie) to advance his reading skills with racy paperbacks, protecting new student Douglas (Jeff Bridges) after a race-motivated beating and trying to quell a potential student strike led by the militant J.T. (James A. Watson Jr.).
Director
Paul Bogart
Producer
Herbert Hirschman
Screenwriter
John Herman Shaner, Al Ramrus
Production Co
The Mirisch Corporation [us]
Rating
R (An Assault Involving Nudity)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 17, 2017
Runtime
1h 40m