Danny Thomas (1) (1912–1991)

A World War II story featuring a racist white Army Captain given the
task of defending a vital dam against a Nazi attack. Carter is disgusted to
discover that the men assigned to him are a service unit with no battle
experience; even more disturbing for him is that the unit is all black.
Against his better judgment, and with little faith in his men, they set out for the dam. The men clearly sense his bigotry and work hard, ultimately sacrificing their lives, to prove him and his type wrong. (fonte: Imdb)… (mere)

A redneck officer leads a squad of African-American troops on a mission in this intriguing feature from director George McCowan (Frogs, The Magnificent Seven Ride!). Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, Stephen Boyd, Robert Hooks, NFL star Roosevelt Grier, and one of Hollywood’s great character actors Paul Stewart, fill out the cast. Co-written and produced by television legend Aaron Spelling as a pilot for a possible series, this forgotten war drama will strike you as being much more than a garden variety Blaxploitation flick. (fonte: Imdb)… (mere)

Thomas's autobiography is short and to the point. Most interesting was personal information about his life from his birth as Muzyad Yahkoob in a Lebanese/Sicilian family, to the late 80's when the book was written. His friendships with the superstars of the era, George Burns, Jan Murray, Frank Sinatra etc. lead to many fun stories about the early days of his career. Though I knew he was spokesman for the St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, I had no idea of his involvement for the inception and creation from the beginning. Interesting trip down memory lane.… (mere)