Martin Ritt's big-screen adaptation of
William H. Armstrong's Newberry Award winning novel,
Sounder stars
Cicely Tyson,
Paul Winfield, and
Kevin Hooks as a black family struggling through life in depression-era Louisiana. The Morgan family is poor, but close. Young son David (
Hooks) enjoys hunting with his father Nathan (
Paul Winfield) and his trusted dog Sounder. Eventually, they fall on such rough times that Nathan steals a loaf of bread to feed his family, but he is arrested and sentenced to a work camp. Mother Rebecca (
Tyson) realizes that David is now responsible for taking care of the family. He sets out to locate where his father is being held, and becomes involved in a school for black children where he learns facts that give him a new level of self-esteem.
Sounder was nominated for a variety of Academy Awards, including Best Picture. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide