Cinema: Cinema, May 24, 1976

LEADBELLY

Directed by GORDON PARKS

Screenplay by ERNEST KNOY

One mean mountain of a man, Huddie Ledbetter, usually known as Leadbelly, lived rough and hard. You could hear it all in his voice and in the wonderful, raw blues that he played on his twelve-string. It is good to remember the facts seeing Leadbelly, because in the movie Huddie has been considerably sanitized.

Thanks in large part to some good period detail by Director Gordon Parks and a fine performance by Roger E. Mosley in the title role, Leadbelly at least maintains a degree of...