The Great Debaters

Based on a true story, the plot revolves around the efforts of debate coach Melvin B. Tolson (Denzel Washington) at Wiley College, a historically black college related to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (now The United Methodist Church), to place his team on equal footing with whites in the American South during the 1930s, when Jim Crow laws were common and lynch mobs were a fear for blacks. The fictional Wiley team eventually succeeds to the point where they are able to debate Harvard University.

MPAA Rating:PG-13
Genre:Biography, Drama, Romance
Country:United States
Produced By:Todd Black, Oprah Winfrey, Harvey Weinstein, Molly Allen, Melody Fowler, David Crockett, Joe Roth, Kate Forte, Valerie Scoon, Bob Weinstein
Directed By:Denzel Washington
Written By:Jeffrey Porro, Robert Eisele, Tony Scherman
Cast:Thomas Cataloni, Brian Smiar, Brad Watkins, Devyn A. Tyler, Breon Pugh, Joel B. Hayden, Russell Woron-Simons, Ritchie Montgomery, Jaishon Fisher, Jack Radosta, Stephen Rider, Southey Blanton, Kenneth Lecompte, Michael Mattison, Damien Leake, Donny Boaz, Justice Leak, George Wilson, Aqua Lee, Cory Patt, Marcus Lyle Brown, Tim Parati, Denzel Whitaker, Dom Flemons, Roger Dillingham Jr., Sharon Jones, Cory Reed Smith, Justin Robinson, Gina Ravera, Steve Flynn, Mario Wanza, Gary Mattis, Josh McBride, Chaz Echols, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Giovanni Pantaleo, Ellen Becker-Gray, Jamai Fisher, Gordon Danniels, Rhiannon Giddens, Forest Whitaker, Frank Ridley, Jackson Walker, James Paul, Fahnlohnee R. Harris, Gio Castellano, Jermaine Williams, Michael Beasley, Crystal Brown-Tatum, Alan Resnic, Alex Milne, Nate Parker, Robert Masiello, Ruth Mahala Sullivan, Jeremiah Kissel, Denzel Washington, Donald Warnock, Cyndy Powell, Tarek Moussa, Bonnie Johnson, Brian D. Evans, Kevin Beard, Paul McGillicuddy, J.D. Evermore, Samuel Elliott Whisnant, Bill Stinchcomb, Kimberly Elise, Benjamin Fisher, Robert X. Golphin, Glen Powell, Trenton McClain Boyd, Jimmy Lee Jr., Harold Evans, Todd Brendan, Razmig Arabian, Curtis Eames, John Heard, Ahmad Powell, Hevin Hampton, Charissa Allen, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Benjamin Crocker, Michael DeMello, Kelvin Payton, Voltaire Sterling, Ian Wallace, Hugh Guiney
In Theaters:Dec 25, 2007
Runtime:2 hours 6 minutes
Production:Harpo Films, Marshall Production, Roth Films, The Weinstein Company
Budget:$15,000,000
Box Office:$30,236,407
Available On:Amazon, Itunes, Vudu
Read More On:Wikipedia