| Based On: | My Sweet Charlie novel by David Westheimer |
| Director: | Lamont Johnson |
| Starring: | Patty Duke Al Freeman Jr. |
| Theme Music Composer: | Gil Melle |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Producer: | Richard Levinson William Link |
| Executive Producer: | Bob Banner |
| Editor: | Edward M. Abroms |
| Cinematography: | Gene Polito |
| Runtime: | 97 minutes |
| Company: | Universal Television |
| Network: | NBC |
My Sweet Charlie is a 1970 American made-for-television drama film directed by Lamont Johnson. The teleplay by Richard Levinson and William Link is based on the novel of the same name by David Westheimer. Produced by Universal Television and broadcast by NBC on January 20, 1970, it later had a brief theatrical release. It is considered a landmark in television films. The film was made on location in Port Bolivar, Texas.
Set during the Civil Rights Movement, Charlie Roberts is a militant African American attorney from New York City falsely accused of murder during a demonstration in rural Texas.
Escaping from his captors, Charlie breaks into a vacant coastal vacation home, where he encounters white Marlene Chambers, an uneducated, prejudiced, unwed pregnant teenager who has been shunned by her father and boyfriend due to her pregnancy and who sought refuge in the vacant home a few weeks before Charlie arrives.
Realizing their survival depends upon their willingness to help each other, their relationship, at first defined by mutual contempt, prejudice, and hostility, slowly evolves into a touching friendship.
In 1966, Westheimer adapted his novel for a play that opened at Broadway's Longacre Theatre with Bonnie Bedelia and Louis Gossett in the leading roles. It ran for 12 previews and 31 performances.[1]
The television production was filmed on location in Port Bolivar, Texas in 1968 and was plagued by almost as many racial tensions as those depicted in the film. According to Patty Duke in her autobiography, her friendship with Freeman led to rumors of an affair. Marijuana was planted in Duke's Galveston hotel room by locals, though it was quickly determined not to belong to Duke. Texas governor John Connally intervened with local authorities to stop harassment of the production company and Duke.[2]
The film earned very high ratings, with a Nielsen rating of 31.7, an audience share of 48% and a record audience for a TV movie with 18.5 million homes watching.[3] [4]
Both leading actors were nominated for Emmy Awards, and Patty Duke won.[5]