The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman Film

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the film version of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. In January 1974,CBS premiered the film version of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. That year millions watched the movie and it won nine Emmy awards including a best actress award for Cicely Tyson's portrayal of Miss Jane. Without the film's success on prime time national television, it could be argued that Alex Haley's Roots would not appear three years later in 1977. If The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman failed, it would've shown that the country was not prepared for a prime time film that centers around African American characters. Instead, the overall success of the film proved that the nation was ready, in some form, to see a story about African American characters specifically, thus paving the way for the Roots mini-series.  

Like any film adaptation, though, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman differs from the book. Most notably, instead of an African American teacher approaching Miss Jane about her story, the film version has a white reporter from New York coming to Louisiana to get Miss Jane's story for a magazine. It must be noted that the novel does not specify the teacher's race; however, through context, I assume the editor to be an African American teacher. This difference is important. In the book, the school teacher, who has been trying to get Miss Jane to tell her story for a while, goes to the plantation where she lives in 1962. Upon arrival, Mary Hodges confronts the teacher and asks why he is there to interview Miss Jane. He simply tells her that he teaches history and "her life's story can help [him] explain things to [his] students" (v). Mary then asks what's wrong with the books at the school, and the teacher responds, "Miss Jane is not in them" (v). The teacher wants to provide a voice to those who have no voice, or presence, in the history books or elsewhere. He wants his students, presumably African American students, to see and understand themselves better.

In the film, the white reporter comes to speak with Miss Jane, and just like the book, Mary asks the reporter why he wants to talk with her. He only says, "I'm writing a feature story."When pressed, he only responds by saying Miss Jane used to be a slave and he wants to hear (get) her story. Apart from these things, the reporter does not give much information. Compared to the novel's "editor," the reporter appears to be more interested in prestigious gain rather than in telling Miss Jane's and the community's story to  others. The scene ends with Miss Jane walking inside and Mary informing the reporter that Miss Jane is tired and she will make a decision the next day regarding whether or not to speak with him.After Jimmy and others get arrested, she decides to speak. Framed this way, the movie still contains the community aspects of the novel;  however, unlike the novel, they are firmly centered around the Civil Rights movement because the film opens not with the reporter speaking with Miss Jane but with Jimmy asking her to stand up as a symbol for the movement.

Over the next few posts, I will discuss the film version of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. I will show items from the collection such as reviews and correspondence. I will also take the time to talk about Gaines' comments regarding the film and other items. The video below is Ned's speech at the river. As always, if you have a comment, or questions, feel free to leave it down below.    

Gaines, Ernest J. The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. New York: Bantam Books, 1972. Print.