Nothing but a Man
Michael Roemer · 1964
Nothing but a Man (1964), directed by Michael Roemer, follows Duff Anderson, a Black railroad worker in Alabama, as he marries a preacher’s daughter and confronts systemic racism, economic precarity, and fractured fatherhood. Made independently on a $300,000 budget, it uses Motown’s early 1960s hits as diegetic sound and relies on understated performances—especially Ivan Dixon’s and Abbey Lincoln’s—to trace dignity as quiet persistence. Though initially overlooked, it entered the National Film Registry in 1993 and now stands as a landmark of American neorealism.