The Old Settler (2001)
The Old Settler is the story of two middle-aged sisters, Elizabeth and Quilly, who share an apartment in Harlem in 1943. The sisters quarrel amiably, but they share a wounded history that becomes revealed as the tale unfolds. An earnest but unworldly young man named Husband travels up from the South to board with the sisters while he searches for his beloved Lou Bessie, who left their small town a few years back to find a new life. Husband would like to bring Lou Bessie back home, but she's enamored with the excitement of the city, and her plans are more complicated. In time, Elizabeth and Husband begin a courtship that may or may not overcome their considerable age difference, while Quilly reacts disapprovingly.
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How sad is this?
Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
The Old Settler is now one of my favorite movies. I ran across it at Wal-Mart about a month ago and have watched it over and over. I picked it up half-heartedly and I'm so glad I did. I always loved Phylicia Rashad as Claire Huxtable and have hated that I haven't seen more of her on the "Big Screen". The Old Settler was fabulous from start to finish. I am very interested in film-making and tend to be very critical of movies, but I have no criticism for The Old Settler. In my opinion, every aspect of it was done incredibly well. The acting was superb, the set design and costuming were wonderful, the screenplay was fabulous, and of course Debbie Allen is absolutely THE BEST director around. I have told everyone how wonderful this movie is and can't wait for everybody I know to see it. I didn't like the ending, but that was only because it was so sad. Kudos to everyone involved in this fantastic work.
I've always liked Phylicia Rashad, and this was a pleasant surprise. It took about 30 seconds for me to be hooked. By the end, I was totally engrossed, and empathetic. We've all been stood up, or worse; left at the altar. Elisabeth was so confident and so trusting, and the viewer was right there with her. But in the end she was vulnerable and hurt. Great story, beautiful characterizations, powerful performances. Complex and bittersweet, just like the lives of most humans.
I happened to come across this movie quite by accident, and fell in love with the movie. Thank God that being single at 40 doesn't constitute being called an old settler, yet I really enjoyed the movie. I am also sad that they don't do more justice on this site about the movie.
I saw this film of a story written by Willa Cather twice on the local black public television network, out of Howard University. I wish I'd stayed to watch the credits, but I do know the names of two of the actors: Phylicia Rashad and Debbie Allen play sisters who, with several of their neighbors, move to Harlem from South Carolina to change their lives. Some of them change their names, but none of them changes his personality. Forty-something and terminally spinstered Rashad rents out a room in her Harlem home to a young man, named "Husband," from back home. They soon fall in love and he convinces her and the viewer that he is not like the other emigrants who have fallen into a life of drugs, theft and prostitution.Rashad and Allen show us black people as whites rarely see them in films: thoughtful, conservative, human. I don't know if you could rent this film, but it's worth seeing. And I don't know why IMDB doesn't have more information on it.Mag