Miss Evers' Boys is an American made-for-television drama starring Alfre Woodard and Laurence Fishburne that first aired on February 22, 1997, and is based on the true story of the four-decade-long Tuskegee Syphilis Study. The main character Nurse Eunice Evers is based on Eunice Rivers Laurie. It was directed by Joseph Sargent and adapted by Walter Bernstein from the 1992 stage play of the same name, written by David Feldshuh. It received twelve nominations at the 1997 Primetime Emmy Awards, ultimately winning five, including Outstanding Television Movie and the President's Award (awarded for programming that best explores social or educational issues).
Plot The film tells the story of a medical study with covert goals organized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, conducted on poor African American men in the years 1932–1972 at Tuskegee University, designed to study the effects of untreated syphilis. The story is told from the perspective of the small town nurse Eunice Evers who is well aware of the lack of treatment, but feels her role is to console the involved men, many of whom are her close friends.
In 1932 she is sent to help Dr. Sam Brodus and Dr. Douglas to help them "treat" rural black men in the town of Tuskegee, Alabama. She is sent around town to tell the people that the government is funding their treatment for free, but unbeknownst to them the government will soon run a study that requires them to go without any form of real treatment. She then comes across three men in an abandoned schoolhouse: Willie Johnson, Hodman Bryan and "Big" Ben Washington, who agree for treatment.
The study selected 412 men infected with the disease and promised them free medical treatment for what was called "bad blood". The movie shows Miss Evers suggesting the term as a strategy to withhold information about syphilis from the men. The men received fake long-term treatment, which involved giving them mercury and placebos even after penicillin was discovered as a cure.
When Caleb Humphries (one of the test subjects who left the experiment) joins the Army during World War II and is treated and cured by penicillin, he returns to tell how he was cured and tries to get help for his friend. But none of the hospitals would help because the test subjects were placed on a list that stated they should not receive medical treatment because they were participants in the experiment. The survivors of the study did receive treatment and financial compensation after the US Senate investigated in the 1970s, and eventually a formal apology from President Bill Clinton.
Cast
Alfre Woodard as Nurse Eunice Evers Laurence Fishburne as Caleb Humphries Craig Sheffer as Dr. Douglas Joe Morton as Dr. Sam Brodus Obba Babatundé as Willie Johnson Thom Gossom Jr. as Big Ben Washington Ossie Davis as Mr. Evers E.G. Marshall as Senate Chairman Robert Benedetti as Senator Peter Stelzer as Senator Donzaleigh Abernathy as Nurse Betty Kiki Shepard as Sadie
Awards and nominations + Accolades EventOrganizer(Date) Award Recipient Outcome CableACE AwardsThe Internet & Television Association(November 14, 1997) Best Movie Robert Benedetti, Laurence Fishburne, Derek Kavanaugh, Kip Konwiser, Kern Konwiser & Peter Stelzer Won Best Actress in a Movie or Miniseries Alfre Woodard Won Best Supporting Actor in a Movie or Miniseries Obba Babatundé Nominated Best Costume Design Susan Mickey Nominated Cinema Audio Society AwardsCinema Audio Society Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television – Movie of the Week, Mini-Series or Specials Shirley Libby, Robert W. Glass, Jr., Scott Ganary & Jim Fitzpatrick Nominated Directors Guild of America AwardsDirectors Guild of America(March 7, 1998) Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Mini-Series Joseph Sargent Nominated Eddie AwardsAmerican Cinema Editors(March 14, 1998) Best Edited Two-Hour Movie for Non-Commercial Television Michael Brown Nominated Golden Globe AwardsHollywood Foreign Press Association(January 18, 1998) Best Television Motion Picture Nominated Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film Alfre Woodard Won Golden Laurel AwardsProducers Guild of America(March 3, 1998) David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television Robert Benedetti, Laurence Fishburne, Derek Kavanaugh, Kip Konwiser, Kern Konwiser & Peter Stelzer Won Golden Satellite AwardsInternational Press Academy(February 22, 1998) Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television Nominated Best Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television Alfre Woodard Co-Winner (tie with Jennifer Beals in The Twilight of the Golds) Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television Ossie Davis Nominated Humanitas PrizesHuman Family Educational & Cultural Institute(July 10, 1998) 90 Minute or Longer PBS/Cable Television Walter Bernstein Won International Monitor AwardsAssociation of Imaging Technology and Sound Film Originated Television Specials – Color Correction Allan Rogers Won NAACP Image AwardsNAACP(February 14, 1998) Outstanding Made for Television Movie Won Online Film & Television Association AwardsOnline Film & Television Association Best Actress in a Television Motion Picture or Miniseries Alfre Woodard Nominated Primetime Creative Arts Emmy AwardsAcademy of Television Arts & Sciences(September 7, 1997) Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries or a Special Michael Brown Won Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or a Special Donald M. Morgan Won Outstanding Choreography Dianne McIntyre Nominated Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries or a Special Shay Bentley-Griffin, Jaki Brown-Karman & Robyn M. Mitchell Nominated Outstanding Makeup for a Miniseries or a Special Matthew W. Mungle & Wynona Y. Price Nominated Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Special Walter Bernstein Nominated Primetime Emmy AwardsAcademy of Television Arts & Sciences(September 14, 1997) Outstanding Made for Television Movie Robert Benedetti, Laurence Fishburne, Derek Kavanaugh, Kip Konwiser, Kern Konwiser & Peter Stelzer Won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Special Alfre Woodard Won The President's Award HBO & Anasazi Productions Won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Special Laurence Fishburne Nominated Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special Obba Babatundé Nominated Ossie Davis Nominated San Francisco International Film FestivalSan Francisco Film Society(May 7, 1998) Silver Spire Award Joseph Sargent Won Screen Actors Guild AwardsScreen Actors Guild(March 8, 1998) Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries Alfre Woodard Won
References
External links
Miss Evers' Boys at the British Film Institute