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The Color Purple Movie Poster
Plot, Details & Awards

The Color Purple

PG-13 In Theaters 12/18/1985 , 154min.
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Plot & Details

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker, The Color Purple spans the years 1909 to 1949, relating the life of Celie (Whoopi Goldberg), a Southern black woman virtually sold into a life of servitude to her brutal husband, sharecropper Albert (Danny Glover). Celie pours out her innermost thoughts in letter form to her sister Nettie (Akousa Busia), but Albert has been hiding the letters Nettie writes back, allowing Celie to assume that Nettie is dead. Finally, Celie finds a champion in the don't-take-no-guff Sofia (Oprah Winfrey), the wife of Glover's son from a previous marriage. Alas, Sofia is "humbled" when she is beaten into submission by angry whites. Later, Celie is able to forge a strong friendship with Albert's mistress Shug (Margaret Avery). Emboldened by this, Celie begins rifling through her husband's belongings and finds Nettie's letters. Able at last to stand up to her husband, Celie leaves him to search for a new life on her own. A major box-office hit, The Color Purple was nominated for eleven Oscars. The film was co-produced by Quincy Jones, who also wrote the score.
  • MPAA Rating: PG-13
  • Genre(s): Drama
  • Run Time: 154min.
  • Theatrical Release Date: 12/18/1985
  • DVD Release Date: 03/26/1997
  • Distributor(s): Warner Bros.
  • Director(s): Steven Spielberg
  • Starring: Danny Glover , Whoopi Goldberg , Margaret Avery , Oprah Winfrey , Willard E. Pugh
  • Themes: Race Relations,Social Injustice,Success is the Best Revenge,Arranged Marriages,Domestic Abuse,Women's Friendship
  • Tone: Compassionate,Earnest,Heartwarming,Melancholy,Poignant,Sentimental,Warm
  • Keywords: Black [race],Southerner,domestic-violence,husband,illiteracy,letter,marriage-arranged,mistress,physical-abuse,sharecropper,singer,sister
  • Language: English

Awards

Academy Awards

Year Award CategoryCast & Crew Result
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Actress Whoopi Goldberg Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score Chris Boardman Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Art Direction Linda de Scenna Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Song Lionel Richie Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actress Margaret Avery Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Song Quincy Jones Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Costume Design Aggie Guerard Rodgers Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Art Direction J. Michael Riva Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture Steven Spielberg Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score Jack Hayes Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score AndraƩ Crouch Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Makeup Ken Chase Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture Quincy Jones Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score Rod Temperton Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Art Direction Robert W. Welch III Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score Fred Steiner Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score Jeremy Lubbock Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture Frank Marshall Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score Caiphus Semenya Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Adapted Screenplay Menno Meyjes Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score Jerry Hey Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Cinematography Allen Daviau Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture Kathleen Kennedy Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score Quincy Jones Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score Joel Rosenbaum Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score Jorge Calandrelli Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score Randy Kerber Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Song Rod Temperton Nominated
1985 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actress Oprah Winfrey Nominated

British Academy of Film and Television Arts

Year Award CategoryCast & Crew Result
1986 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Adaptation Menno Meyjes Nominated

Golden Globes

Year Award CategoryCast & Crew Result
1985 Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama Whoopi Goldberg Won
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