Director: Charles Burnett
Writer(s): Andy Froemke
Starring: Unknown
Synopsis: A film about the daring theft and escape of Robert Smalls, a slave in 1862 Charleston, SC. With a crew of fellow slaves, their families and Smalls’ own wife and children on board, the young boatman risks his and their lives to steal a paddlewheel steamer. Smalls was assigned to steer the CSS Planter, a lightly armed Confederate military transport, and one night while its three officers were away, he put on the captain’s uniform and wore a straw hat similar to the captain’s and navigated it past the five forts guarding Charleston Harbor out into the Atlantic to the blockading Union Navy — and freedom.
Release Date: Unknown | Length: Unknown | Genre: Biography, Drama, History | MPAA Rating: Unknown | Note(s): Original announcement. I haven’t seen any updtes on this film since the original announcement and it is not currently listed in Charles Burnett’s IMDB credits so I’m moving it to “Never Made”.