The debut of star and director and producer and writer and co-editor Charles Lane, a silent movie set in contemporary New York (with a music track, but few sound effects and no audible dialogue -- not until the last few moments) and shot in black-and-white (mostly mid-range grays, very tasteful). He plays a Chaplinesque Little Fellow (without Chaplin's well-developed body language, nor even his less developed cinematic language), a poor Washington Square portraitist who inherits temporarily an orphaned toddler (Nicole Alysia). Certainly something different in black American cinema, and the stylistic gimmick provides a kind of alibi for the simple-mindedness. But how could this not have seemed a self-conscious stunt? Maybe by being only ten minutes long. Less of a one, anyhow. (1989) — Duncan Shepherd
This movie is not currently in theaters.