{{Short description|1979 American TV historical mini-series}} {{For|the American Marxist–Leninist organization|Freedom Road Socialist Organization}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox television | image = | image_upright = | image_size = | image_alt = | caption = | alt_name = | native_name = <!-- {{Infobox name module|language|title}} or {{Infobox name module|title}} --> | genre = Historical mini-series | creator = | based_on = {{based on|Freedom Road|Howard Fast}} | developer = | writer = | screenplay = | story = | director = Jan Kadar | creative_director = | presenter = <!-- Organized by broadcast credit order, with new main cast added to the end of the list --> | starring = Muhammad Ali<br/>Kris Kristofferson | judges = <!-- Organized by broadcast credit order, with new main cast added to the end of the list --> | voices = <!-- Organized by broadcast credit order, with new main cast added to the end of the list --> | narrator = | theme_music_composer = | open_theme = | end_theme = | composer = | country = | language = | num_seasons = <!-- Or num_series. Increment when new seasons/series begin. See template documentation for more info. --> | num_episodes = <!-- Value is incremented when new episodes air. See template documentation for more info. --> | list_episodes = | executive_producer = Zev Braun | producer = Leland Nolan<br/>Chet Walker | news_editor = <!-- Content editor or editors of a current affairs/political show such as Newsnight. --> | location = <!-- Nation the series was filmed in, if different from the nation of origin. --> | cinematography = Charles Correll | editor = <!-- Film editors --> | camera = <!-- Either Single-camera or Multi-camera --> | runtime = <!-- Reliable source required --> | company = <!-- Production companies only --> | budget = | network = NBC | released = <!-- {{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | first_aired = {{Start date|1979|10|29}} | last_aired = {{End date|1979|10|30}} | related = <!-- To be used only for remakes, spin-offs, and adaptations --> }}
'''''Freedom Road''''' was a 1979 American TV historical drama mini-series starring boxer Muhammad Ali and Kris Kristofferson, based on the 1944 novel by Howard Fast and directed by Jan Kadar. Running for four hours, it was first broadcast on NBC on October 29 and 30, 1979.<ref name=nandc>{{cite news|title=Ali Makes Acting Debut In 'Freedom Road'|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2506&dat=19791028&id=0mhJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xwoNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2190,6020509|accessdate=October 23, 2013|newspaper=The News and Courier (Charleston, SC)|date=October 27, 1979|page=28-D}}{{Dead link|date=March 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref>
==Plot== Ali plays ex-slave Gideon Jackson, a former Union soldier who returns to his home in South Carolina following the American Civil War and ultimately becomes a U.S. senator. The film and Fast's novel are based on a true story, but they take a number of liberties. (Jackson was also the inspiration for the villain in D. W. Griffith's racist propaganda film ''The Birth of a Nation''.)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/18580/Freedom-Road/overview |title=Freedom Road (1979) |website=The New York Times |access-date=March 4, 2017 |archive-date=July 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140716171404/https://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/18580/Freedom-Road/overview |url-status=deviated }}</ref>
Initially representing black ex-slaves at the state's constitutional convention, Jackson is elected to the state legislature and eventually to the U.S. Senate despite opposition from white landowners, law enforcement, and the Ku Klux Klan. Kristofferson plays sharecropper Abner Lait, who helps Jackson unite former slaves and white tenant farmers.<ref name=nandc/>
==Production== The cast also included Barbara O. Jones (as Jackson's wife), Ron O'Neal, Edward Herrmann, John McLiam (as Ulysses S. Grant), Sonny Jim Gaines, Joel Fluellen, Grace Zabriskie and Alfre Woodard. It was narrated by Ossie Davis.
It was the final film of director Jan Kadar, who died in June 1979. It had a $7 million budget and was filmed around Natchez, Mississippi because of the historic property in the area.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ali does 'Roadwork' on 'Freedom Road'|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yn2aYTGaVQsC&q=Freedom+Road+ali&pg=PA102|accessdate=October 23, 2013|newspaper=Ebony|date=October 1979|pages=102–106|publisher = Johnson Publishing Company}}</ref>
==Critical reaction== The ''St Petersburg Times'' found that Ali was not entirely convincing but showed potential and that his quiet performance failed to convey Jackson's charisma.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ely|first=Robert|title='Freedom Road', Ali Wins Limited Success|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19791029&id=CmRSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fXwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6391,5063090|accessdate=October 23, 2013|newspaper=St Petersburg Times|date=October 29, 1979}}</ref> The ''Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors'' calls it "intermittently compelling".<ref>{{cite book|last=Roberts|first=Jerry|title=Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors|date=5 June 2009|page=292|publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9780810863781|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kW8j6sHvrewC&q=john+mcliam&pg=PA292}}</ref>
==See also== *Muhammad Ali in media and popular culture
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb title|tt0079173}}
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Category:1979 American television series debuts Category:1970s American drama television series Category:1970s American television miniseries Category:Muhammad Ali Category:Television shows based on American novels Category:Television shows set in South Carolina Category:NBC television dramas