{{Short description|2007 film by Denzel Washington}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox film | name = The Great Debaters | image = Great debaters post.jpg | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = Denzel Washington | producer = {{plainlist| * Todd Black * Kate Forte * Joe Roth * Oprah Winfrey }} | screenplay = Robert Eisele | story = {{Plainlist| * Robert Eisele * Jeffrey Porro }} | starring = {{plainlist| * Denzel Washington * Forest Whitaker * Nate Parker * Jurnee Smollett * Denzel Whitaker * John Heard * Kimberly Elise }} | music = {{plainlist| * Peter Golub * James Newton Howard }} | cinematography = Philippe Rousselot | editing = Hughes Winborne | studio = Harpo Productions | distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer<br>The Weinstein Company | released = {{Film date|2007|12|11|Cinerama Dome|2007|12|25|United States}} | runtime = 126 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $15 million | gross = $30.2 million<ref name=mojo>{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=greatdebaters.htm|title=The Great Debaters|work=Box Office Mojo|access-date=2016-05-12}}</ref> }} '''''The Great Debaters''''' is a 2007 American historical drama film directed by Denzel Washington from a screenplay by Robert Eisele and based on a 1997 article for ''American Legacy'' by Tony Scherman. The film follows the trials and tribulations of the Wiley College debate team in 1935 Texas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.blacknews.com/pr/americanlegacy701.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630181528/http://www.blacknews.com/pr/americanlegacy701.html|url-status=dead|title=BlackNews.com – American Legacy Magazine's Story The Great Debaters Turns from Pages to the Big Screen Directed By and Starring Denzel Washington and Produced By Oprah Winfrey|archive-date=June 30, 2008}}</ref> It stars Washington, Forest Whitaker, Denzel Whitaker, Kimberly Elise, Nate Parker, Gina Ravera, Jermaine Williams, and Jurnee Smollett. ''The Great Debaters'' was released in theaters on December 25, 2007 to positive critical reception.<ref name=movie>{{cite web |url=http://www.thegreatdebatersmovie.com/site.html |title=The Great Debaters – Official Site |publisher=Thegreatdebatersmovie.com |access-date=2012-10-12 |archive-date=2012-06-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120601124659/http://www.thegreatdebatersmovie.com/site.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Plot== Based on a true story, the plot revolves around the efforts of debate coach Melvin B. Tolson at Wiley College, a historically black college related to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (now The United Methodist Church), to place his team on equal footing with whites in the American South during the 1930s. Jim Crow laws enforced racial discrimination and lynch mobs were still a risk for African Americans. The Wiley team eventually succeeds to the point where they debate a Harvard University team.
The movie explores racial social issues in Texas during the Great Depression, from the day-to-day insults that African Americans endured to the risk of lynchings. The activist James Farmer is portrayed; at the age of 14, he was admitted to Wiley and selected for its debate team after completing high school. (He later co-founded the Congress of Racial Equality). Another character on the debate team, Samantha Booke, is based on Henrietta Bell Wells, an acclaimed poet and the only female member of the 1930 Wiley team. She participated in the first collegiate interracial debate in the US.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/us/12wells.html|title=Henrietta Bell Wells, a Pioneering Debater, Dies at 96|last=Martin|first=Douglas|date=2008-03-12|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-08-06|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
The key line of dialogue, used several times, is a famous paraphrase of theologian St. Augustine of Hippo: "An unjust law is no law at all". (Martin Luther King, Jr. later made this the central thesis of his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail").
Another major line, repeated in slightly different versions according to context, suggests doing what you "have to do" in order that we "can do" what we "want to do." In all instances, these vital lines are spoken by the characters of teenager James L. Farmer and his father James L. Farmer Sr, who taught at Wiley.
== Historical notes == The film depicts the Wiley Debate team beating Harvard College in the 1930s. The real Wiley team instead defeated the University of Southern California, which at the time was the reigning debating champion.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-great-debaters-2007|title=The Great Debater's|date=2007-12-24|publisher=Roger Ebert|access-date=2008-06-29}}</ref> Wiley was not allowed to officially call itself champion, despite defeating the reigning champion, because it was not a full member of the debate society; Black people were not admitted until after World War II.<ref>"[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/education/05wiley.html For Struggling Black College, Hopes of a Revival]." ''The New York Times'', December 5, 2007.</ref>
To prepare for their roles, director Denzel Washington sent actors in the film to Texas Southern University for a "mini camp" on how to debate with the accomplished TSU debate team and its founding coach, Thomas Freeman.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-01-02 |title=Oscar Winner Denzel Washington |url=https://freshairarchive.org/segments/oscar-winner-denzel-washington |access-date=2026-02-25 |website=Fresh Air Archive: Interviews with Terry Gross |language=en}}</ref>
==Cast== {{castlist| * Denzel Washington as Melvin B. Tolson * Forest Whitaker as James L. Farmer Sr. * Nate Parker as Henry Lowe * Jurnee Smollett as Samantha Booke * Denzel Whitaker as James L. Farmer Jr. * Jermaine Williams as Hamilton Burgess * Gina Ravera as Ruth Tolson * John Heard as Sheriff Dozier * Kimberly Elise as Pearl Farmer * Devyn A. Tyler as Helen Farmer * Trenton McClain Boyd as Nathaniel Farmer * Jackson Walker as Pig Owner * Tim Parati as Pig Farmer * Justice Leak as Harland Osbourne * Robert X. Golphin as Dunbar Reed * Damien Leake as Wilson * Frank L. Ridley as Security Guard * Glen Powell as Preston Whittington }}
==Release== ''The Great Debaters'' was released in theaters on December 25, 2007.
The release of the film coincided with a nationally stepped-up effort by urban debate leagues to get hundreds of inner-city and financially challenged schools to establish debate programs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thegreatdebaters.org/takeaction|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211201623/http://www.thegreatdebaters.org/takeaction|url-status=dead|title=thegreatdebaters.org – thegreatdebaters Resources and Information.|archive-date=December 11, 2007|website=Thegreatdebaters.org|access-date=10 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.naudl.org/ |title=National Association for the Urban Debate Leagues |publisher=Naudl.org |access-date=2012-10-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026183206/http://www.naudl.org/ |archive-date=2012-10-26 }}</ref> Cities of focus included Denver, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.
On December 19, 2007, Denzel Washington announced a $1 million donation to Wiley College so they could re-establish their debate team.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-dec-20-et-quick20.s1-story.html|title='Debaters' college gets $1-million gift|date=December 20, 2007|newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> June 2007, after completing filming at Central High School, Grand Cane, Louisiana, Washington donated $10,000 to Central High School.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}}
==Home media== ''The Great Debaters'' was released on DVD on May 13, 2008.
==Reception== ===Box office=== ''The Great Debaters'' debuted at No. 11 in its first weekend with a total of $6,005,180 from 1,171 venues. The film grossed $30,236,407 in the US.<ref name=mojo/>
===Critical response=== {{Rotten Tomatoes prose|80||132|A wonderful cast and top-notch script elevate ''The Great Debaters'' beyond a familiar formula for a touching, uplifting drama.|ref=y|access-date=December 24, 2025}} Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 65 out of 100 based on reviews from 32 critics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/greatdebaters |title=Great Debaters, The (2007): Reviews |access-date=2008-01-05 |publisher= CBS Interactive |website=Metacritic}}</ref>
Carrie Rickey of ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' named it the 5th best film of 2007<ref name=mc07top10>{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2007/toptens.shtml |title=Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists |access-date=2008-01-05 |publisher=Metacritic |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080102102034/http://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2007/toptens.shtml <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2008-01-02}}</ref> and Roger Ebert of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' named it the 9th best film of 2007.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ebert|first=Roger|title=The year's ten best films and other shenanigans {{!}} Roger Ebert {{!}} Roger Ebert|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/roger-ebert/the-years-ten-best-films-and-other-shenanigans|access-date=2021-07-15|website=www.rogerebert.com/|date=19 December 2012 |language=en}}</ref>
Some critics have criticized the film for "playing it safe."<ref name="rt">{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/great_debaters/?critic=columns&sortby=rotten&name_order=asc&view=#mo |title=The Great Debaters Movie Reviews, Pictures – Rotten Tomatoes |publisher=Rottentomatoes.com |access-date=2012-10-12}}</ref> John Monaghan of the ''Detroit Free Press'' stated, "Serious moviegoers, especially those attracted by the movie's aggressive Oscar campaign, will likely find the package gorgeously wrapped, but intellectually empty."<ref>{{cite news |last=Monaghan |first=John |title=Resolved: Needs more debate |url=https://freep.newspapers.com/article/detroit-free-press-john-monaghan-of-the/154820375/ |work=Detroit Free Press |date=2007-12-25 |access-date=2024-09-08 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
Motion picture-historian Leonard Maltin, however, hailed the movie as "Inspiring...plays with the facts but, despite its at-times-formulaic storytelling, shows us how education and determination can help ordinary people surmount even the most formidable obstacles."<ref>Maltin's TV, Movie, & Video Guide</ref>
==Accolades== * Won: Image Award for Outstanding Motion Picture * Won: Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture: Denzel Washington * Won: Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture: Jurnee Smollett * Won: Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture: Forest Whitaker(N), Nate Parker(N), ''Denzel Whitaker(W)'' * Won: Stanley Kramer Award * Nominated: Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama<ref name=65gg>{{cite web|url=http://www.goldenglobes.org/news/id/81 |title=HOLLYWOOD FOREIGN PRESS ASSOCIATION 2008 GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2007 |access-date=2007-12-17 |date=2007-12-13 |publisher=goldenglobes.org |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071215072618/http://www.goldenglobes.org/news/id/81 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2007-12-15}}</ref> * Nominated: Image Award for Outstanding Director in a Motion Picture: Denzel Washington * Nominated: Golden Reel Award for Best Music Sound Editing in a Feature Film
==Soundtrack== The songs for the soundtrack to the film were hand-picked by Denzel Washington from over 1000 candidates.<ref name="theinsider.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.theinsider.com/news/457456_Denzel_Washington_Hand_Picks_Songs_For_New_Film_The_Great_Debaters._Soundtrack_In_Stores_12_11|title="Denzel Washington Hand Picks Songs for New Film" – The Insider}}{{Dead link|date=March 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> It contains remakes of traditional blues and gospel songs from the 1920s and 1930s by artists including Sharon Jones, Alvin Youngblood Hart, David Berger, and the Carolina Chocolate Drops.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427309/soundtrack|title=The Great Debaters (2007) |website=IMDb.com|access-date=10 August 2019}}</ref> It features favorites, such as "Step It Up and Go", "Nobody's Fault But Mine", and the Duke Ellington classic, "Delta Serenade".<ref name="theinsider.com"/> Varèse Sarabande released a separate album of the film's score, composed by James Newton Howard and Peter Golub.
The complete soundtrack album includes the following songs:<ref>[https://www.amazon.com/Great-Debaters-Various-Artists/dp/B000Y2WAY8 "The Great Debaters (Soundtrack)"] on Amazon.com</ref>
; Track listing # "My Soul is a Witness" – Alvin "Youngblood" Hart & Sharon Jones # "That's What My Baby Likes" – Sharon Jones, Alvin Youngblood Hart & Teenie Hodges # "I've Got Blood in My Eyes for You" – The Carolina Chocolate Drops & Alvin "Youngblood" Hart # "Step It Up and Go" – Alvin "Youngblood" Hart & Teenie Hodges # "It's Tight Like That" – Sharon Jones, Alvin Youngblood Hart & Teenie Hodges # "Busy Bootin'" – Alvin "Youngblood" Hart & The Carolina Chocolate Drops # "City of Refuge" – Alvin "Youngblood" Hart & The Carolina Chocolate Drops # "Two Wings" – Alvin "Youngblood" Hart, Sharon Jones w/Billy Rivers and the Angelic Voices of Faith # "Delta Serenade" – David Berger & The Sultans of Swing # "Rock n' Rye" – David Berger & The Sultans of Swing # "Wild About That Thing" – Sharon Jones, Alvin Youngblood Hart, & Teenie Hodges # "Nobody's Fault but Mine" – Alvin "Youngblood" Hart & The Carolina Chocolate Drops # "How Long Before I Change My Clothes" – Alvin "Youngblood" Hart # "We Shall Not Be Moved" – Sharon Jones w/Billy Rivers and the Angelic Voices of Faith # "Up Above My Head" – Sharon Jones w/Billy Rivers and the Angelic Voices of Faith # "The Shout" – Art Tatum # "Begrüssung" – Marian Anderson
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography== * {{cite journal |url=http://www.americanlegacymag.com/debaters.pdf |title=The Great Debaters |first=Tony |last=Scherman |journal=American Legacy |date=Spring 1997 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707133202/http://www.americanlegacymag.com/debaters.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-07}} Original article about Melvin Tolson's Wiley College debate team. * {{cite news |url=http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/featr/content/features/greatdebaters/farmer_tolson.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606055052/http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/featr/content/features/greatdebaters/farmer_tolson.html|archive-date=6 June 2009|title=Tolson, Farmer intertwined by Wiley debate team |first=Gail K. |last=Bell |work=Marshall News Messenger |date=December 2007}} Another very detailed article on the team and the film.
==External links== {{wikiquote}} * {{IMDb title}} * {{Mojo title|greatdebaters}} * {{Metacritic film}} * {{Rotten Tomatoes}}
{{Denzel Washington}} {{Oprah Winfrey}} {{NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Motion Picture}} {{National Board of Review Freedom of Expression Award}} {{Producers Guild Stanley Kramer Award}} {{Rhiannon Giddens}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Debaters, The}} Category:2007 films Category:2007 biographical drama films Category:African-American biographical dramas Category:Debating Category:Biographical films about educators Category:Films about racism in the United States Category:Films produced by Todd Black Category:Films set in Texas Category:Films set in Boston Category:Films set in Harvard University Category:Films set in the 1930s Category:Films shot in Louisiana Category:Films shot in Texas Category:Wiley University Category:Harpo Productions films Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Category:The Weinstein Company films Category:Films scored by James Newton Howard Category:Films directed by Denzel Washington Category:Films produced by Joe Roth Category:Films produced by Oprah Winfrey Category:Films about high school debate Category:Cultural depictions of American people Category:Cultural depictions of educators Category:Cultural depictions of African-American people Category:2007 drama films Category:Films set in universities and colleges Category:2007 English-language films Category:2007 American films Category:English-language biographical drama films