Chameleon Street (1989)

Director:

Wendell B. Harris Jr.

Writer:

Wendell B. Harris Jr. (writer)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

William Douglas Street is bored with his life. Working for his father is getting to him, his wife wants more money...

Plot Keywords:

African American | Impostor | Independent Film

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Wendell B. Harris Jr.	...	William Douglas Street
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dave Barber	...	Himself
Marti Bowling	...	Marti
Alfred Bruce Bradley	...	Smooth
Mano Breckenridge	...	Neelish Ratnayaka
Anthony Ennis	...	Curtis
Amina Fakir	...	Tatiana
Maurice Givens	...	Cool (these are my brother's clothes)
Anita Gordon	...	Darlene Street
Gary Irwin	...	Dr. Hardy
Davon Kiley	...	Dr. Hand
Dan Lawton	...	Aldo 'Jerry Lewis' Falco
Angela Leslie	...	Gabrielle
Paula McGee	...	Herself
Dimitri Muganias	...	Robespierre
Marty Smith	...	Lawyer in restaurant
Henry Watkins	...	Eugene Raymond
Coleman Young	...	Himself

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Detroit, Michigan, USA

Trivia:

Wendell B. Harris Jr. set many of the scenes from Chameleon Street in his native Flint, Michigan. In the scene in the van where a large skyscraper can be seen in the background, that is the Genesee Towers building on S. Saginaw Street in downtown Flint.

Quotes:

William Douglas Street: I'm a victim brother. I'm a victim of 400 years of conditioning. The man has programmed my conditioning. Even my conditioning has been conditioned!

Movie Connections:

References "Love Connection" (1983)

Excellent...Not a simple comedy

A biting satire based on true stories of separate con-artists that tried to pull various scams, including blackmail and impersonating a reporter, surgeon, lawyer and others. Not a simple comedy so much as a deep look into how different races, social classes and ways of making a living are taken for granted. A true "independent" film, not because of its small budget or Wendell Harris's role as writer-director-star, but from its story and style taking chances. Even after winning best film at Sundance (before it was the super-popular fest it is now), no distributor would pick it up, apparently scared by the film's content. The only offer was to remake the film with "Fresh Prince" Will Smith, effectively putting a happy face on it. Appalled at that idea, Harris held out and STREET finally made an all-too-limited release in theaters and later on home video. Highly recommended.