The Color Purple

The Color Purple (1985)

Timing: 2:34 (154 min)

7.726/10
1944

7.873/10
13191

7.7/10
104000

All about film

Video 15

Photo 59

Actors and characters

Release date

1985-12-18

Country

United States

Production

Warner Bros. Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, The Guber-Peters Company, Warner Bros., Guber/Peters Company

Genre

Drama, History, Crime

Budget

$15 000 000

Revenue

$146 467 863

Website

Director

Steven Spielberg

Actors

Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Margaret Avery, Oprah Winfrey, Willard E. Pugh, Akosua Busia, Desreta Jackson, Adolph Caesar, Rae Dawn Chong, Dana Ivey
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Quincy Jones, Carole Isenberg, Peter Guber, Jon Peters

Operator

Allen Daviau

Composer

Quincy Jones

Artist

Audition

Editing

Michael Kahn
All team (31)

• Whoopi Goldberg's first feature film role. Her name is even listed in the opening credits with the line "Introducing Whoopi Goldberg."
• Oprah Winfrey's first role in a film.
• Steven Spielberg tried for a long time to persuade singer Chaka Khan (born Yvette Marie Stevens) to play the role of Shug Avery. She admitted she was afraid and refused all requests. Singers Tina Turner, Lola Falana, and Diana Ross also turned down the role of Shug.
• Steven Spielberg deeply regrets not having the courage to depict a romantic relationship between Celie and Shug in the film. At the time, he feared that lesbian love would alienate audiences.
• Oprah Winfrey was in a weight-loss clinic when she was informed she had been cast as Sofia. She had to leave the clinic urgently, as the role of Sofia required a certain degree of plumpness.
• The street scenes were filmed in Marshville, North Carolina. The city authorities did not allow the removal of a lamppost during filming, so it had to be covered with a fake tree.
• The argument between Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey occurred right during the filming of this movie.
• This was the only film nominated for "Best Picture" this year that did not win any Academy Awards, although the film was nominated for a total of 11 Oscars.
• While Steven Spielberg was working on this film, his first child was born. Spielberg had to leave the set and go home, and this happened during the preparation for the scene where Sely gives birth. The assistant director took over the filming. While at home, Spielberg recorded the cry of the newborn, and these sounds were later overlaid on the scene of Sely's childbirth.
• This was Whoopi Goldberg's first feature film. Her name is even mentioned in the opening credits with the line "Introducing Whoopi Goldberg."