POTTSTOWN >> A special viewing of the movie Marshall is scheduled to make an appearance in Pottstown theaters this weekend, and the community has Pottstown’s NAACP to thank.
Members of the NAACP have been busy this month after finding out that the movie Marshall, a film that tells the story of an early trial in the career of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, wouldn’t be shown in Pottstown theaters. The movie was slated as a limited release that would only be shown in two Pennsylvania theaters, neither of which were in Pottstown.
“I went to the 108th NAACP convention in Baltimore in July and they had this special screening from Open Road Films and they broadcast that it was going to be released for public view on Oct. 13,” explained Carla Day, secretary for the NAACP Pottstown Chapter. “So I went to our local theater and asked if it will be showed there and they didn’t know. We put out actions and people called theaters and distribution companies to let them know we have interested people who are willing and able to see this movie.”
According to the movie’s synopsis, the plot follows a young Thurgood Marshall working as an NAACP lawyer as he travels to Connecticut to defend a black chauffeur, Joseph Spell, who has been accused of sexual assault and attempted murder by a wealthy socialite, Eleanor Strubing. He then teams up with a Jewish lawyer with no experience handling a criminal case. The two men defend Spell while dealing with racism and anti-Semitism from those who believe Spell is guilty.
The film was released in theaters on Oct. 13 and stars Chadwick Boseman, Sterling K. Brown, Kate Hudson and Josh Gad. Since it’s release, the film has received a score of 87 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, a website that gathers published opinions from hundreds of TV and film critics for a given film or television show.
The showing will be held at the AMC Pottsgrove 12 Theater, 110 Upland Square Drive, on Saturday, Oct. 21, at 4 p.m. Tickets are $5.99 and the NAACP is asking that those interested RSVP by Friday as seating is on a first come first served basis. There will also be a panel Q&A discussion and a presentation by Why Courts Matter afterward. A reception will follow in another venue in the community, which will be announced at the theater.
A donation box will also be provided as a fundraiser for students who are interested in civil rights and racial justice, the law profession and/or higher education.
