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The Great Debaters

7.2 126 mins Drama   2007
Marshall Production   The Weinstein Company   Harpo Films  
Director(s): Denzel Washington

The true story of a brilliant but politically radical debate team coach who uses the power of words to transform a group of underdog African-American college students into a historical powerhouse that took on the Harvard elite.

Casts of The Great Debaters

Denzel Whitaker

as James Farmer Jr.

Denzel Washington

as Melvin B. Tolson

Nate Parker

as Henry Lowe

Jurnee Smollett

as Samantha Booke

Forest Whitaker

as Dr. James Farmer Sr.

Kimberly Elise

as Pearl Farmer

Jermaine Williams

as Hamilton Burgess

Gina Ravera

as Ruth Tolson

John Heard

as Sheriff Dozier

Devyn A. Tyler

as Helen Farmer

Trenton McClain Boyd

as Nathaniel Farmer

Ritchie Montgomery

as Deputy

Jackson Walker

as Pig Owner

Tim Parati

as Pig Farmer

Robert X. Golphin

as Dunbar Reed

Justice Leak

as Harland Osbourne

Glen Powell

as Harvard Debater #1

Brad Watkins

as Harvard Debater #2

Brian Smiar

as Harvard Dean

Damien Leake

as Wilson

Voltaire Sterling

as Paul Quinn Debater #1

Stephen Rider

as Paul Quinn Debater #2

Gordon Danniels

as Paul Quinn Debate Judge

Donny Boaz

as Oklahoma City College Debater #1

Samuel Elliott Whisnant

as Oklahoma City College Debater #2

Bonnie Johnson

as Dr. Jennings

Charissa Allen

as Benita

Michael Beasley

as Trudell

Gary Mathis

as Enormous Man

George Wilson

as Samuel

Fahnlohnee R. Harris

as Clementine

Harold Evans

as William Taylor

J.D. Evermore

as Captain Wainwright

Sharon Jones

as Lila

Kelvin Payton

as Joseph

Southey Blanton

as White Labor Organizer

Michael Mattison

as White Sharecropper #1

Jeff Braun

as White Sharecropper #2

Milton R. Gipson

as Prairie View Professor

Frank Ridley

as Security Guard

Jeremiah Kissel

as Radio Announcer at Harvard Debate

Jack Radosta

as White Man at Lynching

Alvin Youngblood Hart

as Juke Joint Musician #1

Dom Flemons

as Juke Joint Musician #2

Justin Robinson

as Juke Joint Musician #3

Rhiannon Giddens

as Juke Joint Musician #4

Ahmad Powell

as Fisk Professor

Marcus Lyle Brown

as Howard Debater #1

Gary Mattis

as Enormous Man

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