Let’s go out on a limb here and ask a question. An honest question. Why isn’t there a movie about the life of Robert Smalls?
Absurd, huh? Don’t say you’ve never asked that question yourself.
His story certainly deserves to be told; that of a true real-life hero who showed immense courage at the right time, in the right place in our Nation’s history. Don’t you think?
Let’s take a look at it….
Robert Smalls was born on April 5, 1839 in a cabin behind his owners, the McKees, house at 511 Prince Street in Beaufort. As a young teen he was rented out to work in Charleston and took up boating and learned the local waters around Charleston as a teenager.
After the Civil War broke out, Charleston was smack-dab in the middle of it, and Smalls was a crew member aboard a Confederate supply vessel, the Planter.
Just before dawn on the morning of May 13, 1862, Smalls and a crew composed of fellow slaves slipped The Planter off of the dock, picked up family members at a rendezvous point then slowly navigated their way through the harbor.
Smalls, wearing the white ship Captain’s wide brimmed straw hat to help hide his identity, knew the proper Confederate coded signals and was able to get through defense positions and even two checkpoints along the way. Being cleared, Smalls sailed into the open ocean…and into freedom. Once outside of Confederate-held waters, Smalls and his crew raised a white flag and surrendered The Planter to the Union fleet that was blockading the harbor.
His story was so big that he toured the north. His escape was symbolic of the Union cause, and the publication of his name and former enslaved status in northern propaganda was big. Smalls spent the remainder of the war balancing his role as a spokesperson for African Americans with his service in the Union Armed Forces. Piloting both The Planter, which was outfitted as a troop transport, and later the ironclad Keokuk, Smalls used his intimate knowledge of the Sea Islands of the Lowcountry to advance the Union military campaign in nearly 17 engagements.
After he returned home to Beaufort, he was then elected to 5 terms as Congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives and he purchased his former owner’s house, but he was generous to the economically devastated family and took care of Mrs. McKee until the day she passed away in the house.
Smalls died right there in the house at 511 Prince Street on February 22, 1915. His funeral was said to have been the largest in the history of Beaufort. He’s buried in the yard at the Tabernacle Baptist Church on Craven Street. The space next to his grave will be the site of the much anticipated Harriet Tubman Monument, when erected.
That’s one heck of a life story. But why hasn’t there been a movie made about it?
There are lots of reasons why there should be….
- Because he deserves it.
- Because our country and our youth could use a real hero.
- Beaufort needs another Hollywood movie. It’s been awhile.
- He’s got one super long Wikipedia page.
- The simple historical value of his great story is enough to warrant a movie.
- Smalls even has his own Fact Check page on Snopes.com.
- It’s a ‘fresh’ story. Most folks across America most likely haven’t even heard Smalls’ name before. Doesn’t Hollywood need new material anyway?
- It’s a true success story. Born a slave…became war hero….became a Congressman…bought the house he was a slave in as a child.
- No Robert Zemeckis or Peter Jackson needed. The story is already so well documented and is exciting and dramatic in its own right, as is, which means it doesn’t need creatively rewritten and should be an easier sell to producers.
- Because it’s a no-brainer!
Could it be that the story just hasn’t gotten in front of the right person yet? Surely Denzel would love to play the part, or even Will Smith, one would hope. If you know anyone in Hollywood, or if you know anyone who knows someone, now is the time to speak up.
According to IMDB there is an Amazon biopic movie being made. It says that “Steal Away” will feature the true story of Smalls’ daring escape and rise as a politician in Beaufort during the Reconstruction Era.
But that was announced in 2019 and we wrote about it back then. It’s 2024 now, and nobody has heard anything about it since.
Maybe Hollywood is next?
Read even more about Robert Smalls in the U.S. House of Representatives Archives.
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