Back أغنية بريان (فيلم) Arabic Freunde bis in den Tod German Brian's Song Spanish Brian's Song (téléfilm) French Brian's Song ID La canzone di Brian Italian Brian's Song Serbo-Croatian
| Brian's Song | |
|---|---|
 Premiere advertisement from TV Guide | |
| Genre | Biography Drama Sport |
| Based on | I Am Third by Gale Sayers Al Silverman |
| Written by | William Blinn |
| Directed by | Buzz Kulik |
| Starring | James Caan Billy Dee Williams |
| Music by | Michel Legrand |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producer | Paul Junger Witt |
| Cinematography | Joseph F. Biroc |
| Editor | Bud S. Isaacs |
| Running time | 74 minutes |
| Production company | Screen Gems |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | November 30, 1971[1] |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
Brian's Song is a 1971 ABC Movie of the Week that recounts the life of Brian Piccolo (James Caan), a Chicago Bears football player stricken with terminal cancer, focusing on his friendship with teammate Gale Sayers (Billy Dee Williams). Piccolo's and Sayers's sharply differing temperaments and racial backgrounds made them unlikely to become friends but they did, becoming the first interracial roommates in the history of the National Football League. The film chronicles the evolution of their friendship, ending with Piccolo's death in 1970.[2] The production was such a success on ABC that it was later shown in theaters by Columbia Pictures[3] with a major premiere in Chicago; however, it was soon withdrawn for lack of business.[1] Critics have called the movie one of the finest television movies ever made.[1][4] A 2005 readers' poll taken by Entertainment Weekly ranked Brian's Song seventh in its list of the top "guy-cry" films.[5]
The movie is based on Sayers's account of his friendship with Piccolo and coping with Piccolo's illness in Sayers's 1970 autobiography, I Am Third.[6] The film was written by William Blinn,[7] whose script one Dallas television critic called "highly restrained, steering clear of any overt sentimentality [yet conveying] the genuine affection the two men felt so deeply for each other."[4]
- ^ a b c Marill, Alvin H. (1987). Movies Made For Television: The Telefeature and the Mini-series, 1964–1986. New York: Baseline/New York Zoetrope. pp. 53–4. ISBN 0-918432-85-5.
- ^ Lerner, Barron H. (November 29, 2011). ""Brian's Song": What Really Happened". History News Network. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2017.
- ^ Thomas, Bob ("TV 'Brian's Song' on movie screens", The Dallas Morning News, April 29, 1972, page 2
- ^ a b Harry Bowman. "Broadcast Beat [TV column]: 'Brian's Song' superior film", The Dallas Morning News, November 27, 1971, page 7A.
- ^ "A Guy Cry | 7. Brian's Song". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 19, 2007. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
- ^ Sayers, Gayle; Silverman, Al (1970). I am Third. New York City: Viking Press. ISBN 978-0670389773.
- ^ "Brian's Song (1971)". Turner Classic Movie Database. United States: Turner Broadcasting System. Retrieved March 5, 2018.