Father is disgusted at Coalhouse's violence, but Younger Brother tracks him down and joins his gang, bringing with him his knowledge of explosives. He sends a letter to the police and newspapers threatening to attack other firehouses, demanding that his car be restored and that Conklin be turned over to him for justice. She is severely injured, and soon after dies from her wounds.Īfter Sarah's funeral, Coalhouse and a group of supporters ambush the volunteer firemen, killing several of them. She sneaks out of the house to attend a presidential rally, where she attempts to tell President Roosevelt about Coalhouse's case but is pushed back and beaten by guards. Father, who believes Coalhouse has no legal recourse open to him due to his race, and Younger Brother, who supports Coalhouse, have a confrontation in front of Sarah, who is informed by an infuriated Father that it is up to her to get Coalhouse to see sense. Coalhouse pursues legal action, but can find no lawyer willing to represent him. After Father arranges for Coalhouse's release, they discover his car has been vandalized further. His protests end with the racist policeman placing him under arrest for parking his car illegally. After he leaves to find a policeman ( Jeff Daniels), Walker returns to find his car's front seat soiled with horse manure. Trouble rears its head in New Rochelle when Coalhouse is targeted by a crew of bigoted volunteer firemen, led by fire chief Willie Conklin ( Kenneth McMillan), who refuse to allow his automobile to pass by their firehouse. The affair ends shortly thereafter, leaving Younger Brother alone and adrift. However, after Thaw is found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity, his lawyers interrupt one of Evelyn's trysts with Younger Brother and inform her that Thaw will be suing her for divorce on the grounds of infidelity, offering her a much smaller divorce settlement, which she takes. He assumes that they will eventually marry and plans to introduce her to his family. She begins an affair with him as she begins to plan her return to the stage. Evelyn, who has become fond of the little girl, is troubled by their disappearance, but distracted when Younger Brother declares his love to her. He takes their daughter and leaves New York, taking with him the flip book he has invented, which he begins to sell successfully. Passing through the tenements of the Lower East Side, Evelyn encounters a street artist known as Tateh ( Mandy Patinkin) and witnesses him throw his wife ( Fran Drescher) out of their home after learning of her infidelity. Thaw's lawyer, Delphin ( Pat O'Brien), bribes Evelyn with a million-dollar divorce settlement (which she accepts) to keep silent about Thaw's mental instability at his trial and to testify that White had abused her. Younger Brother witnesses White's murder and becomes obsessed with Evelyn, leaving home for long periods of time to follow her throughout the city. Realizing that he is the baby's father, he announces to a skeptical Father that he intends to marry Sarah. Some time later, Coalhouse Walker arrives at the house in search of Sarah, driving a new model T Ford and acting in a brash manner unlike the subservient attitude expected of the African American community at the time. When she learns that the police intend to charge Sarah with child abandonment and attempted murder, Mother ( Mary Steenburgen) intervenes and takes Sarah and her child into the home, despite Father's objections. The child's mother, an unmarried washerwoman named Sarah ( Debbie Allen), is discovered, and brought to their home. Their passive, sheltered existence is disturbed when an abandoned African American baby is found in their garden. The family's Father ( James Olson) owns a factory, where his wife's Younger Brother ( Brad Dourif) is employed as a fireworks maker. Meanwhile, an unnamed upper class family resides in a comfortable suburban home in New Rochelle. Thaw becomes convinced White has corrupted Evelyn and humiliated him, and publicly shoots White, killing him. The model for the statue is Evelyn Nesbit ( Elizabeth McGovern), a former chorus girl who is now Thaw's wife. The millionaire industrialist Harry Kendall Thaw ( Robert Joy), who makes a scene when White's latest creation, a nude statue on the roof of Madison Square Garden, is unveiled. The newsreel is accompanied by ragtime pianist Coalhouse Walker, Jr. The film begins with a newsreel montage, depicting celebrities of the turn of the 20th century such as Harry Houdini, Theodore Roosevelt and the architect Stanford White ( Norman Mailer), as well as life in New York City.
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