MovieChat Forums > To All My Friends on Shore (1972) Discussion > Derserves a better title than a sore ref...

Derserves a better title than a sore reference.

posted 17 years ago by drtturner
4 replies | jump to latest

As one comic noted, shores and boat rides aren;t exactly popular with the brothers. Shore conjures up Dinah Shore who was popular at the time of this movie, but not in the African American community per se'. Also I think of a dry concert like Sinatra at the Casino by the shore ...in which there are a lot of polyester suits. So To All My friends at the shore...which sounds like something corney that Sammy Davis would've said between smoke puffs, it almost caused me to pass on this film which is gritty and afrocentric but universally appealing in its tackling of deadly childhood disease and reference to the Kennedy's and MLK by background pictures.

[–] CaperGuy 17 years ago

Amazingly, I had never heard of "To All My Friends on Shore" until I found the DVD resting quietly on the shelf at a local dollar store. This was the best $1 I ever spent! I greatly admire Cosby's work and this film is very compelling. It is in the same vein as "Man and Boy", my all-time favorite Cosby film.

In my opinion, Cosby is a much better dramatic actor than a comedian. I rarely laugh at his comedy but I am always deeply affected by his drama.

As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. - Proverbs 23:7

[–] CaperGuy 17 years ago

At first, the title didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. But at the end of the movie when the family was driving the boat out into the lake, Cosby's character says to the boy "say bye to all your friends on shore".

I guess the producers decided to take the title from that line. Boating is not a particularly pervasive pastime in the black community, but I regularly row my canoe and I know several others who own fishing boats and enjoy spending time on the water.

As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. - Proverbs 23:7

[–] drtturner 17 years ago

Even as a child I was familiar with Cosby's comedy and I only discovered his dramatic range years later as an adult. In his scene with Yaphet Kotto in "Man and Boy" (The DVD version will allow you to reach it as a chapter in the menu) his walking out the door with is son and resisting the urge to strike the big guy, is one that I play often when lecturing to students and adults about Bullying and Anger management. Dr. Cosby is an educator and I push him to the forefront of my lessons as his confrontation ending in a hug of huge George Foreman is another clip that shows how to deal with conflict.

[–] edgein15 15 years ago

You people need to pay more attention to the movies you watch.

The title come from the poster in the doctor's office scene of a children's book illustration that reads "At night, I go on board and say good-night to all my friends on shore." It showed a child asleep on a bed on a boat in the middle of the water. Considering this movie's theme of striving towards one's dreams, this title makes perfect sense.