Decoration Day

Decoration Day is an American drama television film that premiered on NBC on December 2, 1990, as part of the Hallmark Hall of Fame anthology series. It is directed by Robert Markowitz and written by Robert W. Lenski, based on the novella of the same name by John William Corrington. The film stars James Garner, Judith Ivey, Bill Cobbs, Ruby Dee, and Laurence Fishburne. It follows Albert Sidney Finch, a retired Georgia judge deciding to help his boyhood friend, a black World War II veteran from whom Finch has been estranged for 30 years. The film won two Golden Globe Awards, for Best Miniseries or Television Film and Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film for Garner. It also earned six Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including Outstanding Drama/Comedy Special and Miniseries, with Dee winning Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special for her performance as Rowena, Finch's longtime housekeeper. Plot James Garner plays a retired judge and recluse who comes out of "hiding" to investigate when his childhood friend (Bill Cobbs) refuses to accept a Medal of Honor awarded decades ago in World War II. His reason is kept in confidence and Garner's character files a motion to deny the ceremony. Meanwhile, the personal lives of the other characters have issues of their own to work out. In the end of things Cobbs' character is told of something he didn't know about and the two romantic side stories resolve in a positive fashion. Cast James Garner as Albert Sidney Finch Judith Ivey as Terry Novis Bill Cobbs as Gee Pennywell Ruby Dee as Rowena Laurence Fishburne as Michael Waring Jo Anderson as Loreen Wendell Norm Skaggs as Billy Wendell Wallace Wilkinson as Judge Wesley Ric Reitz as Young Albert Jonathan Peck as Young Gee