A Soldier's Story

A Soldier's Story is set in Louisiana during the Second World War, where a Black sergeant is found shot dead near an Army base. Captain Davenport, a Black military lawyer sent from Washington, is assigned to investigate. He arrives at a camp for Black soldiers that is run by white officers, and finds both the chain of command and the enlisted men reluctant to cooperate. Working against time and amid racial tension, Davenport tries to establish what happened while uncovering details about the sergeant's own character.

Norman Jewison directed the film, the eleventh of the nineteen he made, following ...And Justice for All and preceding Agnes of God. Charles Fuller wrote the screenplay, and the producers were Ronald L. Schwary, Jewison and Patrick J. Palmer. Howard Rollins plays Captain Davenport, with Adolph Caesar as Sergeant Waters, Art Evans, Robert Townsend, David Alan Grier and Denzel Washington among the thirty-seven credited cast members.

Made for about 6 million dollars, the film took roughly 22 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.2 from around 12,000 votes, a larger sample than the 6.8 from about 210 votes on TMDB, while a critics' rating of 7.8 from 23 reviews places it somewhat higher than either audience figure.