MOVIE SUMMARY
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 1990 Sundance Film
Festival—yet criminally underseen for over three decades—Chameleon
Street recounts the improbable but true story of Michigan con man
William Douglas Street Jr., the titular “chameleon” who successfully
impersonated his way up the socioeconomic ladder by posing as a
magazine reporter, an Ivy League student, a respected surgeon, and a
corporate lawyer.
Elevated by a dexterous performance and daring direction from
multi-hyphenate actor-writer-director Wendell B. Harris Jr., the
film pins a lens on race, class and performance in American identity
which has lost none of its relevance. At once piercingly funny and
aesthetically mischievous, Chameleon Street is a lost masterpiece
finally securing its rightful place in the independent film canon.
DISC FEATURES
- New 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative - New audio commentary featuring Wendell B. Harris
Jr. and Ashely Clark - New audio commentary featuring cast and crew - Marriage Counseling – The evolution of a scene - Being Independent is Glorious – An archival
conversation featuring Harris and Mike Plante - Archival video interview with William Douglas
Street Jr. - The Process – Archival documentary on the making
of Chameleon Street - Colette Vignette – Harris’ award-winning 1986
short film featuring Chameleon Street actress Colette Haywood - So, You Say You Know Leadbelly… – Archival footage
from Chameleon Street pre-production character explorations - Original theatrical trailer - 2021 U.S theatrical trailer
REVIEWS
“A triple-threat filmmaker of original and eccentric talent.”
– New York Times
"Chameleon Street is a gloriously strange one-off that deserves
to be appreciated by a new generation...a lost masterpiece of black
American cinema" - BFI
"The film addresses issues
of race, economics, sex, anger and pride in ways that are both
savagely funny and poignant." - Rolling Stone
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