Liberty Heights

Liberty Heights
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBarry Levinson
Written byBarry Levinson
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyChristopher Doyle
Edited byStu Linder
Music byAndrea Morricone
Production
company
Baltimore/Spring Creek Pictures
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • November 17, 1999 (1999-11-17) (United States)
Running time
127 minutes
LanguageEnglish
Budget$11 million
Box office$3.7 million

Liberty Heights is a 1999 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Barry Levinson. The film is a semi-autobiographical account of his childhood growing up in Baltimore in the 1950s. The film portrays the racial injustices experienced both by the Jewish and African-American populations. Both of Nate Kurtzman's sons find women "prohibited" to them; for Van because he is Jewish, and for Ben because he is white. Their father goes to prison for running a burlesque show with Little Melvin, an African-American and known local drug dealer.

It is the fourth of Levinson's "Baltimore Films", set in his hometown during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s: Diner (1982), Tin Men (1987) and Avalon (1990).[1]

  1. ^ Levinson, Barry (November 14, 1999). "Barry Levinson: Baltimore, My Baltimore". The New York Times.