Show
One Night in Miami..., which began streaming on Amazon Prime today, seamlessly blends fact and fiction. While that makes for an educational and entertaining story, it can also lead to some confusion. To quote Oprah Winfrey: What is the truth? Originally written as a play by Kemp Powers, the film tells the story of a historic meeting between Malcolm X (played by Kingsley Ben-Adir), Muhammad Ali (Eli Goree), Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), and Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.), the night after Ali won the heavyweight title over Sonny Liston. The film adaptation, directed by Regina King in her directorial debut, is educational, intriguing, and moving. In King and Powers’s hands, four legends become four humans debating their worldviews. Though the stakes couldn’t be higher, it also feels like a night with your buddies—if your buddies were thoughtful, brilliant leaders, artists, and champion athletes, that is. Here’s everything you need to know about the One Night in Miami… true story. Is One Night In Miami based on a true story?Yes. Though it is a “fictionalized account,” both the play and film version of One Night in Miami are based on a night that really did happen. Activist Malcolm X, boxer Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay), musician Sam Cooke, and NFL footballer Jim Brown were friends in real life. All were present when Clay won the world heavyweight title on February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach, Florida. The men did go back to the Hampton House Hotel to celebrate, but much of what happens next in the film is a combination of speculative fiction interwoven with historical fact. What is the One Night in Miami true story? How accurate is One Night in Miami?After Cassius Clay’s historic win over Sonny Liston on February 25, 1964, the boxer went back to the Hampton House Hotel, a hotel where many African-Americans who visited the segregated Miami stayed. Malcolm joined Clay in his celebrations, and you can find a lot of great photos of Clay eating ice cream and Malcolm X snapping photos from that night. That’s a fact. What’s less clear is whether Malcolm X, Clay, Cooke, and Brown all went back to Clay’s hotel room for a quiet night before the ice cream–eating celebrations, as depicted in Power’s play. Though many have suggested that detail is true, I had trouble finding a concrete source for it. Nonetheless, the four men were, at the very least, present at the hotel. The dialogue that Powers imagines for them is pure speculation. Did Malcolm X and Clay fight over Clay’s decision to convert to Islam? Did Sam Cooke and Malcolm X really fight over the best way to use their respective platforms? Did Jim Brown offer his musings on the nature of colorism within racism? Those are questions we don’t have answers to. Clay really did announce his decision to become a Muslim soon after his fight, though according to the New York Times, that happened a few days later, and not the very next day, as we see in the film. The throughline of Malcolm X’s decision to leave the Nation of Islam, and the threats he received from the organization because of that, is also true: Malcolm X was eventually shot and killed by a member of the Nation in New York City, one year later. Tragically, Sam Cooke was also shot and killed less than a year later, by a motel manager who claimed to be acting in self-defense, but whose account was heavily disputed. A few months after that night in Miami, Cooke released a live album, Sam Cooke at the Copa. According to Slate, he did in fact sing “A Change Is Gonna Come” on The Tonight Show, as shown in the movie, but the recording has been lost. However, that same Slate article points out that Bob Dylan’s version of “Blowin’ in the Wind” had not yet been released by February 25, 1964, and also takes issue with the misleading notion that Cooke had not yet been political before that Tonight Show appearance. “The movie has to mischaracterize Cooke’s previous career in order to make ‘Change’ seem like a bigger leap than it was,” writes Jack Hamilton. “For starters, the two recordings of Cooke’s that Malcolm plays are the aforementioned ‘You Send Me’ and Cooke’s version of ‘For Sentimental Reasons,’ both of which were recorded in 1957, seven years prior to the events of the film.” So, not everything in One Night In Miami is based on facts. Still, it’s a great watch; an opportunity to spend an imagined two hours with four historic figures. Until someone figures out time travel, that experience is never going to be completely accurate. Watch One Night In Miami... on Amazon Prime
TagsIs only for one night a true story?The film's premise is based on the true story of Gerica McCrary, who made headlines in 2002 by getting Taylor County High School in her hometown of Butler, Georgia, to integrate the prom after thirty-one years of segregation.
Is the movie One Night in Miami fictional?It is a fictional account of the real night of February 25, 1964. It pinpoints a pivotal moment in the lives of four, still nascent, Black American icons whose potential, thoughts and actions play out in the 90-minute, one-act play.
Is One Night in Miami about Muhammad Ali?The film is a fictionalized account of a real February 1964 meeting of Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke in a room at the Hampton House, celebrating Ali's surprise title win over Sonny Liston.
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Is one night in miami a true story
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