AllMovie

Based on a novel by William H. Armstrong, the made-for-TV Sounder was a remake of director Martin Ritt's 1972 theatrical feature of the same name. This is the story of 11-year-old black youngster David Daniel Lee Robertson III, known throughout the film as "Boy." When his sharecropper father is arrested and sentenced to five years at hard labor after stealing food to feed his family, Boy embarks upon a journey to find out where his father has being imprisoned. Accompanied by his dog Sounder, Boy also makes the arduous crossover from boyhood to manhood with the help (and sometimes hindrance) of various people along the road. Kevin Hooks, who played Boy in the original film, directed the remake, while Paul Winfield, the original father, is here cast as Teacher. Sounder first aired January 19, 2003, as a component of the ABC anthology The Wonderful World of Disney.