has been adapted for a movie of the same title, with a screenplay by Alice Childress. The film was released in 1978 by New World Pictures and features Paul Winfield, Cicely Tyson, Larry B. Scott, Glynn Turman, and David Groh. The locale is changed in the movie to Los Angeles, and the point of view becomes dramatic objective, or the camera's eye, letting the story unfold in a straightforward style and eliminating the various characters' views of events found in the novel.

Benjie's motivation for using drugs, then for trying to quit, is less clear in the movie, and Butler's love of Benjie is more obvious throughout. The movie version adds a touching speech by Nigeria Greene at Carwell's (Kenny's) funeral and a powerful series of still photographs showing Benjie going through drug withdrawal. The movie's ending shows Benjie actually appearing at the drug rehabilitation center, in contrast to...