Too seldom revived, Nothing But a Man remains a seminal work in the history of American independent film. An impressive collaboration between director Michael Roemer (The Plot Against Harry) and screenwriter and cinematographer Robert Young (The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez), Nothing But a Man was recently added to the National Film Registry and is regarded as one of the most sensitive films about African-American life ever made in this country. Set in Birmingham, Alabama, in the early 1960s, the film chronicles the story of a dignified railroad worker whose desire to lead a normal life with a beautiful schoolteacher (jazz virtuoso Abbey Lincoln) is unhinged by racial politics and discrimination. The film's Motown soundtrack features Stevie Wonder, Mary Wells, and Martha and the Vandellas.