Claudine

In honor of Mother’s Day, Wag salutes Claudine (1974) starring Diahann Carroll, stripped of glamour, as a single mom of six who falls for a charming sanitation worker played by a winning James Earl Jones. A little movie that made $6 million, it earned Carroll, who took the role after her friend Diana Sands became ill with cancer, a best actress Academy Award nomination. This sweet family comedy was revolutionary in its day, and is bolstered by performances from Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs and the incandescent Tamu Blackwell, who makes every wee part a star turn. —Waverly Jong