From Ernest J. Gaines, author of "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," comes a deceptively simple, yet emotionally complex tale of a young boy's discovery of what it's like to be black in Louisiana during the 1940's. James, the boy in question, has a raging toothache that necessitates a trip to the dentist. His mother (played by Emmy-winner Olivia Cole), accompanies James to town on an eye-opening odyssey where the boy gains valuable insights into poverty, racism - and his own sense of pride. With an exciting musical score by Webster Lewis, this multi-award winning film explores a child's discovery that the world is a complicated place... where things are never truly black or white... only shades of gray.

Millionaire Larry Duane is posing as his own chauffeur while touring the West and meets Molly Hennessey. They have a small romance until it is ended when her father strikes oil and moves his family east to satistify his wife's social aspirations. Larry also return east to close his estate for the summer, but stays on, still posing as the chauffeur, when he learns that Molly's family is renting the place.