The Old Settler (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)I first caught "The Old Settler" on TV several years back and enjoyed this comedy-drama thoroughly. I was thrilled to find out it was available on home video. Starring one of my favorite actresses, the beautiful Phylicia Rashad and her equally talented sister, Debbie Allen (who directed), "The Old Settler" is the story of a Harlem spinster in her late 40s-early 50s (Rashad) who sees a last chance at love and marriage when she meets a younger man in his early 20s named Husband (Bumper Robinson), fresh from the country, who becomes their houseguest during World War II. The spinster Elizabeth and Husband hit it off as friends right away, but soon the situation evolves into something more. At first, Elizabeth is reluctant to get involved with the young man, but Husband's charm wins her over. However, there are several folks out there who are frowning upon their relationship, and they refer to Elizabeth as an "old settler"...a popular term in the 1940s for an older woman who has never been married and has zero prospects for such.
Debbie Allen plays Rashad's skeptical divorced younger sister, Quilly, who doesn't trust Husband and disapproves of her sister's behavior when it comes to him. However, when you hear the possible reason why Elizabeth was still single at her age, you dislike Quilly somewhat and are rooting for Elizabeth and Husband to make it as a couple. But by the time the film ends, Quilly redeems herself. Plus Husband has baggage of his own: his ex, a woman his own age (Crystal R. Fox). Since moving to Harlem, she has gone from being a quiet country girl to a worldly woman who loves the nightlife. She can seemingly control Husband with an action or a word. She proves to be the catalyst in this May-December love story.
Without revealing too much more of the movie, "The Old Settler" proves one again that Phylicia and Debbie working together make an excellent team. Debbie is especially humorous...her little quips had me laughing. I highly recommend this film, and it IS available on DVD...you just have to hunt for it! Well worth the purchase.

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Quilly, newly separated from her husband, has come to live with her never-married sister Elizabeth. She is dismayed to learn that her cash-strapped sibling has rented a room in their modest Harlem apartment to a handsome young boarder, Husband Witherspoon. A naive country boy, Husband has traveled from rural South Carolina to search for his hometown sweetheart, Lou Bessie.

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