Editing Nothing but a Man (section)

==Production==
The screenplay was written by Robert M. Young and Michael Roemer, who drew on his own background as a [[Jew]] persecuted by [[Nazi Party|Nazis]]. Roemer had fled [[Nazi Germany]] as an 11-year-old child on the [[Kindertransport]]s. Before starting to write, Roemer and Young went on a quest to understand and get to know the African-American culture of the [[Southern United States|South]]. They “left on an [[Underground Railroad|Underground Railway]] in reverse”. As [[Liberalism in the United States|liberal]] Jews in the South, they were treated by whites as pariahs and warned that their food might be poisoned, causing them to relate strongly to the black families whom they met. They allowed themselves to be passed on from one family and community to the next so they could learn as much as possible about the relationships and experiences. One morning in [[Mississippi]], the plot of a young couple's struggles and the man's relationship with his father came to Roemer, and the script was written in six weeks as soon as they were back in New York City.<ref name="nyt-vv">{{cite web |title=New Life for a 1964 Film |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/14/nyregion/movies/new-life-for-a-1964-film-593770.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=2004-11-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323220326/https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E0DC1F3CF937A25752C1A9629C8B63 |archive-date=2018-03-23 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Although the script was written quickly, casting took several months. [[Charles Gordone]] was responsible for introducing the writers to some of the main talent, including [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] actor [[Ivan Dixon]], who went on to play the role of Staff Sergeant James Kinchloe on the [[CBS]]-TV sitcom ''[[Hogan's Heroes]]'', and jazz great [[Abbey Lincoln]]. [[Julius Harris]] made his acting debut in the film playing Duff's father. Harris was a nurse before he was cast, but had always wanted to act.<ref>{{cite web |title=Michael Roemer |url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1965/3/4/michael-roemer-pmichael-roemer-left-harvard/ |website=[[The Harvard Crimson]] |date=1965-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418111934/https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1965/3/4/michael-roemer-pmichael-roemer-left-harvard/ |archive-date=2018-04-18 |url-status=live |last1=Smock |first1=William}}</ref> [[Yaphet Kotto]] also had his first credited movie role in the film, playing a railroad worker. Both Harris and Kotto went on to appear in many more films and television programs over the next four decades.

At the last minute, the film's title was almost changed to ''Duff Anderson''.