Overview
Polly (1989) Sunday Family Films
Debbie Allen directed this musical adaptation of Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter. The famed story is reset in Alabama during the 1950s and retold with an entirely African-American cast (except Celeste Holm, who has a brief role as Miss Snow). Polly Whitter (Keshia Knight Pulliam, perhaps best known as Rudy from The Cosby Show) embodies the Pollyanna-ing her character literally came to define. She finds the silver lining, even in the slog that is segregated mid-century Alabama. Polly goes to live with her aunt (Phylicia Rashad, who played her mother Clair on The Cosby Show) and lifts spirits before facing her own daunting challenges.