“The North Star”: Jeremiah Trotter stars as Benjamin ‘Big Ben’ Jones, carrying John Wooten, playing Lewis Stone.
The new North Star movie stars former Philadelphia Eagle Jeremiah Trotter as Benjamin “Big Ben” Jones. It will be screened in Newtown, Pennsylvania now through September 24th. If there are some New Jersey dates, we will post them here, but Newtown isn’t that far away.
In this true story, Big Ben and Moses Hopkins, according to the plot summary,” escaped enslavement on a Virginia plantation and made their way to freedom in Buckingham (Bucks County) Pennsylvania in 1849. “Big Ben’s 6 foot 10 inch size and a record bounty for his safe return make him the focus of every slave hunter on the east coast. Their journey exposes them to danger and cruelty; however it also exposes them to the unexpected kindness of the people involved in the Underground Railroad. These experiences will change Ben and Moses forever. Upon reaching the relative safety of Mt. Gilead Church on Buckingham Mountain, Ben and Moses get to experience life as free men and cross paths with historical figures such as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Joshua Fell.” Big Ben worked for Fell in Mechanicsville, PA.
When the movie had its red carpet premiere in Philadelphia this week, Robert Church of the Doughmain Education Foundation was there. Says Church: From my point of view, The North Star was a remarkable re-telling of a truly American story that demonstrated what is great about the American spirit.