Chameleon Street

Plot Summary

Wendell B. Harris, Jr. wrote, directed, and stars in Chameleon Street, a sly comedy based on the real-life exploits of conman William Douglas Street, Jr. who demonstrates a gift for becoming what people want him to be.. The film opens with Street (Harris) being interviewed by a prison psychiatrist, Dr. Hand (Richard D. Kiley, Jr.). In this scene, he expresses what is basically his mantra, "I think, therefore I scam." The film then flashes back to Street's earlier days: living with his parents, and working for his taciturn father (Floyd Macklin) installing burglar alarms. Street eventually marries a beautiful, intelligent woman, Gabrielle (Angela Leslie), who sends him off each day with the same message -- "Make some money." Overcome by boredom and desperate for cash, Street concocts a shakedown scheme targeting real-life Detroit Tiger Willie Horton which completely backfires when his accomplice, Curtis (Anthony Ennis), signs Street's name to the extortion note, and sends it to the local papers. Ironically, no charges are pressed, and the news notoriety turns Street, briefly, into a media darling. He enjoys the spotlight but Gabrielle is less pleased. She is also pregnant. Street responds to this reality by proceeding to impersonate a journalist from Time Magazine in order to interview the famous women's basketball player Paula McGee (who plays herself). "She had the four 'B's," he exults, "Black, Beauty, Brains, and Basketball." As his relationship with Gabrielle disintegrates, Street engages in his most ambitious (and controversial) scheme yet -- posing as an Harvard-educated intern at a local hospital where he ultimately performs 36 hysterectomies. After impersonating a surgeon Street adds escaped convict, Yale foreign exchange student, and Detroit civil rights attorney to his list of real-life 'roles'. When asked why he behaves the way he does, Street's explanation is simple: "I give people what they want." In this remarkable film Street's story also becomes a salient and, at times, searing social commentary on the frustrations inherent in the black experience of America. Harris' low-budget film won the Grand Jury Prize in 1990 at the Sundance Film Festival, but only received limited theatrical distribution. Harris disappeared from national view until his memorable supporting role in Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight in 1998. He also had a small part in the 2000 teen comedy Road Trip.