Lost and … Found?: James Baldwin’s Script and Spike Lee’s Malcolm X

This article examines the relationship between James Baldwin’s “scenario” One Day, When I Was Lost (1972) and Spike Lee’s 1992 film Malcolm X. Baldwin’s scenario formed the basis for a script that was doctored by a Hollywood collaborator named Arnold Perl, and Baldwin, frustrated by Perl’s essential changes to his vision, stormed away from the project. Lee’s film used the Baldwin/Perl script as its blueprint. This article argues that Lee’s version is at odds with the spirit of Baldwin’s, and suggests that students of various representations of Malcolm X should not overlook One Day, When I Was Lost.