Jump to content

RIP Sidney Poitier


petitepedal

Recommended Posts

5 minutes ago, TrentonMakes said:

My son read Lilies of the Field for school last fall, and then we all watched the movie, which I'd never seen... really enjoyed it.  "Schmidt!"

RIP.

I have three movies that I MUST watch every year between Thanksgiving and New Years.  Going My Way and Bells of St. Mary's Bing Crosby and Lilies of the Field with Sidney Poitier.  This year, both my son's stayed up late one night and watched all three with me.  We started as family movie night with Bells of St. Mary's and then watched Going My Way and ended up with Lilies of the Field.  Mr. Poitier was so incredible in that role.  My favorite scene is probably when Mr. Ashton, the boss man at the construction company calls Homer 'boy" and Homer hits right back with the same term.    Poitier was the first black man to win an Academy Award for Best Leading Man for his portrayal of Schmidt.

  • Heart 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, jsharrwick said:

I have three movies that I MUST watch every year between Thanksgiving and New Years.  Going My Way and Bells of St. Mary's Bing Crosby and Lilies of the Field with Sidney Poitier.  This year, both my son's stayed up late one night and watched all three with me.  We started as family movie night with Bells of St. Mary's and then watched Going My Way and ended up with Lilies of the Field.  Mr. Poitier was so incredible in that role.  My favorite scene is probably when Mr. Ashton, the boss man at the construction company calls Homer 'boy" and Homer hits right back with the same term.    Poitier was the first black man to win an Academy Award for Best Leading Man for his portrayal of Schmidt.

He played some interesting roles in:  In the Heat of the Night, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (which I like better than To Sir, with Love, which I found a bit sappy). Anyone in North America  during 1960's  civil rights movement and experiencing   interracial love/some awareness in our generation, would be aware of 1 of the last 2 above movies.  Those 2 movies were in my opinion, would create discussion on that subject matter at that time.

  • Heart 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

He played some interesting roles in:  In the Heat of the Night, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (which I like better than To Sir, with Love, which I found a bit sappy). Anyone in North America  during 1960's  civil rights movement and experiencing interracial love/some awareness in our generation would be aware of 1 of the last 2 above movies.

Here is a good article in which Sidney wonders if he was the "token black actor" or if his awards were won on merit.   I prefer to think they were hard won on merit alone.

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-27198480

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/7/2022 at 1:13 PM, jsharrwick said:

Here is a good article in which Sidney wonders if he was the "token black actor" or if his awards were won on merit.   I prefer to think they were hard won on merit alone.

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-27198480

More important, is what some well-known black star performers have said about him, in breaking barriers...for them: Denzel Washington, Oprah, Quincy Jones (more of a promoter, musician), etc.  I don't think they are obtuse about this at all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...