With Black History Month officially one week away, we are thrilled to get a head start on the celebration and recognition. It seems fitting to kick off this year’s festivities by honoring one of cinema’s most prominent and important figures: Sidney Poitier.
A man of many firsts, the late Sidney Poitier was a Bahamian American actor, film director, and ambassador. In 1964, he was the first African American and the first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He also received two competitive Golden Globe Awards, a British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award, and a Grammy Award for Best Spoken World Album. With his groundbreaking career and efforts as a philanthropist, activist, and humanitarian, Sidney Poitier helped shift racial attitudes during the Civil Rights Movement and beyond, building bridges and opening doors for countless artists in the generations that followed his lead. For all his civic works and cultural stewardship, he was also an astoundingly good actor—the kind of lead that comes along once in a generation. In light of his recent passing, here are six must-watch films for anyone who wants to see the power of a Sidney Poitier performance:
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Director: Normal Jewison
Additional Cast: Warren Oates, Rod Steiger, Lee Grant, Larry Gates, William Schallert
They call him Mister Tibbs! Norman Jewison’s 1967 classic took on not only racism in society and the workplace, but also the stark divide separating Big City life from Small City living. In this first installment of what would become a trilogy (followed by 1970’s They Call Me Mister Tibbs! and 1971’s The Organization), Poitier plays Virgil Tibbs, a homicide detective from Philadelphia who is mistakenly arrested for a murder he didn’t commit while waiting for a train out of Sparta, Mississippi. Reluctantly, Tibbs agrees to help the unapologetically racist Chief Bill Gillespie (played by Rod Steiger in a role that won him an Oscar) and the local authorities investigate the murder. Though it spawned sequels and a popular prime time television series, In the Heat of the Night is most remembered for the so-called ‘Slap Heard Round the World.’ When Tibbs is disrespectfully slapped across the face by a white suspect he’s questioning, he gears up and slaps the man back—a shocking moment at the time of the film’s release.
Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/in-the-heat-of-the-night
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061811/?ref_=ttmi_tt
(Rent it on Amazon or iTunes.)
Director: Daniel Petrie
Additional Cast: Claudia McNeil, Ruby Dee, Diana Sands, Ivan Dixon, John Fiedler, Roy Glenn, Louis Gossett Jr.
Based on the prize-winning play by Lorraine Hansberry, this 1961 film reunites the original Broadway cast of A Raisin in the Sun under Poitier’s commanding lead. Like the play, Daniel Petrie’s film tells the story of Walter Lee Younger (Poitier), a young man struggling with life’s many obstacles. Younger shares an apartment with his extended family—his wife, son, mother, and sister—leading him to feel like a prisoner in his own home. Things take an unexpected turn, however, when a substantial insurance payment promises to change their circumstances. The film is a powder keg of charisma, with powerhouse performances from Poitier, Ruby Dee, and Claudia McNeil (with whom Poitier had a famously tense relationship dating back to their days on Broadway). And it was no easy production, with filmmakers encountering a good deal of discrimination while attempting to shoot scenes on location in Chicago. Anchored by Poitier and McNeil, Hansberry’s deeply personal story about a poor Black family trying to live in an unwelcoming neighborhood went on to earn two Golden Globe nominations, a host of international awards, several remakes and revivals.
Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/a-raisin-in-the-sun/
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055353/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
(Rent it on Amazon or iTunes.)
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)
Director: Stanley Kramer
Additional Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Houghton, Roy Glenn, Isabel Sanford
Another big 1967 vehicle for Poitier, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner further challenged societal norms and established one of cinema’s most iconic and dramatic set-ups. When Joey Drayton (Katharine Houghton) visits her parents in San Francisco, she brings along her new fiancé—Poitier’s John Prentice—in order to introduce him to her family. Prentice is a doctor, a widower, and Black. You can imagine which of these characteristics generated the most conversation between Joey’s supposedly forward-thinking parents (played by Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy). Over the course of a day, the film uses different figures in Joey’s life, such as a liberal monsignor, to reconsider existing prejudices that some characters (and some audience members) are not even aware that they possess.
Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/guess-whos-coming-to-dinner
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061735/?ref_=nm_knf_i3
(Rent it on Amazon or iTunes.)
Sneakers (1992)
Director: Phil Alden Robinson
Additional Cast: Robert Redford, Ben Kingsley, Dan Aykroyd, Mary McDonnell, River Phoenix, David Strathairn, Timothy Busfield
It’s important to remember that for all the work Sidney Poitier did to break down walls in cinema for Black actors and artists, he was also a genuine once-in-a-generation movie star. As such, he shines in the endlessly fun ‘90s thriller Sneakers, sharing the screen with an ensemble cast that makes your eyes pop. This early techno-pop thriller is part Mission: Impossible and part The Goonies. It is an exciting and rewarding thrill ride from start to finish. The star-studded cast (which also includes Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley, and David Strathairn) is electrifying. Director Phil Alden Robinson lets the collection of icons have fun, capitalizing on their individual legacies as part of a larger whole. Poitier is the lynchpin, acting as Redford’s foil and stealing almost every scene he enters. If you haven’t seen Sneakers, now’s the time!
Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/sneakers
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105435/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_9
(Rent it on Amazon or iTunes.)
To Sir, with Love (1967)
Director: James Clavell
Additional Cast: Judy Geeson, Christian Roberts, Suzy Kendall, Ann Bell, Geoffrey Bayldon
This 1967 British drama deals with the complex social and racial issues inside an inner-city school. Poitier plays Mark Thackeray, who has recently immigrated to Britain. An engineer by trade, he finds himself having to wait for an extended period to hear about a job for which he’s applied. To make ends meet, he accepts an interim job teaching at North Quay Secondary School (despite having no previous experience in the field). His students are a collection of wayward youths, many of whom have been kicked out of other institutions. Over the course of the film, Thackeray manages to mostly keep his cool while struggling to break through the hard personal and self-preserving barriers these troubled kids have erected. It’s a journey of personal growth for the students and their temporary teacher alike, and it set the stage for many films that have “borrowed” its setup over the years.
Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/to-sir-with-love
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062376/?ref_=nmbio_mbio
(Rent it on Amazon or iTunes.)
Lilies of the Field (1963)
Director: Ralph Nelson
Additional Cast: Lilia Skala, Lisa Mann, Isa Crino, Francesca Jarvis, Pamela Branch, Stanley Adams
We would be remiss not to mention Lilies of the Field, as it maintains a certain notable historical honor: this was the film for which Sidney Poitier won an Academy Award for Best Actor—the first time that had ever been done by a Black artist. The film tells the story of Homer Smith, an itinerant jack-of-all-trades, who meets a group of East German nuns who think he’s been sent by God to build them a chapel. In need of work, Smith labors for a day, but is frustrated when the nuns avoid paying him the next morning. The clever nuns have no money, but they manage to convince Smith through his good nature to stay on and continue his work. Quickly, he finds satisfaction in the job given to him, and even becomes prickly when work is outsourced. In the end, the touching and mutually beneficial relationship between Smith and his hosts leads to personal and spiritual growth. Sometimes comedic, sometimes dramatic, Lilies is a striking example of Poitier’s range and on-screen presence.
Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/lilies-of-the-field
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057251/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_33
(Rent it on Amazon or iTunes.)