In honor of the memory of civil rights icon Sidney Poitier, we fired up our collection of his movies and started watching them all again.
Sidney Poitier once declared: “I don’t play a scene where I can’t find a texture of humanity in it”. That sums up his vast contributions to global society quite well. The movies he made and directed offer the tapestry of what he meant to me – and no doubt countless Black people all over the world. I will touch on my top 5 favorite Sidney Poitier movies that testify to his greatness as an actor and as a man.
To Sir, With Love
To Sir, With Love is far and away my favorite Poitier movie for myriad reasons. First, it is based on a true story of an immigrant from British Guiana (now Guyana) to England. Guyana happens to be my birth country. I remember when the movie came out and every single school in the nation organized field trips for every class, so all pupils could go to cinema to see the movie. Second, I can’t help but believe it had something to do with me electing to go into teaching as my first job. I remember my pupils referring to me as “Sir”, whether in class or at the market on a Saturday. Those were the days when teachers enjoyed the same social status as doctors. “Sir Duke” was a thing well before Stevie Wonder’s song came out.
Poitier’s character reminded me, later on, of my high school teacher, Mr. Knight, who taught me most of what I know about being a man. He did the same for the girls, whether or not we were in this class. There is a lot more I can say about this movie, but I don’t want to make this into a review.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, is Hollywood’s first tackling of the subject of interracial marriage in a positive light. In fact, right around the time the film was released in 1967, anti-miscegenation laws were struck down by the Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia. Similar laws were still in place in some Southern states. Sidney dashes Black stereotypes, again playing a prominent doctor of impeccable pedigree. The script makes the point of erasing any justification for objecting to the marriage. I like that it was not written from the perspective of the Black person/family ‘begging’ to be part of the White family. In fact, the Black father (and the maid) are the two people most opposed to the union, Sidney’s character explains to his father in one of the most memorable scenes (in a movie that’s chock-full of memorable scenes) that: “You think of yourself as a colored man; I think of myself as a man”. I firmly believe that Sidney felt that his whole life. The maid, for her part worries that: “I can’t see somebody of my own race live above hisself”, as if Sidney’s character needs to know his limitations. Sidney never accepted such limitations in real life either.
In the Heat of the Night
In the Heat of the Night is quintessential Sidney Poitier. He portrayed an elegant, suave, brilliant professional that confronts racist stereotypes in the South. Released in 1967, this was one of the first portrayals of Black excellence on the big screen. Who could ever forget the iconic line: “They Call me Mister Tibbs!” and the classic ‘Slap Heard Round the World’ on the racist Mississippi plantation owner? According to reports, the ‘slap-back’ was not in the script, but Sidney insisted that they add it (and even reworked his contract to cover it). By the way, Sidney insisted that the slap had to be real. These are the types of behind-the-scenes goings-on that defines Sidney. Very few people are aware of his impact on Hollywood and Black people around the globe.
Buck and the Preacher
In another one of my favorites, the 1972 Western, Buck and the Preacher, which Poitier stars and directs, it tells the story about the little known Exodusters. Exodusters was the name given to former enslaved people that left the South with wagon trains to settle in the West. The movie co-stars, fellow West Indian born (and civil rights icon), Harry Belafonte. The movie weaves in comedy amongst the drama but sends a serious message about a trying time for African Americans. This is a hallmark of Sidney Poitier movies.
A Warm December
In A Warm December, a 1973 romantic drama film directed by Sidney Poitier and starring him in the lead role as Dr. Matt Younger, he once again demonstrates an anti-stereotypical black character. But this movie was more than a romantic drama. This movie was my first exposure to sickle cell anemia, the often terminal illness that disproportionately afflicts Black people.
This movie was also one of the first to portray African culture in a warm light. Who can ever forget the South African song Nonqonqo (To Those We Love), music and Lyrics by Miriam Makeba and sung by Letta Mbulu. I had never heard tongue-clicks before in my life!
Sidney stars and directs one of the earliest portrayals Black romantic love on screen. He also portrays a beautiful single-father relationship with his daughter, who he affectionately calls ‘Miss Lady’. In just this movie alone, Sidney introduces the world to our culture, African royalty, and a true love story between two Black people.
The Measure of the Man
The true measure of a man is not how he behaves in moments of comfort and convenience but how he stands at times of controversy and challenges.
Martin Luther King Jr.
The movie roles Sidney chose to play were, as a Vanity Fair article, To Sidney, With Love points out, ended up “changing preconceptions of what a Black man could not only do, but be, at a pivotal time”. To understand the full measure of the man (to borrow from the title of Sidney’s autobiography), though, you need to examine the behind-the-scenes life of this American treasure. Sidney quietly funded a good deal of the civil rights movement, in collaboration with his good friend and fellow civil rights icon Harry Belafonte. He was instrumental in bringing along White movie stars like Charlton Heston (before he lost his mind in the latter years) to lend their voices (and faces) to the March on Washington. What’s most impressive is that Sidney did this well before he was fully established as a box office big wig – at great risk to his young career in acting.
Life wasn’t easy for Sidney, as he described to Oprah in a 2016 interview. He escaped from humble beginnings in The Bahamas, taught himself to read above a third grade level and to learn to speak without a thick accent, to survive in New York City. He fought to overcome the perceptions of ‘others’ and was determined to prove them wrong. So determined, that he agreed to double as a janitor with an acting company, so that he could learn the craft. His first opportunity was to be the understudy (to Harry Belafonte). He got to play the part when Harry couldn’t be there – and his career took off from there.
Sidney Poitier was more than a trailblazer, more than a series of firsts for Black people. He is a shining example of Black excellence, of who we are, and who we can be. Well done, good and faithful servant!
