“Yeah I’ve come up in the world. I used to live in a sewer and now I live in a swamp. All those babes do it in the movies. By now I ought to be married to the governor and paying blackmail so he don’t find out I once lived in Beaver Canal.” – Edie Johnson
Number of Times Seen – 1 (23 Nov 2021)
Brief Synopsis – A black doctor treats a patient in the prison ward of the hospital and is accused of criminal negligence when the prisoner mysteriously dies while under his care.
My Take on it – This is a great story that still resonates more than 70 years after it was made.
This was Sidney Poitier’s film debut and he and Richard Widmark are perfect in this movie.
The animosity between the two can be felt the entire time and they do a wonderful job having each character express their hatred in different ways.
The story plays out really well and feels so realistic the entire way through which helps keep things so powerful throughout.
This film also features Ozzie Davis and Ruby Dee an it’s amazing seeing them so young here.
The way that the story starts off as a slow boil and soon becomes more and more inflamed is done really well and shows how racial tension in 1950 is unfortunately not so far removed from the tension that still exists despite the passage of more than 7 decades.
Recommended!
MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Richard Widmark was apparently very uncomfortable with some of the racist comments his character, Ray Biddle, made, especially given his friendship with Sidney Poitier. As a result, after some of the takes involving particularly venomous remarks, Widmark apologized to Poitier. (From IMDB)
Rating – Globe Worthy (8/10)
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