Great Movies
Ebert Club
#424 January 18, 2022
Matt writes: We have lost so many legends in the early days of 2022, none of which were more towering than Sidney Poitier, who passed away on January 6th at age 94. He made history as the first Black performer to receive a Best Actor Oscar for 1963's "Lilies of the Field," yet that is merely one of the essential titles in his filmography. In 1967 alone, he starred in three bonafide classics—"In the Heat of the Night," "To Sir, With Love" and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"—the last of which received four stars from Roger Ebert upon its initial release. Yet my personal favorite film of his was Daniel Petrie's 1961 screen version of Lorraine Hansberry's masterpiece, "A Raisin in the Sun," in which Poitier delivers a climactic monologue that is one for the ages.
