There are few actors for whom I have more respect than Sidney Poitier. More than any Black actor, he earned acceptance of Black actors to the broad American film audience. He did it quietly, not unlike how Barack Obama earned acceptance among the general population.
However, that doesn't mean that every Poitier film was top notch...although most were. This is not one of the successes. It was a flop at the box office. The question is -- why? It is well past the first half-hour of the film before we begin to learn what the movie is about. Early on it almost seems like a spy movie...which it is not, at all. Then (other than the give-away title) we learn it is a romance. But why all the secrecy. We don't get into that until almost midway through the film. And the ending...there were three possibilities: the female leads goes back to American with Poitier and his daughter, or she dies, or...well...nothing really happens and the whole film was just a fling. The third option was the weakest, and that was the option chosen.
Poitier's acting is excellent, as always. The daughter was interesting, although seemed a bit unreal. And the female lead seemed a bit too far off center, as well. The film helped bring attention to sickle cell anemia, which, unfortunately is still with us.
If you decide to watch this film, do so for the only right reason -- to revel in another performance by a truly fine actor and a truly fine man.
However, that doesn't mean that every Poitier film was top notch...although most were. This is not one of the successes. It was a flop at the box office. The question is -- why? It is well past the first half-hour of the film before we begin to learn what the movie is about. Early on it almost seems like a spy movie...which it is not, at all. Then (other than the give-away title) we learn it is a romance. But why all the secrecy. We don't get into that until almost midway through the film. And the ending...there were three possibilities: the female leads goes back to American with Poitier and his daughter, or she dies, or...well...nothing really happens and the whole film was just a fling. The third option was the weakest, and that was the option chosen.
Poitier's acting is excellent, as always. The daughter was interesting, although seemed a bit unreal. And the female lead seemed a bit too far off center, as well. The film helped bring attention to sickle cell anemia, which, unfortunately is still with us.
If you decide to watch this film, do so for the only right reason -- to revel in another performance by a truly fine actor and a truly fine man.