Raisin in the Sun-Well written look at inner city black life in '50s Chicago

* * * * (out of 5)

Raisin in the Sun marks the fifth 1960's movie starring Sidney Poitier that I have seen. The only one left is Lilies in the Field and I'll get to that soon. Poitier has been one of my favorite actors since I was a kid and saw him play a high school teacher in "To Sir With Love". In that movie he is so self assured, so meticulous, such a consummate pro that like Michael Jordan you wondered if he was born to do what he does. But like Jordan, you realize later that it took a ton of practice. Raisin in the Sun is an early example of Poitier before the practice became perfect.

In it he plays a character completely unlike any he would ever play again. Walter Lee Young is a 35 year old chauffeur who lives in a three-room tenement with his wife, son, mother and 20 year old sister in 1950s Chicago. The whole family is struggling just to meet their daily demands and another baby might be on the way. Walter has dreams of living a better life, of being a bigger man, but as a young man driving a rich, white man around all he can see for his future is just more road. His wife Ruth, played by Ruby Dee, tries to discourage his fanciful thoughts because she's afraid it will only lead him on a path to more heartache and disappointment.

Walter's mother Lena, played by Claudia McNeil, is the family matriarch and looks forward to a life insurance check willed to her by her dead husband. The $10,000 they stand to make could make their lives a whole lot better if well spent. Dreams of a house, medical school for the daughter Beneatha and maybe a business for Walter could all be realized if foolishness doesn't step in their way. But unfortunately, despite the good fortune their dead father worked hard for, Walter Lee seems to be one of those people who can't see the forest for the trees. What shocks a longtime Poitier fan is seeing one of his characters not be smart and together. Saying terrible things, being unloving and just acting plain stupid at times. It is so out of character for the always sharp Poitier that it becomes a distraction. And I'm sure it was for Poitier himself, because while he sort of pulls it off, it is the worst acting I've ever seen from him. When he's drunk and acting foolish, I'm not sure where to draw the line at being embarrassed for the character or for Poitier.

Everyone overacts in the cast, which might be because it was a stage play and they are just playing it as they did on stage or the director mistakenly called for it. Big, emotional moments become laughable because of the unreal ways they are portrayed. At one point, Poitier is on his knees, literally clutching her apron and begging his mother for forgiveness and she's looking up to the heavens for some foresight. I couldn't help thinking of Aunt Esther in Sanford and Son screaming about Fred being a heathen. That type of acting might have worked in the '30s or '40s, but this movie was made in 1961.

But despite the over-emotional acting, the movie does move along at a good clip which is amazing considering 95% of it takes place in one room with very few camera angles. That has to be credited to the writing of Lorraine Hansberry, who makes the era come alive. Yes it has soap opera tones, but this drama is filled with light comedy and had me chuckling on a number of occasions. The recently deceased Ivan Dixon, from Hogan's Heroes, plays a Nigerian exchange student with a special crush on Beneatha. As Asagai, Dixon puts on a very believable accent and lays on the charm without overdoing it. The character is written with great understanding and the situation in Africa at the time is treated honestly and respectably, which was no mean thing for 1961. I've seen black movies from the 1970s recently that should have taken a longer look at the cool way Hansberry's script handled things.

I would love to see a modern day version of this film, but not with Puff Daddy as Walter. Don Cheadle or Chiwetel Ejiofor would be much better suited.

The Freditor