Sidney Poitier: The Man and His Films
by dgranger | created - 11 Mar 2018 | updated - 28 Jun 2018 | PublicSidney Poitier, who was born in Miami, Florida, but grew up on Cat Island in The Bahamas, was the first male African American to win the Oscar for Best Actor (as Homer Smith in Lillies of the Field (1963)). He went on to become a director of nine films and producer of three. His early films dealt with race, bigotry, anger, and hatred but he always played those roles as a man of intelligence, dignity and humble pride. In 2002, he received an honorary Oscar “for his extraordinary performances and unique presence on the screen and for representing the industry with dignity, style and intelligence.” If you want to see a list of his awards, honors and nominations, click on the quote.
Which one of his films is your favorite?
Discuss his work here.
P.S. I never knew he did a third film as Virgil Tibbs, “The Organization” (1971). You learn something new every day.
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1. Lilies of the Field (1963)
Unrated | 94 min | Drama
A travelling handyman becomes the answer to the prayers of nuns who wish to build a chapel in the desert.
Director: Ralph Nelson | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Lilia Skala, Lisa Mann, Isa Crino
Votes: 13,589
2. No Way Out (1950)
Passed | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Two hoodlum brothers are brought into a hospital for gunshot wounds, and when one of them dies the other accuses their black doctor of murder.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Richard Widmark, Linda Darnell, Stephen McNally, Sidney Poitier
Votes: 6,285
We are not talking about the Kevin Costner film of the same name. This is a different movie from that one.
3. In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Approved | 110 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A black Philadelphia police detective is mistakenly suspected of a local murder while passing through a racially hostile Mississippi town, and after being cleared is reluctantly asked by the police chief to investigate the case.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant
Votes: 83,602 | Gross: $24.38M
4. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
Approved | 108 min | Comedy, Drama
A couple's attitudes are challenged when their daughter introduces them to her African-American fiancé.
Director: Stanley Kramer | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn, Katharine Houghton
Votes: 48,944 | Gross: $56.70M
5. The Defiant Ones (1958)
Approved | 96 min | Crime, Drama
Two chained-together escaped convicts, White and Black, must learn to get along in order to elude capture.
Director: Stanley Kramer | Stars: Tony Curtis, Sidney Poitier, Cara Williams, Theodore Bikel
Votes: 17,862
6. A Patch of Blue (1965)
Unrated | 105 min | Drama, Romance
A blind, uneducated white girl is befriended by a black man who becomes determined to help her escape her impoverished and abusive home life by introducing her to the outside world.
Director: Guy Green | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Shelley Winters, Elizabeth Hartman, Wallace Ford
Votes: 9,539
7. A Raisin in the Sun (1961)
Approved | 128 min | Drama
A substantial insurance payment could mean either financial salvation or personal ruin for a poor black family.
Director: Daniel Petrie | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, Ruby Dee, Diana Sands
Votes: 9,572
8. Blackboard Jungle (1955)
Approved | 101 min | Crime, Drama
A new English teacher at a violent, unruly inner-city school is determined to do his job, despite resistance from both students and faculty.
Director: Richard Brooks | Stars: Glenn Ford, Anne Francis, Louis Calhern, Margaret Hayes
Votes: 9,887
9. To Sir, with Love (1967)
Approved | 105 min | Drama
Idealistic engineer-trainee and his experiences in teaching a group of rambunctious white high school students from the slums of London's East End.
Director: James Clavell | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Judy Geeson, Christian Roberts, Suzy Kendall
Votes: 20,435 | Gross: $42.43M
10. Porgy and Bess (1959)
Not Rated | 138 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A woman whose past is scorned by nearly everyone around her meets a man who'd love her regardlessly- if only everyone else would allow them to.
Directors: Otto Preminger, Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis Jr., Pearl Bailey
Votes: 1,916
11. Sneakers (1992)
PG-13 | 126 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A security pro finds his past returning to haunt him when he and his unique team are tasked with retrieving a particularly important item.
Director: Phil Alden Robinson | Stars: Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, Sidney Poitier, Jo Marr
Votes: 62,558 | Gross: $51.43M
12. Pressure Point (1962)
Not Rated | 91 min | Drama
A black prison psychiatrist is assigned the distasteful task of helping a paranoid American Nazi charged with sedition.
Director: Hubert Cornfield | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Bobby Darin, Peter Falk, Carl Benton Reid
Votes: 2,029
13. The Slender Thread (1965)
Passed | 98 min | Drama
College volunteer Alan is working alone at the crisis center one evening when he receives a telephone call from suicidal caller Inga Dyson.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Anne Bancroft, Telly Savalas, Steven Hill
Votes: 2,481
14. Cry, the Beloved Country (1951)
103 min | Drama
In the back country of South Africa, black minister Stephen Kumalo (Canada Lee) journeys to the city to search for his missing son, only to find his people living in squalor and his son a ... See full summary »
Director: Zoltan Korda | Stars: Canada Lee, Sidney Poitier, Charles Carson, Joyce Carey
Votes: 994
15. Edge of the City (1957)
Approved | 85 min | Drama
The growing friendship of two NYC longshoremen is threatened by a notably repellent punk.
Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: John Cassavetes, Sidney Poitier, Jack Warden, Kathleen Maguire
Votes: 3,588
16. Separate But Equal (1991)
PG | 190 min | Drama, History
A dramatization of the American court case that destroyed the legal validity of racial segregation.
Stars: Sidney Poitier, Burt Lancaster, Richard Kiley, Cleavon Little
Votes: 785
17. Go Man Go (1954)
82 min | Drama, Sport
The story of Abe Saperstein and the creation of the Harlem Globetrotters.
Director: James Wong Howe | Stars: Dane Clark, Patricia Breslin, Sidney Poitier, Anatol Winogradoff
Votes: 181
18. Good-bye, My Lady (1956)
G | 94 min | Drama
An old man and a young boy who live in the southeastern Mississippi swamps are brought together by the love of a dog.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: Walter Brennan, Phil Harris, Brandon De Wilde, Sidney Poitier
Votes: 1,067
19. The Bedford Incident (1965)
Approved | 102 min | Drama, Thriller
An American destroyer Captain is determined to confront a Soviet submarine caught violating territorial waters. Perhaps too determined.
Director: James B. Harris | Stars: Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier, James MacArthur, Martin Balsam
Votes: 5,978
20. Duel at Diablo (1966)
Approved | 103 min | Drama, Thriller, Western
In Apache territory, a supply Army column heads for the next fort, an ex-scout searches for the killer of his Indian wife, and a housewife abandons her husband in order to rejoin her Apache lover's tribe.
Director: Ralph Nelson | Stars: James Garner, Sidney Poitier, Bibi Andersson, Dennis Weaver
Votes: 4,264
(So shoot me for putting this one in here, but I like westerns.)
21. Buck and the Preacher (1972)
GP | 102 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A wagon master and a con-man preacher help freed slaves dogged by cheap-labor agents out West.
Directors: Sidney Poitier, Joseph Sargent | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee, Cameron Mitchell
Votes: 2,689 | Gross: $3.03M
Starred, directed and was an uncredited producer.
22. A Warm December (1973)
PG | 99 min | Drama, Romance
An African-American doctor falls in love with the niece of an African ambassador during his vacation in London, but it turns out that she is suffering from a rare terminal illness.
Director: Sidney Poitier | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Ester Anderson, Yvette Curtis, George Baker
Votes: 808 | Gross: $0.37M
Starred and directed
23. Brother John (1971)
PG-13 | 95 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
A man who returns to his hometown for a funeral may have a much larger purpose in life than those around him can see.
Director: James Goldstone | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Will Geer, Bradford Dillman, Beverly Todd
Votes: 839
Starred, and produced
24. Uptown Saturday Night (1974)
PG | 104 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
At Madame Zenobia's illegal nightclub, when Steve Jackson and Wardell Franklin get robbed of their wallets containing a winning lottery ticket, they set out to recover it.
Director: Sidney Poitier | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, Harry Belafonte, Flip Wilson
Votes: 2,816 | Gross: $4.57M
Starred, directed, and produced
25. Let's Do It Again (1975)
PG | 110 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Two Atlanta men raise funds for their charity by rigging boxing matches in New Orleans, but their tricks attract the mob's attention.
Director: Sidney Poitier | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, Calvin Lockhart, John Amos
Votes: 3,301
Starred and directed
26. A Piece of the Action (1977)
PG | 135 min | Crime, Comedy
A retired Chicago cop blackmails two rich thieves into "volunteering" to help juvenile delinquents change paths.
Director: Sidney Poitier | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, James Earl Jones, Denise Nicholas
Votes: 1,460
Starred and directed
27. The Jackal (1997)
R | 124 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An imprisoned I.R.A. fighter is freed to help stop a brutal, seemingly "faceless" assassin from completing his next job.
Director: Michael Caton-Jones | Stars: Bruce Willis, Richard Gere, Sidney Poitier, Diane Venora
Votes: 124,209 | Gross: $54.93M
28. Shoot to Kill (1988)
R | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
An F.B.I. Agent teams up with a tracker to pursue a murderer after he vanishes into the mountains and infiltrates a hiking group.
Director: Roger Spottiswoode | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Tom Berenger, Kirstie Alley, Clancy Brown
Votes: 14,952 | Gross: $29.30M
29. Stir Crazy (1980)
R | 111 min | Comedy, Crime
Set up and wrongfully accused, two best friends are sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit. However, no prison cell can keep them locked in a cage.
Director: Sidney Poitier | Stars: Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Georg Stanford Brown, JoBeth Williams
Votes: 30,407 | Gross: $101.30M
Directed only
30. Free of Eden (1998 TV Movie)
TV-MA | 98 min | Drama
A black girl seeks a tutor, hoping a good education will help her escape from poor housing projects.
Director: Leon Ichaso | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Phylicia Rashad, Robert Hooks
Votes: 353
Starred and produced
31. The Last Brickmaker in America (2001 TV Movie)
PG | 85 min | Drama
A man must cope with the loss of his wife and the obsolescence of his job before finding redemption by becoming a role model to an equally lost thirteen-year-old.
Director: Gregg Champion | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Cody Newton, Wendy Crewson, Jay O. Sanders
Votes: 683
32. Paris Blues (1961)
Approved | 98 min | Drama, Music, Romance
During the 1960s, two American expatriate jazz musicians living in Paris meet and fall in love with two American tourist girls.
Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Sidney Poitier, Louis Armstrong
Votes: 3,961 | Gross: $1.30M
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