One Potato, Two Potato (1964)

Study of interracial marriage in the 1960's. A white divorcée falls in love with and marries an African-American man. When her ex-husband sues for custody of her child, arguing that a mixed... See full summary »

Director:

Larry Peerce

Writers:

Orville H. Hampton, Raphael Hayes

Stars:

Barbara Barrie, Bernie Hamilton, Richard Mulligan

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Barbara Barrie	...	Julie Cullen Richards
Bernie Hamilton	...	Frank Richards
Richard Mulligan	...	Joe Cullen
Harry Bellaver	...	Judge Powell
Marti Mericka	...	Ellen Mary
Robert Earl Jones	...	William Richards
Vinnette Carroll	...	Martha Richards
Anthony Spinelli	...	Johnny Hruska (as Sam Weston)
Faith Burwell	...	Ann Hruska
Jack Stamberger	...	Minister
Doris Helsel	...	Minister's Wife
Michael Shane	...	Jordan Hollis
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Martha L. Mericka	...	Ellen Mary (as Marti Mericka)
Paul S. Orgill	...	Lawyer

Storyline

Study of interracial marriage in the 1960's. A white divorcée falls in love with and marries an African-American man. When her ex-husband sues for custody of her child, arguing that a mixed household is an improper place to raise the girl, the new husband fights for his parental rights in court, fighting against a judge who represents the prejudices of the era.

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Plot Keywords:

racial issues | punctuation in title | comma in title | prejudice | marriage | 

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Taglines:

One of the HOTTER Topics Of Our Time...Now Scorches the Screen!

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The band playing at the wedding is the Kenny Bass Orchestra.

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Connections

Referenced in The Darkest Timeline with Ken Jeong & Joel McHale: WHOOPI GOLDBERG (2020)

User Reviews

Sad and frustrating to watch--but that WAS the way it was.

"One Potato, Two Potato" is a very low budget production that made a bit of commotion back when it debuted in 1964. Despite its lowly pedigree (it was filmed in the Cleveland area and the actors were mostly unknowns at the time), the lead actress (Barbara Barrie) received the Best Actress award at Cannes and the film was nominated for an Oscar (Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen). Sadly today, it's a pretty obscure picture.

Julie (Barrie) is a divorced mother of a young girl. The father abandoned them years ago and Julie works at the company where Frank (Bernie Hamilton) works. The meet and through the course of spending time together, they find that there is an attraction. Eventually, they decide to get married--even though they realize it might cause a few heads to turn. After all, she is white and he is black. Despite a bumpy start, things work out and the young family prospers and grows. Things look pretty good, right? Well, they do until the child's biological father shows up unexpectedly. Now the man (?) wants his daughter--mostly because his ego cannot stand that his ex- is with a black man.

This is a well made film but I must warn you that it will rip your heart out. This is NOT a complaint. Heck, back in 'the good old days', it was STILL illegal for blacks and whites to marry in many southern states and in others it was quite possible to lose custody of a child simply because you married someone of another race. Crazy...and pretty stupid. So, it's great that the movie draws attention to it. My only complaint is that the film, while very interesting, is way underplayed--too underplayed. Some more emotion in the acting and relationship between Frank and Julie would have made the movie better overall.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 August 1964 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

One Potato, Two Potato

Filming Locations:

Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$340,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bawalco Picture Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1