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
Michael Shane	...	Jordan Hollis
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
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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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 August 1964 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Le procès de Julie Richards

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although Orville H. Hampton is credited as screenwriter along with Raphael Hayes, Hayes stated in an interview that he had never worked with Hampton on the script and in fact had never even met him. Hampton was assigned to write the script by producer/director Larry Peerce, and according to Hayes, Peerce thought Hampton's script was so awful that he ditched it and hired Hayes to rewrite it. However, after arbitration, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) ruled that Hampton's name should be in the credits as co-screenwriter.

User Reviews

In the 1960s a white divorcée marries a black male and they encounter problems.

This film is simply shot and compellingly told. Its stars Barbara Barrie before she became a star and features an excellent cast including a performance by a child that is so touching. I saw it as a kid with my mother and was very moved by it. I count it as one of my favorite films. I haven't seen it in years and am curious to see if I would still find it as moving. As another reviewer on this site stated, the ending is gut wrenching and I concur. I would love to buy it and show it to a film class I teach but sadly it is not available. It is one of those black and white American Kammerspiel films of the 1960s (along with A Thousand Clowns, Ladybug, Ladybug, David and Lisa) that were well received at the time of their release but are now forgotten). I don't know how one goes about getting distributors to transfer these films to DVD and make them available but if anyone knows please push for this film.