1h 38min | Drama, Music, Romance | 27 September 1961 | b/w, ws
Director: Martin Ritt
Stars: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Sidney Poitier, Louis Armstrong, Diahann Carroll.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055278/
Watched online, good print.
14 songs in the Soundtracks, all but 1 composed by Duke Ellington. The exception is a DE standard, Take the A Train by Billy Strayhorn.
14th of 61 films for PN.
10th of 34 films for JW. 4th of 14 with PN. Married PN ('58), his 2nd wife. Last/only spouse for each.
18th of 46 films for SP.
24th of 28 films for LA.
4th of 14 films for DC.
All this jazz was a pleasure, topped by the jam session between LA with his band and the principals' band.
The better reason to watch this is the discussion of race relations, primarily between SP and DC. SP was comfortable in Paris because he can play jazz and not be called a black musician. DC says things have gotten better in the US since he left, and will get better still as people work to improve things. He doesn't want to work for the "cause", and she doesn't want to turn her back on it. Although he promises to join her in the US, the film ends ambiguously, where we can't be sure what he'll do, especially since PN similarly promises JW and recants.
Recall that Brown vs. the Board of Education was '54, and the Civil Rights bill was signed into law at the end of LBJ's presidency in '68, the same year MLK was assassinated.
distr. UA, dir. Ritt; 7
