African Americans in ’60s Hollywood

As African Americans were gaining in the struggle for Civil Rights, Hollywood remained timid in depicting complex African American characters. This series maps an arc of ’60s movies that gradually acknowledged the shifting views of race in America, from the struggles for an unsegregated American Dream (A Raisin in the Sun) to the revolutionary movement toward Black Power (Uptight). The films also chart the rise of actors such as Sidney Poitier, Abbey Lincoln and Cicely Tyson.

 

January 21: A Raisin in the Sun

Raisin in the Sun

The Younger family, frustrated with living in their crowded Chicago apartment, sees the arrival of a $10,000 insurance check as the answer to their prayers. Matriarch Lena Younger (Claudia McNeil) promptly puts a down payment on a house in an all-white suburban neighborhood. But the family is divided when Lena entrusts the balance of the money to her mercurial son Walter Lee (Sidney Poitier), against the wishes of her daughter and daughter-in-law. It takes the strength and integrity of this African-American family to battle against generations of prejudice to try to achieve their piece of the American Dream. (Daniel Petrie, 1961, 128 minutes)

January 28: Nothing But a Man

Nothing But a Man

Set against the stirrings of the civil rights movement and a rising wave of burgeoning Black pride, Nothing But a Man tells the story of Duff, a railroad section hand played by Ivan Dixon, who is forced to confront racial prejudice and self-denial when he falls in love with Josie, an educated preacher’s daughter (Abbey Lincoln). It is ultimately an uplifting story about a man and a woman whose love overcomes racial and class barriers, and is a devastatingly powerful film about living life without the basic necessities of dignity and respect. (Michael Roemer, 1964, 95 minutes)

February 4: A Man Called Adam

A Man Called Adam

Sammy Davis, Jr. leads an all-star cast in this searing drama about the turbulent life of brilliant jazz musician Adam Johnson, a gifted artist whose art is shaped by the world he lives in.  Adam could be the best, except he can’t forget that he caused the death of his wife and child and he can’t accept the role of a black man in a white man’s world. Full of bitterness and self-hatred, he rejects love and friendship, but given one last chance to reverse his downward spiral, can he find the will to live? (Leo Penn, 1966, 99 minutes)

February 18: In the Heat of the Night

In the Heat of the Night

In the Deep South, homicide detective Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) becomes embroiled in a murder investigation. When the bigoted town sheriff gets involved, both he and Tibbs must put aside their differences and join forces in a race against time to discover the shocking truth. (Norman Jewison, 1967, 110 minutes)

February 25: Uptight

Uptight, BPL Program

In this remake of John Ford’s 1935 The Informer, Dublin becomes the Cleveland ghetto and the Irish Republicans are replaced by black revolutionary fighters. Days after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Tank Williams (Julian Mayfield) is an unemployed and itinerant steelworker who turns over his militant friend Johnny (Max Julien) to the police for a $1,000 reward, resulting in an underground all-points bulletin to exact vengeance on the squealer. (Jules Dassin, 1968, 104 minutes)











When: Wed., Feb. 18, 2015 - Thu., Feb. 19, 2015 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Where: Brooklyn Public Library - Central Library
10 Grand Army Plaza
718-230-2100
Price: Free
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As African Americans were gaining in the struggle for Civil Rights, Hollywood remained timid in depicting complex African American characters. This series maps an arc of ’60s movies that gradually acknowledged the shifting views of race in America, from the struggles for an unsegregated American Dream (A Raisin in the Sun) to the revolutionary movement toward Black Power (Uptight). The films also chart the rise of actors such as Sidney Poitier, Abbey Lincoln and Cicely Tyson.

 

January 21: A Raisin in the Sun

Raisin in the Sun

The Younger family, frustrated with living in their crowded Chicago apartment, sees the arrival of a $10,000 insurance check as the answer to their prayers. Matriarch Lena Younger (Claudia McNeil) promptly puts a down payment on a house in an all-white suburban neighborhood. But the family is divided when Lena entrusts the balance of the money to her mercurial son Walter Lee (Sidney Poitier), against the wishes of her daughter and daughter-in-law. It takes the strength and integrity of this African-American family to battle against generations of prejudice to try to achieve their piece of the American Dream. (Daniel Petrie, 1961, 128 minutes)

January 28: Nothing But a Man

Nothing But a Man

Set against the stirrings of the civil rights movement and a rising wave of burgeoning Black pride, Nothing But a Man tells the story of Duff, a railroad section hand played by Ivan Dixon, who is forced to confront racial prejudice and self-denial when he falls in love with Josie, an educated preacher’s daughter (Abbey Lincoln). It is ultimately an uplifting story about a man and a woman whose love overcomes racial and class barriers, and is a devastatingly powerful film about living life without the basic necessities of dignity and respect. (Michael Roemer, 1964, 95 minutes)

February 4: A Man Called Adam

A Man Called Adam

Sammy Davis, Jr. leads an all-star cast in this searing drama about the turbulent life of brilliant jazz musician Adam Johnson, a gifted artist whose art is shaped by the world he lives in.  Adam could be the best, except he can’t forget that he caused the death of his wife and child and he can’t accept the role of a black man in a white man’s world. Full of bitterness and self-hatred, he rejects love and friendship, but given one last chance to reverse his downward spiral, can he find the will to live? (Leo Penn, 1966, 99 minutes)

February 18: In the Heat of the Night

In the Heat of the Night

In the Deep South, homicide detective Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) becomes embroiled in a murder investigation. When the bigoted town sheriff gets involved, both he and Tibbs must put aside their differences and join forces in a race against time to discover the shocking truth. (Norman Jewison, 1967, 110 minutes)

February 25: Uptight

Uptight, BPL Program

In this remake of John Ford’s 1935 The Informer, Dublin becomes the Cleveland ghetto and the Irish Republicans are replaced by black revolutionary fighters. Days after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Tank Williams (Julian Mayfield) is an unemployed and itinerant steelworker who turns over his militant friend Johnny (Max Julien) to the police for a $1,000 reward, resulting in an underground all-points bulletin to exact vengeance on the squealer. (Jules Dassin, 1968, 104 minutes)

Buy tickets/get more info now