St. Paul recorder., 1961-04-14
"A Raisin In The
Sun" Film Gers
Good Review
By Tube In Variety

- ANSSAoSSN OOS hldCSlGuCI We
gro family In Chicago. A great
play, 1t has now become a fine
motion picture. Yet something has
gone out of "A Raisin in the Sun"
in its translation from the stage
to the cinema, and that something
is the rapport, the direct and stir
ring communication that binds to-
gether colored actors in person on
the stage with the ordinarily pre-
dominantly white audiences on the
other side Of the footlights. It is
an inter-racial bond of understand
ing that, to some extent, vanishes
when the drama is enacted via the
more impersonal medium of cellul-
old. There simply isn't the same
reassuring togetherness about the
experience, and that is the crux of
its legit potency.
But it is tribute to Miss Hans
berry's creation that, although it
shows to better advantage on the
boards, it is still a powerful and
moving drama on the screen. The
David Susskind-Philip Rose pro-
duction, released by Columbia, will
be successful at the boxoffice be-
cause it is an important worth
while, timely social document and
because, most of all, it is simply
good film, one that deals with gen.
uine, everyday people who will be
universally understood. Since it ar
rives on the screen at such
critical juncture in U. S. white
colored relations, and is certain to
penetrate areas denied the legit
production, it is bound to influ-
ence people who can use some in
fluencing in the business of living
together.
Miss Hansberry has adapted her
own play to fit the specifications
of the screen. The changes are
few. 1t is the touching tale of a
Negro family stirred into emotion
al flux when the proud matriarch
of the household CLAUDIA McNeiD
receives a $4,000 life insurance
payment. They plan to move into
small home in a white suburban
neighborhood but when the rest
less, impatient son (Sidney Poitier)
squanders two-thirds of the sum
in a get-rich-quick scheme, the
dream is apparently destroyed
Further complications ensure when
the residents of the white neigh
borhood dispatch a welcoming"
representative whose welcome"
is plea for them to abandon their
intentions, but it is at this critical
point that the son emerges from
the depths Of despair, attains ma
turity, and rallies the family back
into unity and action. Undaunted,
unbowed, they move.
Seven members of the original
Broadway cast repeat their roles
in the film. Potter gives a striking
commanding performance. There
is a poetry in the very expression
of his body movements-wild, des-
perate gestures and thrusts Of
arm and restless, almost choreo-
graphic floor-pacing gyrations that
convey physically but clearly the
inner turmoil the years Of denial
that the character has had to seal
within himself Miss Mcneil re-
peats her towering stage portrayal
Of the devout, loyal, courageous
It is an enactment
with warmth, dignity and
one that Is sure to be
next Oscar time.
Ruby Dee, as Poitier's sweet, :,
hard-working wife, is a wistful,
fragile figure, one audiences will
and one with which
dstaff customers can easily iden-
tify. A sharp, up-to-date charac-
ter is created by Diana Sands as
Poitier's enlightened student sis
ter. She is a standout. Others
who fashion memorable moments
are Ivan Dixon, John Fielder,
Louis Gossett, Stephen Perry, Joel
Fluellen and Roy Glenn.
Director Daniel Petrie, working
with a vehicle far more favorably
suited to the dimensions and char
acteristics Of the stage than to
the motion picture, has neverthe-
less succeeded in instilling a sense
Of movement and variety into
some unusually cramped quarters.
Miss Hansberry has transferred
several scenes to a neighborhood
bar but, by and large, all Of the
action takes place in the familys
small apartment. Petrie has kept
his camera, manned astutely by
Lawton Jr., moving, and
mas positioned it at a number of
vantage points. How
ever, the film seems to have lost
some of the spirit of the plays hui
norous passages, and this may
very well have something to do
with the fact that much of the
(notably an African