«Sidney Poitier», the story of his life is a hymn to charm, talent and heroism – Corriere.it

An hour and 51 of the life of a outstanding manSidney Poitier, not only because he won two Oscars as well as a director and producer, but because he was able to invest the shares of his fortune in the world of entertainment to advance the civil rights related to racism against African Americans called negroes at the time when the young Sidney began his struggle, starting from small roles at the American Negro Theater.

Sidney Poitier on Apple Tv+ a very traditional documentary directed by Reginald Hudlin and produced by Oprah Winfreylegend of American TV who for the actor born in the Caribbean has always had a veneration and an affection that he was finally able to show him, at his 42nd birthday party, when they met and immediately embraced. Poitier state loved as an actor that has changed the fate of racism on screens and in society, since Kramer’s mud wall tied in handcuffs to Tony Curtis, up to the unforgettable
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?
still by the same Stanley, where it clears customs for the memorable couple of the trembling and gorgeous Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy giving an Oscar speech, mixed marriage.

Valued for his profession but also for his commitment paved the way to all other great African American actors, from his friend Morgan Freeman85 years old, who confesses it openly, a Denzel Washington which he passed the baton, a Will Smith, Eddie Murphy, Halle Berrybut above all to his contemporary, both born in 1927, Harry Belafonte, singer (Banana Boat, When the Saints…) and actor (Carmen Jones) who was his friend and accomplice. They were companions of marches and fights for a few decades America has made great strides in never quite resolved racial issuemoving from Kennedy’s first liberal laws to the medal that hung around his neck President Obama.

Died at 95 on January 6, 2022, Poitier crossed all sides of the magic box of cinema and when he realized that as an actor he was getting olderhe chose the royalchoosing comedies to laugh, with many compliments from Columbia, then the producer, founding with Paul Newman and the Streisandthe Democratic wing of Hollywood, the First Artists in which they had first choice on projects by declaring themselves solely responsiblejust as happened in 1919 to the United Artists of Chaplin, Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Griffith, the fathers of the cine-patria.

Considered myth but always on the move, following the earthquakes of society even in the worst moments (the death in 1968 in Tennessee of Luther King), Poitier is not only a little sanctified but, following the classic procedure, also shown as a man, as an affectionate son, as a twice husband (partner Joanna Shimkus second wife), as loving father of the numerous daughters who intervene in the story of dad according to the script of Jesse James Miller, who had already practiced on the life of Hitchcock.

The documentary stretches above all in the first half of the life of the protagonist of the Gigli del campo for which he won in 64 the first Oscar (in 91 the second, honorary) to Inspector Tibbs’ Hot Night with Rod Steiger, recounting his birth seven weeks ago life threateningthe correct answer of the witch to which his mother had turned, and then gradually his transfers to Cat Island in the Bahamas where 90% of the population was black, while becoming familiar with the world by discovering the existence of electricityof cars, of mirrors, of the meter and unfortunately also of the Ku Klux Klanup to New York , mta 116th street in Harlem in the years of Lena Horne, Ellington and Billie Holliday.

And here they work, as the gospel of self made actordoing many humble jobs, first of all the dishwasher and also the delivery mansleeping in public toilets and especially learning to read correctly. And the interlocking of destiny for which he arrives in Hollywood, called and promoted by Fox, and The carreer
part big with Mankiewicz (White man you shall live) and become triumphal at that moment in which even those who received the Oscar like Hattie Mc Donald for Gone with the wind were forced to wait outside the hall and not sitting in the stalls. Poitier experienced the change of this unworthy situation of a civilized country and a certain cinema has done a lot inHelp for causes of minoritieslistening to Spike Lee, among the guests questioned, such as Quincy Jones, Robert Redford, Freeman, while he talks about the change of perspective when classic heroes they became black with Shaft and Blacula.