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Uptight
Fri, Nov 11 | 2pm | TMT
Taking inspiration from John Ford’s The Informer (1935), the electric Uptight transpos- es the Irish Troubles to a Black revolutionary movement in Cleveland, Ohio. The story begins just days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—remarkable considering the film was released just six months after this shattering event. Incorporating documentary footage from King’s funeral and drawing on screenwriter and star Ruby Dee’s deep famil- iarity both with her hometown of Cleveland and off-screen civil rights causes, this searing indictment of the state of America for its Black residents is deftly directed by formerly black- listed filmmaking legend Jules Dassin.
DIRECTOR: Jules Dassin.
WRITTEN BY: Jules Dassin, Ruby Dee, Julian Mayfield.
CAST: Raymond St. Jacques, Ruby Dee, Roscoe Lee Browne, Julian Mayfield.
1968. 104 min. USA. Color. English. Rated PG. DCP.
New DCP courtesy Paramount.
Buck and the Preacher
Sun, Nov 13 | 2pm | TMT
Sidney Poitier gracefully added directing to his repertoire when he made his filmmaking debut with one of the first shot-in-color fea- tures to acknowledge the experience of Black settlers in the old West. Poitier took the job as director at the urging of longtime friend Harry Belafonte, who stars opposite the director in their delightful first onscreen collaboration. While the bond between Poitier’s Buck and Belafonte’s Preacher receives the most screen time, it’s Dee’s grounded performance as Buck’s wife that provides the affecting core of this deft and captivating piece.
DIRECTOR: Sidney Poitier.
WRITTEN BY: Ernest Kinoy.
STORY BY: Ernest Kinoy, Drake Walker.
CAST: Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee, Cameron Mitchell. 1972. 102 min. USA. Color. English. DCP.
New DCP courtesy Sony.
DANDRIDGE & DEE
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