Scott Amundsen A RAISIN IN THE SUN gives us the happy accident of the complete original Broadway cast delivering the very performances that made the stage play so memorable. This is a masterpiece.Chicago's South side, 1961. We are introduced to the Younger family: Lena (Claudia McNeil), the matriarch, her son Walter Lee (Poitier), his wife Ruth (Dee) and their son Travis (Stephen Perry). Also crammed into the tiny apartment is Walter Lee's sister Beneatha (Sands).The family has been crammed into their small apartment for as long as Walter Lee has been alive. As a result, he is a young man with big dreams. As the play opens, the family is waiting on an insurance check for $10,000.00 left by Walter's father. There is some conflict about the money: Beneatha considers the windfall to be her mother's property, a position that Walter Lee does not exactly share. He has dreams, as we noted before, and one of these dreams is opening a liquor store. The problems with this idea are: 1) Mama is not happy about the idea; and 2) Walter Lee has teamed up and placed his trust in a couple of shady characters.Mama decides to take matters into her all too capable hands: she goes out and comes back to announce that she has put down a down payment on a house for the family.Everyone is thrilled except for Walter, who feels betrayed by his mother and resents her lack of trust in him. Unfortunately, Mama turns out to be right. Walter takes the rest of the money and gives it to one of his associates, who skips town and leaves him stunned, grieving, and penniless. Walter now must face his mother with what he has done, in a climactic and almost violent scene that takes the breath away.Meantime, a fly has found its way into Mama's ointment: a White man named Lindner (John Fiedler) from the Clybourne Park Improvement Association (Clybourne Park being the White neighborhood in which Mama purchased the house). Lindner comes armed with a check for more money than Mama has paid for the house, the motive being to keep the Black family out of their lily White enclave.At the climax of the play it falls to Walter Lee to inform Lindner that they intend to occupy the home. It is one of the most powerful scenes ever put on film. Lindner attempts to "reason with" Mrs Younger but she won't have it; her son is now the head of the family.And as the play winds down, the family packs their things and heads out for their new home. Mama picks up a plant that has come to symbolize the family's struggles, and she, perhaps appropriately, is the last to leave.It's a brilliant film, with brilliant performances and a carefully crafted script. Unforgettable.

ironhorse_iv It's rare to see a film version of a movie, be as good as the play version, but 1961's 'A Raisin in the Sun' does that. Based on the play made in 1959 by an African-American playwright and painter Lorraine Hansberry. Raisin in the Sun was the first drama written by a black woman to be produced on Broadway. Young Lorraine grew up in a Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood and her own experiences lead to the play's story. She got the title of the play by finding it in a Langston Hughes's poem book 'Harlem' which is quotes in the poem 'A dream deferred'. The title, 'Raisin in the Sun' referred in the original poem about the hundreds of African American slaves that work in the hot sun in the cotton fields whom dream dry up like a raisin. In the play and the movie, its symbolism the frustration of blacks working trying to make a better life for themselves, but in the end, their dream are forgotten or put off due to the mixer of racism and classism. The movie story is about a working-class family called the Youngers. Living in a lousy apartment for decades, they want to and wish to leave the place behind. The central idea of the play is concerned with fighting off the myth of black contentment. It shows the stress of being in poverty when the large family is crammed into a small apartment. The plot get going when the family finds out that Lena AKA Mama (Claudia McNeil) got an insurance check for $10,000. Each members of the family find themselves having their own version of what to do with an insurance check. Walter Lee (Sidney Poitler) a poor chauffeur, dreams of making a fortune by investing the money in a liquor business against the wishes of both his wife and the mother. Sidney Poitler does a great job as Walter. It's one of his best roles in my opinion. You can see the want in his eyes. The pain, he goes through when it doesn't come his way. Powerful. Beneatha (Diana Sands), his flighty college student sister also wants the money so that she can be a doctor and live in Africa with one of her two boyfriends. One is a boy, George Murchison (Louis Gossett), a wealthy Negro concerned with appearances and material, while the second, Joseph Asagai (Ivan Dixon), is a native African that inspires her intellectually and spiritually. Great symbolism with Beneatha's hair in the film. When the movie begins, Beneatha has straightened hair. Midway through the play, after Asagai visits her and questions her hairstyle, she cuts her Caucasian-seeming hair for the new radical afro represents her embracing of her African heritage. Beneatha's cutting of her hair is a very powerful social statement in the 1960's, as she symbolically declares that natural black is beautiful and wouldn't conform to the style society dictates at the time. It's become a symbol of her anti-assimilationist beliefs. The film dealt with the talk about racism, not only with whites and blacks, but also black against black. One of the first major allusions to any sort of racism appears with the character of George Murchison. When the wealthy George enters the picture, the Younger family sees the differences in race and grouped him with snobbish white people. Mama dreams of buying a home in all-white neighborhood with her money, but fears that they would be faced with racist neighbors, and people trying to buy them out to prevent the neighborhood's integration. One such person trying to buy them out is Karl Aka Mark Linder (John Fielder) whom openly states the racism present in the neighborhood that Mama wants to live. While he at first sugarcoats his words, he tells the Youngers that they are not wanted in the neighborhood because they are Negroes. Mama's choice soon become troublesome, as one choice can lead them into deeply poverty or salvation. A Raisin in the Sun is essentially about dreams, as the main characters struggle to deal with the oppressive circumstances that rule their lives, both with happiness and depression. The movie follows a good amount of themes such as the need to fight racial discrimination in a powerfully demonstrates of the family strength. By having a strong family, it shows that the African American community, that the importance of family is key to success. One great thing about the movie is how little, they change from the play. Most of the movie takes place in the home. Was the bar scene really needed? Not really, the producers could had shown Walter's alcoholic nature, just with him coming home with a bottle, and we would get the same results. But by showing the audience how cramped the apartment is, we get how badly they are struggling. Plus, it's nice to see a movie with few cuts scenes. Director Daniel Petrie did a great job. I would had love to see more of Mama's plant. In the play, Mama's plant represents both Mama's care and her dream for her family. Still, the movie does a great job with dealing with other issues, such as abortion, greed, and the lack of religion. The movie follows the play very well. While, 2008's TV movie 'A Raisin in the Sun' does a good job as well. It's doesn't beat this movie by acting standards and scene delivery. While, one might label this as a 'black people' movie, I found its subject matter, universal. I think this film dealt with everything any common folk might have to deal with, and that's why I think the movie is so well-made.

Arcturus1980 Sidney Poitier's A Raisin in the Sun exceeded my high hopes. Easily a 10/10 film, it is so very touching and uplifting with great characters and great performances. Humorous, too! This film delivers in a major way.Ideally, a film should have something intelligent to say about life, about reality. A Raisin in the Sun is such a film and more. So, if the reality of human life in general interests you, consider yourself well-advised to watch this powerful film. I have little doubt that you will enjoy it.It is, as of this posting, number 34 on my top 250.

MarieGabrielle The American dream,and the loss of it, this film is relevant on many levels, dealing with financial strife,racism,dis-equity among working classes.It is more relevant even today, as people in America are seeing their houses devalued,loss of once stable jobs,and the struggle to endure.Claudia McNair is simply superb as the grandmother, and glue which holds the family together. Sidney Poitier is Walter Lee, who is stocking all of his hopes in the 10,000.00 his mother is getting, from the deceased fathers life insurance policy.Beneatha is the younger sister, attending premed in college with her own dreams and aspirations, which her mother and sister-in-law Ruth (superb performance by Ruby Dee), have difficulty understanding. A related scene when they burst out laughing as Beneatha takes up yet another hobby to express herself,the women's issues that were at the forefront during the 1950's and 1960's are evinced, as well as the racism issues,and unequal treatment.An odious role with John Fiedler as a racist member of the Klyburn Park Homeowners Association,trying to pay off the family to not purchase a house in his neighborhood.Overall excellent performance by Poitier as a young man trying to make his mark in a hostile society,this film is classic,must see.10/10.