Sidney Poitier Collection
(A Patch of Blue/Something of Value/Edge of the City/A Warm December/Warner DVD)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: C Film:
A Patch of Blue B
Something of Value B-
Edge of the City B+
A Warm December C+
Long
before the days of Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman there was another
African American actor of great importance, who would help shape cinema and
pave the way for a new generation of talented black actors, who other than
Sidney Poitier.
Poitier’s
contribution to cinema is astonishing with incredibly strong performances in They Call Me Mister Tibbs!, In the Heat of the Night, and his
dynamic performance in Guess Who’s
Coming to Dinner is legendary, not just for the cinematic importance, but
it’s societal impact on interracial couples and marriages. There is no doubt that Poitier’s body of work
is significant and Warner has now issued four of his films in a box set
including Martin Ritt’s 1957 film Edge
of the City, 1957’s Something of
Value, 1965’s A Patch of Blue,
and 1973’s A Warm December, which
Poitier would direct himself.
While it
might be fair to say that these are not his most memorable or well-known films,
it does give the viewer a decent variety of his work beyond just the usual
roles and is a good set to own for Poitier fans in general simply because they
are all available together in one set.
Guy Green’s A Patch of Blue
is the strongest contender here as Poitier plays a man who befriends a blind
white girl and helps her escape the abusive and poverty-stricken home life with
a prostitute mother played wonderfully by Shelly Winters. It’s an emotional film with depth of
character and extremely strong performances across the board.
Edge of the City marks Martin Ritt’s debut film
and is another solid film in this set as a young Poitier and John Cassavetes
deal with a local punk played by Jack Warden.
It’s a very tense film that shows the barriers between races being
broken down between friends even during a time when blacks were still being
highly persecuted. A Warm December the
weakest entry as Poitier demonstrates why he needs to remain in front of the
camera, he attempts to weave together a love story with some doom as he meets a
London woman while visiting, but suddenly a strange stalker enters the
picture. The film is far too problematic
despite the performances, the storyline is too weak and would make a good
episode for a TV show, but stretches to thin for a feature film.
Richard
Brooks directs Poitier in Something of
Value alongside Rock Hudson in this dramatic tale between two friends whose
companionship is put on the line during the Mau uprising, which might be enough
to overthrow their longstanding friendship.
Hudson and Poitier truly make the film work, it’s a bit clichéd here and
there, but overall a solid film despite minor moments of scenes that don’t seem
to work.
Picture
quality is fairly consistent title to title, all four films were shot
widescreen with a 1.78 X 1 framing with the exception of A Patch of Blue, which was shot in scope and framed at 2.35 X
1. The transfers demonstrate some age
with color being unbalanced at times, but the overall resolution is fairly good
and depth is adequate. The biggest
problem with newer standards set by Blu-ray is the excessive grain here and
there and overall sharpness is average at best.
That being said, just having these four films together in a set makes
them valuable and they are still superior to any version yet released on Home
Video.
The Dolby
Digital 1.0 Mono soundtracks are as expected very dated overall, but given that
all four films are highly dialogue based it’s not a huge issue. There are trailers included as well for the
films, the only title to get ‘real’ supplements though is A Patch of Blue, which includes commentary by Guy Green that is
very good along with an essay on Poitier and s a stills gallery. Nothing too amazing here, it would have been
nice to at least have a retrospective on Poitier since this collection is
dedicated to him, but maybe that will come one day with the Blu-ray set.
- Nate Goss
