Hello again fans of the silver screen, my latest 'Movie Memories' article for Lanarkshire Live is dedicated to the memory of cinema icon Sidney Poitier, with a belated thank you to Lulu for supplying the stills from To Sir With Love.
Sidney Poitier was a native of Cat Island in the Bahamas and born two months prematurely when his parents were visiting Miami to sell tomatoes.
His early years were characterised by poverty and deprivation. At 18, he moved to New York, took on menial jobs and slept in a bus terminal toilet.
Becoming a member of the American Negro Theatre enabled Poitier to develop his performing skills, which lead to his film debut in the epic drama No Way Out at Twentieth Century Fox.
Poitier’s rise to the top in Hollywood happened to coincide with the American Civil Rights movement, as Poitier was making his debut in films.
To the movement, Poitier was to be a symbol - the first black superstar and the personification of the black man on the screen.
He came to films on the crest of Hollywood’s post-war movies with controversial racial themes, but his early flicks brought him little opportunity in what seemed to be a dead end.
It would take later movies like The Blackboard Jungle (1955) and The Defiant Ones (1958) to turn the corner for him, define his screen persona, and make audiences aware of his magnetism.
Poitier was an exciting talent who took home the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in 1963’s Lilies Of The Field , becoming the first black male to win that award - and the first to become a leading man.
For Poitier, 1967 marked a golden year in his career, where he added two outstanding films to his already impressive resume; In The Heat of The Night and To Sir With Love , the latter a British production financed by Columbia Pictures.
Although Poitier was the only recognisable name connected with the flick, it introduced some very talented British newcomers to play the aggressive, insolent young girls, among rebellious kids speaking with Cockney accents.
As ringleader Denham, Christian Roberts starred in a role that would earn him a contract with Columbia Pictures. Christopher Chittell, who played Potter , is currently known for his role of Eric Pollard in Emmerdale ; a part he has occupied since 1986, making him the longest-serving cast member in the soap’s history.
The movie’s popularity was boosted by the film debut of Glasgow’s own pop sensation Lulu and her rendition of the title song, To Sir With Love , would do much to elevate the movie to a position that commanded international recognition, especially in America when it became the best selling single of 1967 and hit the top of the Billboard charts for five weeks.
Much to the chagrin of the director of the movie, James Clavell, and Lulu’s manager Marion Massey, the Oscar-worthy tune didn’t chart in the UK or receive an Academy Award Best Song nomination.
To Sir With Love is very much Poitier’s movie and it is his splendid performance as Mark Thackery , the engineer from British Guiana who is forced to take an interim teaching position until something opens up in his chosen profession that completely, that dominates this film adaptation of E.R. Braithwaite’s autobiographical novel, based on his experiences as a black teacher in a London school.
Poitier’s sensitive portrayal and a demonstration of job-like patience make his ability in exercising survival training win over his class as they overcome their ignorance and contempt for him, calling him “Sir” - at first sarcastically and later respectfully.
He develops a rapport with them and helps transform them from immature, apathetic adolescents into well-groomed, polite, curious young adults.
The combined talents of the creative team that produced To Sir With Love ticked all the right boxes, making it a classic of British cinema and one of the top-grossing films of 1967; costing just £600,000 to make, it grossed £50 million at the box office.
The timing for the release of the movie was perfect as it reflected the social changes of the sixties, when women’s hemlines went up noticeably, rock ‘n’ roll was all the rage and there was a growing public terror surrounding the H-bomb.
To Sir With Love was a very memorable movie-going experience when it opened to record business at the New Cinema Airdrie during the autumn of 1967.
Stanley Kramer was one of Hollywood’s most influential filmmakers.
An independent creative genius, he financed, produced, and directed his own films, not for profit or glory but searching for the truth, and rapidly established himself as adept in producing heavy dramas about social problems.
“Three Academy Award winners and a bright young newcomer star in a love story of today” was the promotional tagline for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1968), which was a highly controversial, groundbreaking film - and the first to depict interracial marriage in a positive light.
When William Rose, who wrote the screenplay, came up with the idea of a white woman who goes to Africa and falls in love with a black man, Kramer suggested they reverse the situation and have the young lovers meet in Hawaii.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner was produced in the middle of the Civil Rights movement in America, when interracial marriages were illegal in 37 states until June 12, 1967 - six months before the film was released.
Columbia Pictures didn’t want the picture until Kramer told them it was a comedy and he had signed Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn and Sidney Poitier, who all believed so strongly in the premise that they agreed to act in the project even before seeing the script.
Columbia gave the go-ahead at first then cancelled the movie because of Tracy’s failing health; at 67, he was very ill with heart and respiratory disease and no insurance company would insure him.
The situation looked desperate before Hepburn and Kramer figured out a way of dealing with it by putting up their own salaries to compensate for the lack of insurance for Tracy and they were allowed to proceed.
Kramer said the screenplay for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner was intentionally structured to debunk the usual rubbish about ethnic stereotypes.
The role of Doctor John Prentice , played by Poitier, was created as idealistically perfect so the only possible objections to him marrying the young white woman would be his race.
Another highlight of the movie was the introduction of the lovely Katherine Houghton as Poitier’s love interest.
In her memoirs she recalls: “It was very exciting to work alongside Sidney Poitier with material that brought up social and racial issues. But none of us had any idea of what a hugely successful, groundbreaking movie it would be.
“I am often asked if the film was a happy movie to make. Apart from death threats to both myself and Sidney Poitier during production, and all involved knowing that Spencer Tracy was dying and we didn’t believe we would finish the film, it was a happy experience.
“His [Tracy’s] final scene was brilliant, and his last appearance on screen; he died two weeks after the film was in the can and never saw the completed movie.”
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner is an American classic with superb performances and was one of Hollywood’s most anticipated message films of the sixties as it influenced the attitude to interracial relationships.
Personally, this movie holds very special memories. It was the last flick I saw in a Monklands cinema; on Saturday, July 4, 1968, at the Pavilion Cinema in Airdrie, with two dear friends, Ann Purchase and Violet Jarvie.
The following day I emigrated to Australia, but not before saying a fond farewell to the old Pavilion and all the wonderful, magical movie memories it presented.
Sidney Poitier was one of the most revered actors in the history of Hollywood. He overcame enormous obstacles in extraordinary times with his convictions, bravery and grace.
He was a role model and inspiration for future fellow actors like Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, Eddie Murphy, Whoopi Goldberg, and many others.
The permanency of film will ensure his legacy of movies lasts forever.
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