A Raisin in the Sun (1961)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Daniel Petrie

Writers:

Lorraine Hansberry (play)
Lorraine Hansberry (screenplay)

Release Date:

18 September 1961 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The Prize-Winning Drama That Warms The Screen With Its People and Its Passions!...

Plot:

A substantial insurance payment could mean either financial salvation or personal ruin for a poor black family.

Plot Keywords:

Apartment | Black Family | Argument | Black Culture | Working Class

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 3 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Sidney Poitier	...	Walter Lee Younger
Claudia McNeil	...	Lena Younger
Ruby Dee	...	Ruth Younger
Diana Sands	...	Beneatha Younger
Ivan Dixon	...	Asagai
John Fiedler	...	Mark Lindner
Louis Gossett Jr.	...	George Murchison (as Louis Gossett)
Stephen Perry	...	Travis Younger
Joel Fluellen	...	Bobo
Louis Terrel	...	Herman
Roy Glenn	...	Willie Harris

Runtime:

128 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #19812) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | UK:PG | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | UK:A (original rating) | Canada:PG (Ontario - 2006) | Argentina:Atp | Spain:13 | Chile:14 | South Korea:12 | Finland:S | Sweden:15 | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Louis Gossett Jr.'s film debut.

Quotes:

Walter Lee Younger: [to George Murchison, Beneatha's date] How come all you college boys wear them faggoty-looking white shoes?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dreams Worth While: The Journey of 'A Raisin in the Sun' (2008) (V)

An Underrated American Classic

Some stories leave you shattered. They speak to you on such a level and you identify with such intensity that by the end of the film, your nerves and emotion are raw.

Is Raisin in the Sun a play about racial prejudice? Yes indeed, an important one too. No story illustrates the ignorance of 'restricted neighborhoods' better. No film offers the ugliness of white arrogance and presumption, something that still lives and breathes in this country.

For me personally, this is also a movie about being a man.

This movie illustrates so well how men are composed. We honor the father, love the mother and protect the traditions that raised you. Mixed in with all of that and no less important, are our dreams and aspirations.

This movie teaches us, with immense power and clarity, that to be a man, to be a real man, you must never sell out your pride. Never. No matter how badly your dreams have been shattered, your pride and your manhood belong to no one. Simple, basic redemption lies within that truth.

It's an important lesson, a deep lesson, that men of today (including myself) need to remind themselves of from time to time. There is a pride within all men. It can be stubborn, it can be arrogant and it can be so full of dreams that it can lead to bitter heartbreak. But it is there, burning in all men and it's our most treasured asset.

I can't think of a contemporary play that illustrates more strongly, the struggle and rites of manhood in American culture today. How ironic and perhaps appropriate that the film is written by a woman. It is after all the women in this film who patiently wait for Walter to find himself. The love, faith and patience of the women in this film, illustrate the grace, power and importance women have in all our lives, regardless of our gender. A Raisin in the Sun, is a marvelous film and brilliant play. It is, from my perspective, an American classic and I believe one of the most underrated American plays of all time. I recommend it to any man that is struggling to find themselves or trying to recapture what is real and what is untouchable within our souls and within our dreams.