Before Sidney Poitier was brought home for dinner by a white woman he was escaping the law with a white man.
Sidney Poitier plays Noah Cullen, a convict that is chained to a mildly racist (for his era) white convict named Johnny "Joker" Jackson (Tony Curtis). They are unfortunate enough to be cuffed together at the wrists when their paddy wagon overturns. They escaped but will they kill each other before they get clear of the law?
This is an incredible movie in general but I think being made in 1958 makes it all the more incredible. The social implications and the social relevance for that time was monumental. You have a Black and white man chained together and both want to escape the law. Clearly, they can't remain together whether they like each other or not, but they are joined at the wrists. As Noah put it after Joker said they weren't married:
"You married to me alright Joker. Now here's the ring (holding up their chains), but I ain't goin' south on no honeymoon now!"
There was some fantastic dialog throughout this classic film and the above line alone tells you how divergent their destinations were, figuratively and literally, but someone was going to have to give.
As the movie went on you could see a friendship budding between the two. Slowly the barriers between them were eliminated and they realized, without saying as much, that nothing separated them except color. I absolutely loved this movie.
Sidney Poitier plays Noah Cullen, a convict that is chained to a mildly racist (for his era) white convict named Johnny "Joker" Jackson (Tony Curtis). They are unfortunate enough to be cuffed together at the wrists when their paddy wagon overturns. They escaped but will they kill each other before they get clear of the law?
This is an incredible movie in general but I think being made in 1958 makes it all the more incredible. The social implications and the social relevance for that time was monumental. You have a Black and white man chained together and both want to escape the law. Clearly, they can't remain together whether they like each other or not, but they are joined at the wrists. As Noah put it after Joker said they weren't married:
"You married to me alright Joker. Now here's the ring (holding up their chains), but I ain't goin' south on no honeymoon now!"
There was some fantastic dialog throughout this classic film and the above line alone tells you how divergent their destinations were, figuratively and literally, but someone was going to have to give.
As the movie went on you could see a friendship budding between the two. Slowly the barriers between them were eliminated and they realized, without saying as much, that nothing separated them except color. I absolutely loved this movie.