Fantastic!

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It's hard enough to make it in this world as a white man without money, let alone being a black man on the outside looking in. For the superb Sidney Poitier, he's imploding inside his insecurities of being a failure in the eyes of his family and be able to truthfully call himself a man. He's married to the hard working Ruby Dee who loves him with all her soul, but a distance she doesn't understand has grown between them. Poitiers's sister (the enigmatic Diana Sands) is also striving to better herself, attending medical school and trying to "express herself" with a variety of hobbies she dumps once bored with them. A slap across the face from family matriarch Claudia McNeil after taking the Lord's name in vain only briefly wakes her up. This is a black family in changing times losing their way, and it's up to the no-nonsense McNeil to bring them all back together. Repeating her Broadway role and commanding every moment on screen, Claudia McNeil is award worthy as the heart and soul of her family. She loves her two children unconditionally but no longer understands them. That's why she has made Dee her confidante and training to take over as head of the family. A scene where she sentimentally talks about her dead husband reveals the truth inside the soul, admitting the man's imperfections, but loving him long after he's dead just the same.The plot line surrounds the fight over an insurance check McNeil is waiting for, with Poitier spending somebody else's money even before they get it. Poitier wants to buy a liquor store, while McNeil wants to buy a house so the family (which includes Poitier and Dee's young son, Stephen Perry) can move out of the slums. But this creates many issues, not of which the least is the white neighbor's desperate attempts to prevent them f on moving in. A timeless tale of how dreams exist in everybody's life, no matter the age, this has had two hit Broadway revivals since the beginning of the millennium, spawned an unofficial sequel ("Claybourne Park") and even been musicalized. It is a powerful character drama where a man is revealed to have not really grown up, the women who strive to help him even when it seems that he's beyond help. McNeil may not like what her children become, but her nurturing heart pulls the family together. A climactic breakdown in Poitiers's character may be the wake-up call he needs to become a real man, just like a wake-up call that sobers up a drunk. This is one of the all time classics and one that deserved more award attention in 1961 than it got.

A powerhouse ensemble cast is the primary selling point of the 1961 version of A Raisin in the Sun.This is the first film version of the play by Lorraine Hansberry that centers on the Younger clan, a black family living in a cramped Chicago tenement whose lives are about to be altered because of a financial windfall. Lena Younger (Claudia McNeil) is the strong, God-fearing matriarch of the family who is patiently awaiting the arrival of a $10,000 insurance check she is receiving because of the death of her husband. Walter Lee Younger (Sidney Poitier) is Lena's son, a chauffeur who wants to change his life by getting his mother to give him the money so that he can invest it in part ownership of a liquor store. Ruth Younger (Ruby Dee) is Walter Lee's level-headed wife and family referee, who has just learned she is pregnant with her second child; Beneatha Younger (Diana Sands), Walter Lee's sister, is a radical-thinking college student, , who wants to be a doctor someday and torn between her comfortable relationship with George (Louis Gossett) and an African student (Ivan Dixon) who is turning Beneatha's head by exposing her to her African heritage.This film sizzles primarily due to the conflict created between Lena and Walter Lee from Lena's belief that liquor is just a tool of the devil and Walter Lee's belief that his father would have wanted him to use the money to be more than a chauffeur and be the captain of his own destiny.As expected, a 1961 film with an all-black cast was filmed on a shoestring budget, but the powerhouse performances make this film appointment viewing. Next to To Sir with Love, this is my favorite Poitier performance...he is intense and riveting despite the fact that Poitier's screen persona is so much more intelligent than the character he is playing and yet he doesn't make a single false or affected move on screen. McNeil, Dee, and Sands provide solid support to Poitier, who completely dominates this film, but they never allow Poitier to blow them off the screen either. Loved Gossett as Beneatha's tight-ass fiancée too.The film works due to a compelling story and a charismatic performance from Poitier that makes this film still watchable after all these years. This film was remade for television twice with Danny Glover and Sean "Puffy" Combs taking over Poitier's role. It was also turned into a Broadway musical during the 1980's called Raisin.

A Raisin in the Sun is a wonderful movie about a poor black family trying to achieve the American dream. The odd thing, probably something that speaks to the heart of African American audiences, is that this family has been in the country for six generations and still doesn't have anything to show for it because of racism in the country. The movie is full of deep well made characters, each with internal conflicts, who are all having conflicts with each other. The movie is essentially about politics within a family household, who is the leader and has the power, and who gets to decide what is best for the family. Each of the characters seem to have their own personal agenda and there is conflict between the characters that exist outside of the squabble for the $10,000. The film manages depicts the many avenues that the family members (and African Americans in that era) are trying to explore to escape poverty to achieve a better future. This film taught me something new, every time a different character enters a scene a new scene begins. The scene takes on a different tone and adds a new conflict to drive the scene without changing the setting or time, it's done just by introducing a different character through the door. Ultimately the film was wonderful but I felt some of the end scenes dragged on a little too long and kept me waiting too long for the final resolution. The last scenes leading up to Walter's final decision weren't filled with tension or conflict like the previous scenes, it was literally them just waiting and sobbing, something that could of been cut down. Still this is a great film that is a must see for any up and coming screen writer, I highly recommend it.

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.