Page 11
ine Panther
August 25,1980
Between The Covers
Poitier Shows Positive
Side of Self in Book
THIS LIFE by Sidney Poitier-Alt red A. Knopf. Cloth, 12.95.
BY ROZELL CLARK
Special to Panther
He has made many successful
movies. Probably more than any
other black actor to date. He
even took time out to win an
academy award. Sidney Poitier's
characters show a positive side of
the black man he always
portrayed. Unlike his many black
counterparts, who he had great
respect and understanding for.
Poitier never gave in to the black
expolitation film. He stood the
test of film. He stood the test
while few black performers were
making a living at the acting
profession.
It is fitting then, that Sidney
Poitier should write a book a
book that stretches from his
dramatic rise from his simple
family - oriented childhood on
Cat Island, West Indies to the fast
- paced, ultra-rich society of
Beverly Hills, California.
"This Life” is a touching
autobiography. Some of Poitier's
experiences are amusing,
especially when he discovered
ice cream and cars for the first
time in "far away” Miami. Many
are interesting analysis of former
girlfriend Diahanne Carroll, and
arch enemy yet close friends
Harry Belafonte and Sammy
Davis, Jr. Other incidents are sad
forexample, his first discovery of
cold winters in New York and his
unnerving departure from the
Army.
But the underline significance
of his book is a message to the
many black people who haven’t
made it, those who came to
watch him in the "Lillies of the
Field”, "In The Heat Of The
Night” and "Uptown Saturday
Night.” He tells them it is not
easy to be black and successful in
Hollywood.
The latter part of the book is
most significant in this respect.
He gives an experienced view of
his attempts to invade the direc
ting and producing ends of the
movie industry. In essence,
Poitier writes it isof the movie in
dustry.
He writes about the difficulties
he had getting his movie "Up
town Saturday Night" produced
and accepted by the Hollywood
biggies.
He writes: "Hollywood has not
kept it secret that it wasn't
interested in supplying blacks
with a variety of positive images.
In fact, in only a few isolated
corners of the industry could
one find committed souls who
could be classified as interested
in supplying blacks with a
different image from what they
have been accustomed to..."
He reveals that while we were
watching him in "A Raisin in the
Sun”, "The Lost Man”, and
others, he "has little control over
the film industry” he was so
much a part of. "I was not even in
control of my career in the film
business beyond making a
decision to play or not to play in a
given piece of material. .. more
than a few of the selections I
made were merely the best of a
bad lot.”
Poitier says that during the
period of the exploitation films,
he went to see "each and every
one of them as they came out.”
And after watching many of
them, he discovered that
through his understanding of the
film, the producers who were
making black exploitation films
were “not interested in much
beyond the buck.”
Throughout "This Life”,
Poitier analyzes each of his
situations.
In analyzing his second movie
in which he starred and directed,
Poitier says the movie showed
him "that black people wanted
to laugh at themselves and have
fun. They were tired of being
portrayed on the local movie
screen as pimps, hustlers, pros
titutes, private detectives, macho
men and dirty. Instead, he con
tinues "they wanted to have
good, clean, family - type fun,
and my recognition of that
hunger committed me to try at
fulling that need.”
In the final chapters, he asks
and answers questions about the
possibilites of today's black
performers and filmmakers mak
ing it in Hollywood. "What are
the chances of a non - white
filmmaker in a risky, high stake,
cut throat game such as this?”
The answer is: LEAN. At best. But
so what? Those who would be
frightened away by this
assessment will never take the
first step of the journey anyway,
after recognizing that only
survivors need apply.”
Poitier brings to light a new
side of him. The side we see on
the screen is very familiar, and
now we get to know the man
behind the scene.
I think you’ll like his book ... I
did.
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