DVD 128

In Collection
#5343

Drama

Sidney Poitier	Walter Lee Younger
Claudia McNeil	Lena Younger
Ruby Dee	Ruth Younger
Diana Sands	Beneatha Younger
Ivan Dixon	Joseph Asagai
Louis Gossett, Jr.	George Murchison
Stephen Perry	Travis Younger
John Fiedler	Karl Lindner
Joel Fluellen	Bobo
Roy E. Glenn, Sr.	Willie Harris

Director	Daniel Petrie; Daniel Petrie, Jr.
Producer	David Susskind; Philip Rose
Writer	Lorraine Hansberry

While this original movie version of Lorraine Hansberry 's award-winning play may have dated somewhat, it was groundbreaking when first released in 1961, and a wealth of future plays, films, and TV productions have taken their lead from this socially conscious drama about a struggling African-American family. Lena Younger ( Claudia McNeil ) is a strong, proud woman who has raised a family in a crowded apartment on the South Side of Chicago. Her son Walter Lee ( Sidney Poitier ) works as a chauffeur; intelligent and ambitious but impulsive and often angry, he desperately wants to get ahead in a world that offers him few opportunities. His wife Ruth ( Ruby Dee ) takes in laundry to help make ends meet and watches over their son. Younger daughter Beneatha ( Diana Sands ) is a college student who wants to become a doctor and often speaks of searching for her cultural identity. On the death of her husband, Lena becomes the beneficiary of a $10,000 life insurance payment, and suddenly the family is in conflict over how the money should be spent. Lena wants to use the money for a down payment on a house. Beneatha is hoping that Lena will help her pay for medical school. And Walter Lee wants to go into business with friends who plan to open a liquor store, which he's convinced will be a sure money maker. The cast, nearly all reprising their roles from the original Broadway production, offers a collection of superb performances; also keep an eye peeled for a young Louis Gossett Jr. as George Murchison. While Daniel Petrie 's direction never takes A Raisin in the Sun very far from its roots as a stage play, it captures the power and tension of a strong ensemble cast working with an intelligent and moving script. — Mark Deming