A RAISIN IN THE SUN

"A Raisin in the Sun" is one of the great plays of the American Theatre, a kind of African-American "Death of a Salesman" that shows, not only the turmoil of one African-American family in Chicago, but goes on to recount the history of black people in America from the time of slavery to the time the play was written in the late fifties in language that is almost poetry. It was written by the 29 year old Lorraine Hansberry and was her only work of note; she would be dead within 5 years of this film version, (the song 'To Be Young, Gifted and Black' was written to honour her). 

This screen version isn't much of a film. As directed by Daniel Petrie it's hardly a film at all but at least it's an honourable recording of this great play, allowing millions of people the chance of seeing it, perhaps in the way Hansberry would have wanted since she herself did the screenplay. Petrie hardly ever opens it out beyond its one room set; a few flashy camera angles being as close as he comes to acknowledging we are watching a film and not a play while his decision to keep the original Broadway cast is a considerable bonus though admittedly the acting is often more theatrical than cinematic.

Sidney Poitier is magnificent as the son with big dreams of becoming a businessman unlike his labourer father. Diana Sands is the sister exploring her heritage with dreams of becoming a doctor and is the character most likely to be based on Hansberry and Ruby Dee, the wife who just longs for a home of her own and some peace in her marriage while Claudia McNeil is tremendous as the mother whose inheritance of a $10,000 insurance policy on her husband is the cause of most of the trouble in the family.



There are certainly melodramatic touches and at times you feel Hansberry has bitten off more than she can chew; there seems to be enough material here for two or three plays but the writing and here, the acting is all that it should be, making this an impressive addition to filmed theatre.