Word: steiger
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Then into town comes a strange breed of Nigra (Sidney Poitier). He's just passing through, but at home in Philadelphia he is a "top homicide expert" on the police force. Steiger sees him as a perfect scapegoat, but the widow, recognizing the incompetence of Steiger's bumbling staff, demands that Poitier be put on the case. To Poitier this is an ironic challenge. He is uppity enough to welcome the chance to put on airs with impunity, and he proceeds to demolish Steiger's plan of attack with a gusto that borders on the sadistic. Thus...
...professionalism that eventually forges a bond between them. As Poitier zeroes in on the murderer, Steiger's resentment turns to childish awe, and finally to wary respect. It is Poitier who refuses to bend. In one scene he slaps a white man across the face and looses a stream of anti-white venom...
...Steiger can only marvel at such telling bigotry. "Why," he drawls, "you're no better than the rest...
...such shaky ground are the combatants met. Ultimately, after Poitier has braved a lynch mob and a gang of chain-swinging toughs on his way toward his goal, Steiger digs down to his inner resources and musters a jowly half-smile and handshake to send Poitier...
...used his camera to extract a cer tain rough-cut beauty from each protagonist. He has shown, furthermore, that men can join hands out of fear and hatred and shape from base emotions something identifiable as a kind of love. In this he is immeasurably helped by performances from Steiger and Poitier that break brilliantly with black-white stereotype...