February 20

Happy Birthday to Gale Gordon and Sidney Poitier.

For Sidney Poitier's birthday I watched In the Heat of the Night and For Love of Ivy.

I could not get into the film In The Heat Of the Night. It was well acted by Sidney and Rod Stieger. It had great music by Quincy Jones and the opening song was sung by Ray Charles. I liked the photography, the POV of the camera would change from 3rd to 1st person. Once Rod knew that Sidney was a police officer, he gave him a little more respect, but didn't really believe his reasoning on what really happened. Sidney seemed a little wooden in his actinging, but it could be the character's way of being in control.

In For Love Of Ivy Sidney played an owner of a trucking company that was front for gambling. In this film, every emotion showed in his eyes. His first scene with Beau Bridges he doesn't show a lot of emotion, but you know exactly what he is thinking with his eyes. Ivy played by Abbey Lincoln is a 27 year old maid who wants to go leave the family she has worked for 9 years to go to the city to study as a secretary. The young people in the house decide to blackmail Sidney into going out with Ivy. Ivy falls in love with Sidney and then she finds out about the gambling and that Sidney was blackmailed to go out with her. She plans to leave the family and never see Sidney again. Sidney is in love with her and goes to get her in his truck with the gambling in the back. The truck circles around as Sidney tries to get Abbey to come with him. Sidney does convince her that he loves her and to go with him. As they get in a car to follow the truck, police stop the truck and arrest the people inside. Sidney get's away but promises to bail out is people.