A Raisin in the Sun

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Cast & Crew

Sidney Poitier
Walter Lee Younger

Claudia McNeil
Lena Younger

Ruby Dee
Ruth Younger

Diana Sands
Beneatha Younger

Ivan Dixon
Asagai

John Fiedler
Mark Lindner

Louis Gossett Jr.
George Murchison

Stephen Perry
Travis Younger

Joel Fluellen
Bobo

Roy Glenn
Willie Harris

Daniel Petrie
Director

David Susskind
Producer

Philip Rose
Producer

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Critic Reviews for A Raisin in the Sun

Audience Reviews for A Raisin in the Sun

• Oct 10, 2011

  In tenth grade, I did not appreciate "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry. In fact, I found it quite boring. Ten years later, I was deeply moved to tears. It's about a hard-working black family with big dreams living in a crowded apartment in Chicago. One day, they get an insurance check in the mail for $10,000 and their lives will change forever. Incredible performances by every single actor.
  Dannielle A Super Reviewer
• May 03, 2011

  It deals, in a very touching way, with issues that test all real life families regardless of their ethnicity or economical background. The strong morality of the family matriarch who tries to lessen their children's rebellious and contestatary attitude towards an unfair society
  Pierluigi P Super Reviewer
• Oct 15, 2010

  Lorranine Hansberry's moving Broadway play is expertly brought to the sliver screen by director Daniel Petire, it concerns the Youngers, a Negro family attempting to break away from their small crowded ghetto apartment in Chicago, due to a $10,000 life insurance check from their late father. Walter Lee played superbly by Sidney Poitier in a truly impressive performance wants to invest the money in a liquor store with some of his partner friends. Lena his widowed mother, played brilliantly with authority and compassion by Claudia McNeil want to buy a house, and give the rest of the money to her daughter Beneatha, played wonderfully by Diana Sands so she could complete her medical school, Lena totally refuses to put any of the money in Walter Lee's liquor store dream. Walter Lee is left agonizing over his mother's decision, and is shocked to fine out that his wife, played by Rudy Dee in a wonderfully radiant and heartfelt performance is expecting a new child, Walter Lee takes the money and is ripped off by one of his partners, leave him with nothing, which now threatens to tear his family apart. It is practically a photographed play, adhering closely to the original, the dialogue is pungent and direct, thanks to Hansberry's outstanding screenplay from her own play. Their are superlative supporting performances by Ivan Dixon, Louis Gossett Jr, Stephen Perry, John Fiedler, Joel Fluellen. Roy E. Glenn Sr. and Ray Studds. A richly detailed slice of life, and a rewarding cinematic experience. Highly Recommended.
  Danny R Super Reviewer
• Feb 22, 2010

  A Raisin in the Sun was the first african-american play written by an african-american to appear on broadway, but how does it translate to the big screen? There seems to be very little change in the film adaptation of the stage play (in fact, most of the cast was brought directly from the stage production to hollywood in order to utilize their performances). Indeed, the direction could've been set on auto-pilot and the same film would have resulted. A Raisin in the Sun feels like a play slapped onto film one night, there's no special effort for film invested in either the direction, sets or general production. Sidney Poitier stars as Walter Younger, a man who, along with his wife and young son, live a day-to-day existence in a cramped apartment along with Walter's sister (Diana Sands) and mother (Claudia McNeil). Walter is a chauffeur who dreams of starting his own business. After his father dies, his mother comes into an insurance settlement of ten thousand dollars, and Walter has big plans for that money. Those plans are most often thwarted by his sister Beneatha, who's attending school with the intention of becoming a doctor, and sees the money as a ticket to medical school. The wife and mother seem to be two of a kind, as they serve as mediators in the family scuffles. The wife seems to have nothing but patience for a man who continually dismisses her as nothing more than a nuisance in his life. In fact, Poitier's Walter is quite the disgusting character, a slightly less warped version of A Streetcar Named Desire's Stanley. Sister Beneatha is no less reprehensible, and I'm hard-pressed to think up (off the top of my head, anyway) a more self-righteously self-obsessed character in the world of film. The only truly sympathetic (and realistic) character in the film is Mama. She's an earthy, good-souled woman who can't understand what went wrong with her children, that they should lack so much empathy for their own family members. The matriarch of the family feels authentic, the rest of the characters are just that: characters (to be fair, alot of plays don't ring true to my ears, sometimes the dialogue given to actors seems grandiose, as if the writer were imagining shakespearean drama rather than their own work). But what of the central theme of the play/film? What moral or platitude does the writer seek to imbue upon the viewer? There doesn't seem to be one in this film, other than the tacked-on side plot involving racism. The story/play/film of A Raisin in the Sun may have inspired a whole host of 1970s television (Good Times, The Jeffersons, etc.), but doesn't really elevate itself beyond a standard episode of such sitcoms. It's thoroughly watchable yet unfortunately forgettable.
  Devon B Super Reviewer

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