Movies
Pressure Point (UA 1962, Sidney Poitier, Bobby Darin)
This is an intelligent though sometimes convoluted drama based on a true story adapted from ‘The Fifty-Minute Hour’, a memoir by Dr. Robert M. Lindner. A prison psychiatrist (Sidney Poitier) has trouble treating a racist patient (Bobby Darin), who is also an active member of the American Nazi Party. The two clash after Poitier frees Darin’s mind and he prepares to be paroled. Darin and Poitier make a strong pairing.
Released in 1962, Pressure Point was the only film that year from a major Hollywood studio to feature an African-American actor – Sidney Poitier – in a lead role.
production details
USA | United Artists | 91 minutes | 1962
Director: Hubert Cornfield
Producer: Stanley Kramer
Original Story: Robert M. Linder
Director of Photography: Ernest Haller
Editing: Frederic L. Knudtson
Music: Ernest Gold
Script: Hubert Cornfield
Production Design: Rudolph Sternad
cast
Sidney Poitier as Doctor
Gilbert Green as Jewish Father
Howard Caine as Tavern Owner
Yvette Vickers as Drunken Woman (uncredited)
Bobby Darin as Patient
Peter Falk as Young Psychiatrist
Carl Benton Reid as Chief Medical Officer
Mary Munday as Bar Hostess
Lynn Loring as Jewish Girl
Butch Patrick as Imaginary Playmate (uncredited)