My Favorite Sidney Poitier Movie

When I was a kid I loved to watch old movies on the weekends. In Connecticut we had the luxury of having three channels, 5, 9 and 11 which were not network channels so they played reruns, like “I love Lucy” and “Green Acres” and lots of old movies. One of my favorites was “To Sir, with Love” staring Sidney Poitier. I first saw in when I was in Junior high school and I was enamored and afraid of the tough British high school students all at the same time. Watching Sidney Poitier win over the students who had little respect for a black man was the ultimate good over evil, but with a big heart. When Lulu sang the title song I would sob. All those adolescent hormones would come pouring out watching that movie.

When I learned of Mr. Poitier’s passing on the news I kept hearing about his staring roles in “Guess who’s coming to dinner?” Or “The heat of the night,” great movies, but they did not hold a place in my childhood like “To sir, with love.”

I don’t think I have rewatched that movie since I left living on Ridgefield Rd. with all those independent TV channels. I am going to have to search it out and watch it now. Farewell to Sidney Poitier. He was a class act.