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Porgy and Bess is a american film of genre Drama directed by Otto Preminger released in USA on 24 june 1959 with Sidney Poitier
Porgy and Bess (1959)
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Add to a movie listReleased in USA 24 june 1959
Length 2h18
Directed by Otto Preminger
OriginUSA
Themes Films about music and musicians, Films about classical music and musicians, Jazz films, Musical films, Films based on plays, Films based on operas
Rating69%
Porgy and Bess is a 1959 American musical film directed by Otto Preminger. It is based on the 1935 opera of the same name by George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, and Ira Gershwin, which is in turn based on Heyward's 1925 novel Porgy, as well as Heyward's subsequent 1927 non-musical stage adaptation, co-written with his wife Dorothy. The screenplay for the film, which turned the operatic recitatives into spoken dialogue, was very closely based on the opera and was written by N. Richard Nash.
The project was the last for Samuel Goldwyn. Due to its controversial subject matter, the film was shown only briefly following its initial reserved seat engagements in major cities, where it drew mixed reviews from critics. Two months after its release, Goldwyn grudgingly conceded, "No one is waiting breathlessly for my next picture."
In 2011, the film was chosen for inclusion in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.
Synopsis
Set in the early 1900s in the fictional Catfish Row section of Charleston, South Carolina, which serves as home to a black fishing community, the story focuses on the titular characters, crippled beggar Porgy, who travels about in a goat-drawn cart, and the drug-addicted Bess, who lives with stevedore Crown, the local bully. While high on cocaine supplied by Sportin' Life, Crown kills Robbins after the latter vanquishes him in a craps game; Bess urges Crown to flee. Sportin' Life suggests she accompany him to New York City, an offer Bess declines. She seeks refuge with her neighbors, all of whom refuse to help her. Porgy finally agrees to let her stay with him.Actors
Sidney Poitier
(Porgy)
Dorothy Dandridge
(Bess)
Sammy Davis Jr.
(Sportin' Life)
Pearl Bailey
(Maria)
Diahann Carroll
(Clara)
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