A Warm December

Director: Sidney Poitier Sidney Poitier

Overview

The second directorial effort from Academy award-winning actor Sidney Poitier, this romantic drama is about widowed American doctor Matt Younger (Poitier) who travels to London with his daughter, Stefanie (Yvette Curtis). There, he meets Catherine (Esther Anderson), the daughter of African Ambassador George Oswandu (Earl Cameron). A romance develops between them, and Dr. Younger realizes that the strange men that follow Catherine around have been hired by her father in order to keep an eye on her sickle cell anemia.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/29/2017
UPC:	0888574535438
Original Release:	1973
Rating:	PG
Source:	Warner Archives
Language:	English
Time:	1:41:00
Sales rank:	3,198

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Sidney Poitier	Actor
Esther Anderson	Actor,Actor
George Baker	Actor
Yvette Curtis	Actor
Earl Cameron	Ambassador George Oswandu
Johnny Sekka	Myomo
Hilary Crane	Marsha Barlow
John Beardmore	Burberry
Milos Kirek	Gen. Kuznovski
Ann Smith	Carol Barlow,Janie Barlow
Letta Mbulu	Club Singer
Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson	Composer

Technical Credits

Sidney Poitier	Director
Melville Tucker	Producer
Gordon McCallum	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

A Warm December was something of a breakthrough when it was first released, in that it was a mainstream film in which black actors were at last able to suffer nobly in the same way that white performers had been doing for some time. In 1973, this was enough to make December mildly diverting, but nowadays it seems awfully quaint and far too contrived. If one substitutes "unnamed incurable disease" for "sickle cell," there's simply no real difference between December and dozens of other movies. Granted, December does boast a fine performance from Sidney Poitier, though at 50 he is a bit long in the tooth for this role. And it does give Esther Anderson a chance to blaze across the screen, making a very fine impression (and looking absolutely stunning). And there are some other delights in the performers, including young Yvette Curtis and the very interesting singer Letta Mbulu. But Poitier's direction is only slightly less predictable than the script; it works, bringing about the requisite tears and tugging at the emotions as it's supposed to, but one wishes it were all done with a bit more imagination.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler