8/28/2005
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No Way Out with Sidney Poitier (d. Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950) The movie peaks at two different points. First a race riot erupts in a claustrophobic warehouse--setting looked like trench warfare but with trenches built from discarded furniture and household goods! Then later a hostage scene focuses on a bigoted criminal descending into madness. "Maybe one day someone can do an autopsy on you to figure out what is wrong with your brain." The film is a milestone for Hollywood grappling with civil rights, but here racism is contained by individuals. We get no sense that anything is amiss with the institutions that the characters inhabit. In fact the new doctor Poitier claims the testers for his medical certification had no idea about his race because he was simply required to "take a number."

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