1974
‘Uptown Saturday Night’
Many of the black-themed movies that filled American theaters in the 1970s were raunchy and R-rated, but Poitier had hits at the time with three PG caper comedies, which he directed and starred with Bill Cosby and a large number of A-list African American entertainers. The first in this standalone trilogy was “Uptown Saturday Night,” in which Poitier and Cosby play buddies who spend the night walking around their neighborhood — encountering colorful characters played by the likes of Belafonte, Flip Wilson, and Richard Pryor — as they search are to a stolen lot.
Rent or buy it on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu or YouTube.
1975
‘The Wilby Conspiracy’
One of Poitier’s first feature films was a 1951 adaptation of Alan Paton’s bestseller, ‘Cry, the Beloved Country’, an unusually progressive account of the horrors of South African apartheid. Poitier returned to that theme 24 years later with “The Wilby Conspiracy,” a chase thriller in which he plays a revolutionary on the run from authorities with a sympathetic white buddy (played by Michael Caine). While it’s essentially an action shot, the film does a good job of bringing injustice to life. Poitier and Caine would later team up again for the 1997 TV movie ‘Mandela and de Klerk’, which dramatized the final days of apartheid.
Stream it on Tubi; rent or buy it on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play or YouTube.
1992
‘Sneakers’
Poitier made some mind-boggling professional choices in the ’80s and ’90s, when he rarely acted, directing more than his fair share of duds. But it’s hard to blame him for starring in the teamwork adventure comedy “Sneakers” alongside Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, David Strathairn, and River Phoenix. A former CIA agent assisting a team of well-meaning super-hackers, Poitier makes good use of his iconic on-screen presence, one of the last sparks of 1960s idealism in an increasingly synthetic era.
Rent or buy it on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu or YouTube.
1999
‘The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn’
One of Poitier’s last film appearances was in this 1999 TV movie, in which he plays an intensely private, self-sufficient, elderly Georgian whose mental prowess is questioned when he refuses to sell his land. Noah Dearborn is the kind of character Poitier has played throughout his career — skilled, stubborn, and deeply decent — but it says something about how the culture changed during his lifetime that his race is no longer the defining element of his story. That’s a direct result of how Poitier spent his career defying stereotypes and fighting to bring layered black individuals to the screen.
Stream it on IMDbtv; rent or buy it on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu or YouTube.
