Pressure Point (Sidney Poitier) (MGM)

Sidney Poitier and Bobby Darin were great actors in this film. AFTER watching it, I read the critics' reviews and disagree. I was immersed and thoroughly enjoyed this psychological movie. Not a thriller, but a very good movie!

Sydney is the best at taking on the world no matter what the odds, in all that I know of his life in general.

I was apprehensive initially watching this film. I had never heard of it which is very unusual because I'm a conosure of film and I love Mr, Poiter's work. This was a tour de force in the psychology of hate. It should be a study of the humanity or inhumanity of man and is so relevant now in 2025

"Pressure Point" contains two bravura performances. One is hardly a surprise: it's given by award-winning actor and screen legend Sidney Poitier, who plays a principled prison psychologist with characteristic dignity and aplomb. The other is an unexpected tour-de-force delivered by Bobby Darin, who is perhaps best remembered for his singing talents rather than his acting chops. Darin plays a racist, anti-Semitic prisoner who has embraced Nazism, and has been jailed on a charge of sedition. When Poitier is assigned the task of delving into Darin's mental and emotional history, the two men enter into a volatile relationship that eventually strips away their psychological defenses, setting the stage for a raw and bitter final confrontation. Produced by Stanley Kramer, the film is ably directed by Hubert Cornfield and strikingly photographed by veteran cinematographer Ernest Haller, who had won an Oscar for his work on "Gone With the Wind" and whose previous film had been the stylish "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane". Ernest Gold's fine jazz score contributes immensely to the film's impact, and the title sequence is a work of art in itself, as is the film's provocative theatrical trailer. "Pressure Point" is still a topical film today. It wasn't a commercial success when first released, although it did receive some excellent reviews and even garnered a Golden Globe nomination for Bobby Darin as Best Actor in a Leading Role (Drama). Highly recommended to fans of Poitier and Darin, and to those viewers who relish superbly produced and performed psychological and sociological dramas.

blu ray didn't work. got message saying "will not work on this device" (sony dvd player.

This is truly a hidden gem among Poitier’s performances, and Bobby Darin’s performance is spectacular. I knew Bobby could sing, but I didn’t know he could act. Poitier is an African American prison psychologist during the segregation era. He encounters racism and opposition in this highly charged movie, but he also is given the job of trying to help a violent and twisted prisoner played by Darin. Poitier realizes that the inmate he is supposed to help, has no remedial qualities. Not going to spoil the movie but Wow! Just wow!

I love all of Sidney Poitier's movies! This one was very good. The DVD was in perfect condition and deliverced quickly. I recommend it.

I really enjoyed this movie and would recommend it to any Bobby Darin or Sydney Poitier fan. They both did an excellent job during a time when civil rights issuex were highly controversial. I was a young married woman when the movie was made so knew full well just how accurately the times were portrayed. I am an avid Bobby Darin fan and also love Mr. Poitier's work, as well! So happy you offered this movie!

What if the person you want to (or have to) help represents all that you despise? I have put that maybe too strongly, for effect. But that's what it amounts to when prison psychologist Sidney Poitier (excellent of course) tries to help the incarcerated "America First Nazi member" (played by the equally wonderful Bobby Darin) who has night terrors and sleeplessness and panic attacks and doesn't know why. The reviewers of this DVD below have written excellently esp the ones from USA, so I am not sure that I can offer much more besides but heres a couple of extra points, and reasons to watch this excellent film:- Darin plays a figure who must have repelled him as he was such a strong liberal in real life but he does it tremendously well. This is why he was such a loss to the world. I would have loved to see him in more movies Its another great Stanley Kramer movie, the man who made so many great social cause films It enters the mind of the fascist / racist in an attempt to try to see why he is like this, what caused it. It recognises that the abuser is so often formed (or rather deformed) by abuse in some way or another

Lovely dvd

Good movie.