Thursday, September 4th: The Defiant Ones (1958)

Nominated for eight Academy Awards - including Best Picture and Best Actor for both Poitier and Curtis - The Defiant Ones stars Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis as two escaped prisoners in the American South who are shackled together and must cooperate to survive. Director Stanley Kramer was a liberal movie icon, making many of Hollywood’s most famous “message films,” including Inherit the Wind. The Defiant Ones premiered at the 8^th Berlin International Film Festival, where Poitier took home the Silver Bear for Best Actor. At the time, Variety wrote, “The theme of The Defiant Ones is that what keeps men apart is their lack of knowledge of one another… The performances by Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier are virtually flawless.”