Movie: Edge of the City (Martin Ritt, 1957)
I saw In the Heat of the Night a long time ago and liked it, but aside from Sidney Poitier slapping Rod Steiger, I don't recall any of it. Having now seen Paris Blues and Edge of the City, it may be time for a revisit, as it appears I've been having a rather wrong impression of Poitier. Most of what I know about him and his cultural imprint comes from peripheral sources, such as Denzel Washington's reverence for him and writings about black actors and movies shaped by him, and about the Civil Right Movement's influence on American culture. Through all of this, I somehow absorbed that Poitier was a gravely serious actor of solemn dignity. In Edge of the City, that couldn't be further from the truth. He is so effortlessly cool here that he manages to give a distinct personality to a terribly underwritten role that basically turns him into John Cassavetes' personal Jiminy Cricket.
Cassavetes and Poitier play Axel Nordmann and Tommy Tyler, two dockworkers in New York. Axel is the kind of guy that was almost invented by American movies of the 50's: a lost young man alienated by the values of the old generation and without a clue how to shape his own. He is now running away from a troubled past and an equally troubled relationship with his parents (living in a comfortable house in smalltown Indiana), unable to settle down and keep a job anywhere because of the chip on his shoulder. His first instinct is to always mistrust his fellow man and to start every conversation as if he is on the brink of a fight. Tommy befriends him and patiently guids him through life, comforting him, and providing him with a job and a potential romantic partner, without ever putting his own needs first. Tommy's easily palatable nobility is countered by Poitier who plays him with an irreverent zest that makes the friendship feel realistic. Axel's anti-authoritarian attitude matches perfectly with Tommy's restless energy, his penchant for sarcasm and irony, and the excitement he gets out of a dirty joke, a cool tune, or a flirt with his wife (Ruby Dee, also giving a really good performance). Poitier creates the impression that Tommy's selfless protectiveness is simply an accidental byproduct of his spontaneous and expressive personality, rather than a blunt screenwriting device.
The film's ending is quite interesting too. Just looking at it narratively, it further complicates its comforting view of race. However, Ritt's visual choices in the final scene, in combination with the score (which is overbearing for most of the movie anyway, and completely misguided during its conclusion) communicate that we are now to see Axel as an iconic working class hero, which doesn't fit and whitewashes the character a bit too much. Moreover, this finale is tonally completely off. It feels tacked on to add dramatic heft to a movie that doesn't need it - its lighthearted looseness is its greatest quality. As in Paris Blues, Ritt is at his best when he is just filming two friends and their lovers infectiously hanging out together in a lively lovely city.
