Separate But Equal

It is educational...and as someone that works in history, I can see a teacher wanting to be lazy and using "Separate But Equal" as an excuse for it...

...but I doubt I'd ever do it. I'd want my students to form an interest in movies based on historical events.

I don't know what Poitier was thinking. Watching the mini-series anyone that read the script should have instantly gotten that "made for TV crap" vibe off it.

I gave it 5 stars. I mean, I can sit down and watch and enjoy it...but I can also read and enjoy Herzen's autobiography. I am a freak of nature that can enjoy some horribly dull things.

It's not only impossible to shake that made-for-TV vibe...but on top of it, it feels like you're watching a Lifetime Original Movie.

If you can deal with that, it's worth a watch. Otherwise there are Civil Rights movies that actually know how to make such a dramatic part of American History actually dramatic on the screen.

When making a film about the historic Brown vs. Board of Education case, who would be the obvious choice to play civil rights icon Thurgood Marshall? If you answered Sidney Poitier, you agreed with the casting director of Separate But Equal. The movie chronicles the journey in the 1950s for racial equality and desegregation in the school system.

In his final film, Burt Lancaster plays John W. Davis. Richard Kiley plays Chief Justice Earl Warren, and he—and Sidney—were nominated for Golden Globes that year. Joining the supporting cast are Cleavon Little, Gloria Foster, John McMartin, Graham Beckel, and Lynne Thigpen. George Stevens Jr.'s script is something to be admired, since he tried very hard to make it historically accurate and interesting to television audiences. It's not the best American history movie ever made, and it's certainly not a good choice if you've never seen a Sidney Poitier or Burt Lancaster movie, but if you know your history and want to watch a three-hour tribute to this slice of Americana, go ahead and rent it. It does feel pretty cheesy at times, and Sidney Poitier tends to overact more often than not in his scenes, but overall, it's a great movie for high school students to watch as an addendum to their curriculum.

Separate but Equal is a great movie depicting the tragedy of the time of racial segregation in schools and the steps which these men from the NAACP took to correct it. The movie has great acting and intense speech emotion but sinks into the wordiness and vocabulary which lawyers and judges use and leaves the audience scratching their heads or reading the dictionary. Nevertheless, the movie has great speeches and facts as well as events suitable in a history-documentary. Great movie to sit by and try to teach yourself to be a lawyer.

It's the dramatization of the case Brown v. Board of Education. It starts with a need for a bus and ends with the finish of segregation. This is a two-part series totalling three hours of television. Sidney Poitier plays NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall who would go on to become a Supreme Court judge.

I am not always a fan of courtroom dramas especially when the result is already known. The court case part may be informative but not the most dramatic. It is everything around the court case that is truly fascinating. The plaintiffs' stories are interesting. Nowadays, this case is taken as a given, but it's not a given at the time. This is educational and sometimes compelling TV.

The usually restrained Sidney Poitier really hams it up during his courtroom speeches (was Thurgood Marshall that dynamic?) but is excellent anyway. And the little seen Gloria Foster, superb as the Oracle in "The Matrix", is wonderful as Marshall's ailing wife. Educational, semi-documentary, but good stuff.