A Warm December

Plot

The second directorial effort from Academy award-winning actor Sidney Poitier, this romantic drama is about widowed American doctor Matt Younger (Poitier) who travels to London with his daughter, Stefanie (Yvette Curtis). There, he meets Catherine (Esther Anderson), the daughter of African Ambassador George Oswandu (Earl Cameron). A romance develops between them, and Dr. Younger realizes that the strange men that follow Catherine around have been hired by her father in order to keep an eye on her sickle cell anemia. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Review

A Warm December was something of a breakthrough when it was first released, in that it was a mainstream film in which black actors were at last able to suffer nobly in the same way that white performers had been doing for some time. In 1973, this was enough to make December mildly diverting, but nowadays it seems awfully quaint and far too contrived. If one substitutes "unnamed incurable disease" for "sickle cell," there's simply no real difference between December and dozens of other movies. Granted, December does boast a fine performance from Sidney Poitier, though at 50 he is a bit long in the tooth for this role. And it does give Esther Anderson a chance to blaze across the screen, making a very fine impression (and looking absolutely stunning). And there are some other delights in the performers, including young Yvette Curtis and the very interesting singer Letta Mbulu. But Poitier's direction is only slightly less predictable than the script; it works, bringing about the requisite tears and tugging at the emotions as it's supposed to, but one wishes it were all done with a bit more imagination. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

Cast

• Sidney Poitier - Dr. Matt Younger
• Esther Anderson - Catherine

George Baker - Henry Barlow; John Beardmore - Burberry; Earl Cameron - Ambassador George Oswandu; Hilary Crane - Marsha Barlow; Yvette Curtis - Stefanie Younger; Milos Kirek - Gen. Kuznovski; Letta Mbulu - Club Singer; Johnny Sekka - Ambassador's Aide; Stephanie Smith - Janie Barlow; Ann Smith - Carol Barlow

Credit

Elliot Scott - Art Director, David Tomblin - First Assistant Director, Sidney Poitier - Director, Pembroke J. Herring - Editor, Peter Pitt - Editor, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson - Composer (Music Score), W.T. Partleton - Makeup, Derek V. Browne - Camera Operator, Paul Beeson - Cinematographer, Douglas Twiddy - Production Manager, Melville Tucker - Producer, Norman Reynolds - Set Designer, Claude Hitchcock - Sound/Sound Designer, Gordon K. McCallum - Sound/Sound Designer, Lawrence Roman - Screenwriter

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