For Love of Ivy (1968)

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Blistering performances.

This is a sweet romantic love story. The acting is superb! Beau Bridges is awesome in this movie, and so funny - I cracked up! Sidney Portier, Abbey Lincoln, Carrol O'Conner and the rest are all really good in this film. Sidney is so handsome in this movie, and Abbey so beautiful. It's one of my favorite love stories along with the original About Last Night (with Demi Moore), Pride & Prejudice (with Kiera Knightly), Guess Who's coming to Dinner, and Until September. I will always own these 5 movies because all of them are such sweet romantic love stories, and the acting is great in all of these movies.

Sidney Poitier made some films that have become largely forgotten over the course of his career. When you've made over 40 films in your initial run, pre-first retirement, then there's naturally going to be some that slip through the cracks. And today it seems hardly anyone talks about Brother John, The Lost Man, Good-bye My Lady or Virgin Island. But what could perhaps be surprising is that the film he made right off the back of his biggest commercial success should be so overlooked today.In 1967 Sidney Poitier was the most successful box office star in the world with three big hits in cinemas. Just one year later and he's only got one release, this stagily-directed semi-farce based on Poitier's own storyline. The main theme sees Poitier play possibly his most dislikeable character, arrogant businessman Jack Parks, match-made against his will with a black maid seeking some form of personal empowerment. The film concludes with a title song, informing us that what that empowerment amounts to is the need for love. That's right... although the film touches on themes of emancipation and black pride over the course of its runtime, it turns out all the titular Ivy needed all along was a good shag. Chief matchmaker Beau Bridges does the best with what he's got as a representative of the 60s counterculture, but his stoner fixations seem today, like the main subtext of the movie, somewhat quaint and parochial; patronising rather than groundbreaking. Look out also for Parks' angered expression when Bridges' characters asks if he's gay, or the confused and confusing monologue from Bridges at the end.However, such flaws are perhaps not always that of the movie; this was the first depiction of a romantic relationship between a black man and woman in mainstream Hollywood, and was quite groundbreaking for its time. It was just four years after this movie that Poitier had a go at directing himself... you do wonder if this was more than a coincidence, as the TV Movie style framing here makes the direction of Guess Who's Coming To Dinner look like the work of Scorcese. Ultimately it's a film that hasn't aged well, and a poor follow-up to his three '67 vehicles... though it may not have been so at the time.

A family tires to match a maid to a trucking company president.The first 15 minutes of the film is painful to watch. But maybe that's the point. I was about to through this disc out of the truck Then I found out Sidney Portier is a trucking company president. So I watched the rest of the movie,painful parts and all. It ended up being a pretty cool movie.Mr Portier ends up with the girl at the end. The racket he came up with was pretty ingenious. The wrighting and acting in this film are pretty good.Hugh Hurd drives the White big rig.Hugh Hurd was a permanent A list actor.Abbey Lincoln and Nan Martin was hot!!Lauri Peters is hot!!---One Truck Drivers Opinion---erldwgstruckermovies.com

I do understand the social importance of this film. It is refreshing to see this period of film-making tell a novel story where the lead characters are black and involved in a romantic plot line. I get it. That being said, the screenplay is over the top and heavy-handed; clubbing us over the head with the sentiment of "See, blacks are cool, suave, and sophisticated." As a result, the plot is flimsy, awkward, and often confusing. We are expected to follow the story without ever really getting to know any of the characters, again with way too much emphasis on the situation. And, sorry to say, the acting is somewhat tragic. A weak performance by the BRILLIANT Poitier and Abbey Lincoln is beautiful but boring and flat. Weird direction also accompanies the players; odd angles and points of view that only distract. Beau Bridges turns in the most interesting performance and does the best he can do with what he is given; specifically the nonsensical monologue he is given at the end of the film. The most interesting thing about the film is that it does give us a peek into the somewhat decadent and experimental social aspects of 60's nightlife. The scene in the club is very intriguing!