Containing the Wonder Doctor: Sidney Poitier, the Cold War, and Liberal Reformation

Abstract:This article examines Sidney Poitier's role as a black male cultural icon during the Cold War, arguing that his Cold War context both restricted and enabled Poitier's career as a black American actor. By analyzing four of his films, All the Young Men (dir. Hall Bartlett, 1960), Lilies of the Field (dir. Ralph Nelson, 1963), The Bedford Incident (dir. James B. Harris, 1965), and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (dir. Stanley Kramer, 1967), the article concludes that Poitier was an American cultural symbol whose films were a form of soft propaganda that simultaneously upheld a positive international image of American democracy while also challenging American domestic racial discrimination in the film industry. Poitier's role as an image-builder for American liberalism is testified to by the aesthetic choices of the films and the history of their being screened among international audiences. The article also contextualizes these films within Cold War cultural discourse by looking at their production and reception histories and by examining Poitier's own reflections on his acting career.