One Potato, Two Potato

I just finished watching One Potato Two Potato, which TCM aired. The film is terrific, and by today's standards, it still holds up as a film that resonates emotionally and socially. Without saying too much about what happens, I'll just say that I was simply stunned by the film overall. I'm so glad to have seen it. I'm still affected by what I just saw. Anyone who isn't moved by OPTP is surely in need of a heart transplant. This was a great vehicle for actress Barbara Barrie. And the little girl who plays her daughter is top drawer. Such a good movie!

I first saw this movie in film class, and was so moved by it that I taped it off the independent Film Channel when they showed it, and watched it twice since. And, it still makes me cry every time I watch it. First, I've never seen a movie so understated about its anger. In this regard Barbara Barrie and Bernie Hamilton are both so good that I don't know the right words to describe it. Second, the girl is not Hollywood "cute", she's not a smarty pants; she is 100% genuine. Third, the Judge is so slick and evil although he comes across so nice just like every Southern judge I have met in real life. My film teacher told me if she could pick one film to give someone the truth of what this country was all about in the early '60's, One Potato Two Potato would be that film. And the love story between Hamilton and Barrie is so real and beset with pain and passion that I can really relate to them.

I am 74 yrs old and remember seeing this at around 40 with some friends..left the theater sobbing and will always remember it. Too bad we can't see these movies on TV - very thought-provoking. Has anyone else seen and remembered this movie, or am I the only one alive who remembers it?

Maybe it was the racially charged era of the early Civil Rights struggle, or maybe it was because I was a young mother with a child the same age as the one in the movie, but this was one of the most powerful movies I have ever scene. Today, 40 years later, I am still moved whenever I see Barbara Barrie, even if it is in a situation comedy on TV. Certainly, she captured the role of the white mother married to a black man in a racist society. All the other actors performed admirably, the actor playing the second husband was appealing. It was believable that a co-worker would have found him attractive and would have fallen in love, even given the tenor of the times. While the writing may have presented the story a bit "over the top", this movie went beyond civil rights "propaganda", and presented real people dealing with a difficult situation. It certainly was real to me....I had to be led out of the cinema in tears when it ended. A high recommendation!!!

Viewed this movie in the sixties and never forgot the court ruling on the custody of a white child. This movie explores romance between a divorced white woman with a Black man, their interracial marriage and the short-sighted ruling by a judge on the effect of a white child being raised and loved in an interracial household v. custody being returned to her biological father who has had no relationship with his child since birth. Opinions of family members, clergy and friends are explored, also racial intolerance . So sensitive is this work of art with a most heart wrenching, conclusion. I searched for this movie for years and have finally found it (DVD format)for sale at LEARMEDIA.COM