For Love of Ivy

Storyline

For Love of Ivy, A white family has had the same black maid for many years. When she tells them she wants to go back to school and will be leaving soon, the 20ish-year-old son decides what she needs is a change and begins searching for a man to wine her, dine her, but who won’t marry her thinking that this will turn her aside from her plans. The man he finds doesn’t entirely cooperate.

Enjoyable Family Fare!

For Love of Ivy, I wish they were still making movies like this. The dialog is dated and so is the reaction to the son’s marriage proposal to Ivy, but I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Sidney and Abbey made “acting” look like art. Abbey Lincoln exuded elegance, poise, common sense and a good sense of humor. Sidney is always classy in whatever role he portrays.

I liked the Austin family too. They seemed to genuinely care about their housekeeper and seemed ahead of their time in terms of their views on race and class. They really meant well even when they said the wrong thing to Ivy, and didn’t seem to realize that she wanted a better life for herself, a home of her own and a family of her own just as they did. Why should she be their “maid” until she died and be satisfied with that? Ivy wanted to pursue American Dream just like all of us do. Even the son who really seemed to care about her was selfish and wanted to trick her into staying under the guise of having her best interests at heart.

Great Sidney Poitier Story

This is a great film starring Sidney Poiter as Jack Parks, who runs a gambling racket in a large van which is always on the move and he is beloved by all kinds of females who find him very attractive and sexy. It just so happens that a White family has a female Black female servant named Ivy Moore, (Abbey Lincoln) who is very attractive and has been with the family for over nine years of service. Ivey decides she wants to leave their employ and the family becomes very upset and Mr. Frank Austin, (Carroll O’Connor) decides something has to be done to keep Ivy from leaving. The family arranges for Ivy to meet Jack Parks who is a friend of the family and desires to become a match making family to get these two people together in order to keep their family maid still in the family service. There is plenty of comedy and funny situations which makes this a great story created by Sidney Poitier and he gives an outstanding performance along with a great supporting actress, Abbey Lincoln. Enjoy.

They Call Me Mister Tibbs