Synopsis
Set in the early 1900s in the fictional Catfish Row section of Charleston, South Carolina, which serves as home to a black fishing community, the story focuses on the titular characters, crippled beggar Porgy, who travels about in a goat-drawn cart, and the drug-addicted Bess, who lives with stevedore Crown, the local bully.
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Cast
- Sidney PoitierPorgy
- Dorothy DandridgeBess
- Sammy Davis Jr.Sportin' Life
- Pearl BaileyMaria
- Brock PetersCrowne
- Diahann CarrollClara
- Leslie ScottJake
- Ruth AttawaySerena Robbins
- Claude AkinsDetective
- Clarence MusePeter
Recommendations
- 90
The New York Times
Almost a quarter of a century after its initial performance on the stage (and seventeen years after the revival that really established it), this most haunting of American musical dramas has been transmitted on the screen in a way that does justice to its values and almost compensates for the long wait. - 80
TV Guide Magazine
A simple story carried into the stratosphere by the glorious music. - 70
Variety
As screen entertainment, Porgy and Bess retains most of the virtues and some of the libretto traits of the folk opera. - 40
Film Threat
Rarely has a film been cast with so many gifted performers who are either wrong for their roles or are given nothing to do.
