The Criterion Channel: February Highlights
The cinema-rich streamer showcases the works of Melvin Van Peebles and Harry Belafonte for Black History Month.
The Criterion Channel is a treasure trove of cinematic content that consistently adds value to its bounty. Every month, the cinema-oriented streamer creates new themed buckets to showcase genres, stars, and directors. And for Black History Month, they’ve mined a literal pile of gems.
The trailblazing Harry Belafonte is celebrated in an assortment of seven films, including Gerald Mayer’s Bright Road (1953), Robert Wise’s Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), and 1974’s comedy Uptown Saturday Night, which the actor and singer directed. That film, in particular, is notable for its cast, which includes Belafonte, Sidney Poitier, Flip Wilson, Richard Pryor, Calvin Lockhart, Roscoe Lee Browne, and Bill Cosby.
Also on the bill, Robert Altman’s 1996 jazz-noir Kansas City, in which Belafonte plays a gangster named “Seldom Seen.” The film also stars Jennifer Jason Leigh, Miranda Richardson, and Steve Buscemi.
The channel is also highlighting the innovative independent works of Melvin Van Peebles, a one-man creative force who often starred in, wrote, directed, and composed his films.
Of the four entries, the most notable are Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971), in which a Black man outruns white police authorities (the score, by Van Peebles, was performed by Earth, Wind & Fire) and Watermelon Man (1970), a renowned social comedy starring Godfrey Cambridge and Estelle Parsons, in which a white bigot wakes up to find his skin has turned Black.
Also on tap: The Harder They Come (1972), featuring reggae artist Jimmy Cliff as a singer who faces down corruption in Jamaica’s music industry. The film includes supplemental commentary by Cliff, director Perry Henzell, and the founder of Island Records, Chris Blackwell.
The channel is also featuring the 1978 version of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile in advance of the remake from Kenneth Branaugh. Peter Ustinov, in the role of Hercule Poirot, heads an all-star cast that includes Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, Mia Farrow, David Niven, and Angela Lansbury.
Finally, the sudsy, color-drenched melodramas of Douglas Sirk are showcased with four of the German-born director’s most famous works: Magnificent Obsession (1954), All That Heaven Allows (1955), Written on the Wind (1956), and Imitation of Life (1959).
To subscribe, visit www.criterionchannel.com.
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