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By AL RUTLEDGEPerhaps only the British could do it. Mayoe it's just that American movie makers are as lousy at handling the subject iir celluloid as they are handling it in real life.Whatever the reason the movie 4‘Two Gentlemen Sharing” put*--white-thinking black people and polka dot -thinking white people under their proper title.The black star of the movie,-Hal Frederick, calls it Crap just a lot of • crap” and that dear reader is what it Is.All of the characters of the movie staring, Robin Phillips as the pathetically lost white liberal and Judy Gee-con as the I Know the score white chick” (Every Integrated theme has one), pay their roles well.One cannot help being concerned with the problems confronting two young. men one black, on6 white, sharing an apartment in London.Especially when, from tne outset, the neighbors frown and the landlady congratulates the white youth “for doing such a splendid thing.” _His sincerity soon comes under question when his pardner in the ad agency where he works pumps him for a chance to get. with a ‘spade* chick. He of course makes it possible through lys roommate who believes.. os he tells hiis girl, He’s all right.” (When will we ever learn?)• #• Thojq? Is a certain- 'Sincerityir Stobirr^Pttillips’ performance as a stable white -Englishman:—-------He manages to relay the feeling that he really wished there was something he could do but doing something would mean changing his life imd that he proves he’s not willing to do.Therefore he stops wishing he could do something. Miss Geeson plays the white girl whose foster parents are black.But she appears to be satisfied with the arrangement except that she makes an obvious effort not to become closely associated with the •‘black neighbors. The black stars of ‘ tWmovie are friends and that makes them different.And then comes thesex which after all is where all things male and female are heading anyway. But when Frederick and his girl make love and they are apparently annoying the entire neighborhood and the landlady tells them they had better stop it (which is what they do). *To add a little novelty to the sex liveS of the characters there is a black dancer who happens to be homosexual and attracted to Mr. Phillips.For reasons of his own he believes the young white is attracted to him. (One never knows).The movie rapidly becomes one great huge mixture of real life situations where all of the play scenes become serious scenes and you, can feel how terrible it must be to be white and hide from the truth tfs Robin Phillips does. .. . .There is another terror. One even greater, and that is the stripping off oti one’s own mask as Mr. Frederick ■-ti ors-fmd-re a li z i n g-lha L he, 1 p r_allj s_ a black man and there is no such - th: ng - a s- w 1h te—friend- who_ is_J. all . right.” v“Two Gentlemen Sharing” is an honest movie. It tells you simply that one white gentleman and one black gentleman cannot’ share.
Newspaper Details
Baltimore Afro American
Baltimore, Maryland, US
Sat, Nov 29, 1969
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Rotten T.
USA 15 Jul 2020
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