Cry, the Beloved Country

This remarkable if somewhat solemn adaptation of Alan Paton's classic novel, published in 1948 on the eve of apartheid, is a milestone in political cinema and the presentation of black characters. Directed by Zoltan Korda (previously a specialist in British imperial movies) and co-scripted by an uncredited John Howard Lawson (blacklisted member of the "Hollywood 10"), it stars the great black American actor and activist Canada Lee as an Anglican priest in rural Natal and Charles Carson as a white farmer, brought together in Johannesburg through the entwined fates of their sons. Shot on South African locations by Robert Krasker (who'd just won an Oscar for The Third Man ), it provides a vivid and moving portrait of a cruelly divided society of exploited, uprooted black people and troubled, guilty white people and has strong biblical undertones. In one of his earliest roles, Sidney Poitier is excellent as a young priest guiding Lee in the big city.