Bobby Darin, famous for his singing, proved his acting chops in Captain Newman, M. D. as a shell-shocked soldier and earned an Oscar nomination. Two years earlier, he gave another fantastic performance in Pressure Point. Once again, he's in a psychiatric hospital, but not because of traumatic war experiences. He's a violent, racist psychopath-and very convincing!
In the film, Peter Falk comes to a gray-headed Sidney Poitier asking for advice. He's new to the hospital, and he's having trouble with a patient. Helping by example, Sidney recounts a story of when he was a young doctor and also had trouble with a patient. The majority of the film is the flashback sequence involving a young Sidney and his troubled patient Bobby. Bobby isn't thrilled to have a black doctor, and Sidney isn't thrilled to be verbally abused every time they have a session. But he's a doctor, and deep down, he wants to help.
You might not actually like this movie, or you might find it dated, but you will be able to appreciate the acting. Bobby sheds his nice-guy image so thoroughly, if you didn't know him you'd probably hate him from this movie. Sidney embodies the title, giving the performance he does so well: taking and taking and taking until the "pressure point" is reached. If you like good acting, Stanley Kramer films, or racially tense films of the 1960s, this is a great one to watch. It's Psychology and analysis was a hot topic in Sixties movies, and this one digs deep. It's pretty upsetting sometimes, especially because they got a kid that looked so much like Bobby Darin for his flashbacks.
In the film, Peter Falk comes to a gray-headed Sidney Poitier asking for advice. He's new to the hospital, and he's having trouble with a patient. Helping by example, Sidney recounts a story of when he was a young doctor and also had trouble with a patient. The majority of the film is the flashback sequence involving a young Sidney and his troubled patient Bobby. Bobby isn't thrilled to have a black doctor, and Sidney isn't thrilled to be verbally abused every time they have a session. But he's a doctor, and deep down, he wants to help.
You might not actually like this movie, or you might find it dated, but you will be able to appreciate the acting. Bobby sheds his nice-guy image so thoroughly, if you didn't know him you'd probably hate him from this movie. Sidney embodies the title, giving the performance he does so well: taking and taking and taking until the "pressure point" is reached. If you like good acting, Stanley Kramer films, or racially tense films of the 1960s, this is a great one to watch. It's Psychology and analysis was a hot topic in Sixties movies, and this one digs deep. It's pretty upsetting sometimes, especially because they got a kid that looked so much like Bobby Darin for his flashbacks.