One Potato, Two Potato-Race Relations In America Circa 1960’s

One Potato, Two Potato, (1964) a rarely seen, or talked about movie, but an absolute gem! I bet if I asked any classic movie fan to tell me what classic movie dealt with interracial marriages, they’d answer, Guess who is coming to Dinner. Although Dinner… is a great movie and quite memorable, it doesn’t top One Potato, Two Potato. Unfortunately this movie is not as popular and many have never even seen it.I had the opportunity to have watched it this past weekend. If you can get your hands on a copy…get it, you will not be disappointed.

When the film was first released in 1964, interracial marriage was considered a social problem. In fact, at the time it was quite daring for a film to talk about it in such an open and honest way. Julie, a white woman played by Barbara Berrie divorces her loser husband, Joe, played by Richard Mulligan. You see her husband, wants out. He feels tied down and even blames her for the “misfortune” in his life. She gives him a divorce so that he can live out his “dream” life. He leaves her and her little daughter and goes off to South America. For a while Julie received money from Joe, but that soon stopped and Julie returns to work.

At work Julie meets Frank. Frank is a quiet, insightful, and loving African American man, played poignantly by Bernie Hamilton. They fall in love and in spite of the social implications, they marry. Frank’s parents have a period of adjustment when Julie moves in, but later put their fears to rest, when Frank and Julie have a baby.  Frank becomes the dad to Julie’s daughter, Ellen Mary played lovingly by pretty Marti Maricka. Frank is the dad Ellen Mary didn’t have in her biological father. As far as I am concerned Joe was just a sperm donor, Frank was a father. Frank’s parents become Ellen Mary’s grandparents. She even calls them grandma and grandpa, and doesn’t even notice the difference in the color of their skin. Love has no color lines! All this sounds great, but you couldn’t help noticing how isolated they all lived in this beautiful farm, away from the cruel world. A world that wasn’t ready to accept that two people can love each other in spite of their color.

Joe penetrates the pseudo fortress like farm one day when he returns 4 years later to see his daughter.  When he meets the family, he is baffled and speechless. He decides his daughter belongs with him. He decides that his daughter will not grow up with a black family. It was unspeakable in his mind, and he was going to be sure he got his daughter back. Joe sues for custody…his argument? It is improper for a child to grow up in such environment! He figured she’d do better with him and his reckless life-style.

Frank tries to put up a fight in court. He knows he doesn’t stand a chance solely because he is black. He knows that his wife Julie will lose her daughter just because of him. Frank becomes desperate, and helpless. He can’t protect his family. The custody trial proved moot for Frank and Julie, the judge sides with Ellen Mary’s father. The judge’s decision was driven solely by the bigotry of the day.

Although we don’t deal with this type of prejudices today, the movie is realistic and quite progressive for the day. It revealed and dissected the race tensions in America much more realistically than “Guess…” Hamilton captured the helplessness and hopelessness of an African-American man in the 60′s in a way I’ve never seen. You “feel” his pain. Some say that the movie was much more sympathetic to Julie than Frank. I totally disagree. The movie did not minimize either side. I felt that both Julie and Frank’s anguish shine through and through. When you watch this film you will feel like you are being transported to a small town in 1964 and are a witness to the prejudices, bigotry, and pride of that time. It’s a gem and unforgettable. Look out for James Earl Jones’ dad, Robert Earl Jones as Frank’s dad.