Skip to main content

For Love of Ivy (1968)

Friday, March 6, 2009

For Love of Ivy. Feature film. (1968, 101 mins) IMDB

...A romantic comedy you've probably never heard of, but should...

I

t didn't long into this movie to realize I had seen it before. How could I have forgotten? Too many movies? Not sure.

FOR LOVE OF IVY is a romantic comedy where Sidney Poitier plays a successful businessman (he and his partner run a day-time trucking company and a night-time gambling operation). She's a live-in maid to a wealth family in the suburbs of NYC. One of those homes on Long Island with a view of the ocean and lots of green grass. There's a husband and wife and two adult children. The family all talk with Ivy but not to each other. Then the bombshell.

Ivy gives notice. She wants to quit her job as a maid to the family, move into NYC and go to school. She wants something more. Nothing the family says can make her change her minds. She's going to leave.

The two children hatch a plan. Maybe if she met a man, she'd wouldn't want to leave. Tim, the hippie son, scams a meeting with Jack Parks who happens to do trucking business with the family company. Jack isn't too pleased about it. He's single and wants to stay that way. Besides, a maid isn't his idea of a mate. Part of the plan includes Ivy being there at the same time and the two meet. Before you know it, he's invited to dinner and the story is in full swing.

What develops is love. He falls in love with her, scene by scene. She likewise. There comes a point where they must split up, the end of Act II. Before they split up, they were definitely in love with each other even if they didn't say it entirely.

What causes the break-up? Ivy realizes there was a set-up. She reasons Jack is only going along with the kid's blackmail which is essence: date our maid or we'll tell the cops about your illegal gambling operation. It's true, but it's not true. It started out that way, but as he got to know her, he fell in love.

Since it's a film from 1968 and the two lead characters are black in a white world, race plays a part of the story, but it's a comedy and therefore it's toned down.

It would be easy to quibble about the plot, but that would take away from seeing these two people fall in love. It was fun to watch. Too bad Abbey Lincoln who played Ivy didn't have more feature film roles. She was beautiful and charming to watch. If I have to explain anything about Sidney Poitier then you must be young.

Posted 2009/03/06 at 18h41ET in Movie Commentary.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If Only We Could Agree

Monday, June 11, 2012 ... have you been accused of misspelling a word you know is correct ... S usanne O’Leary wrote an interesting article on her experience with the variations of the English language in different countries. You know the obvious ones like colour with or without a “u” but less obvious ones like travelled versus traveled. Growing up in Sweden she learnt English in school—the UK variation. In publishing her books, she read reviews where she was criticized for improper spelling. False accusations as it turns out. While I write tire and cozy, it’s not incorrect to write tyre or cosy. Same language. Both accepted. Just different. You can read her write-up here along with the numerous comments posted by readers. I found it interesting, but that’s me. As a Canadian I deal with this issue everyday. I feel her pain when she’s criticized for something based on ignorance. No fun. I was told by a boss that “data are” isn’t correct. It should be “data is.” Read...
2 comments
Read more

Day 109: Writing a Novel—The Deep Blue Hold

Sunday, March 6, 2017 Note: Unedited writings from my notebook for this novel. Square bracket items represent added comments. At 18:47 Office ... I barely remembered anything about this story ... H as it really been three months? I guess it has. I put it out of my mind [so much so] that I barely remembered anything about this story. Not even the title. [Unreal!!!!!!] I had the general premise and an ending—enough I thought for a novel. What I lacked was a determination and desire to want to write it. Why bother… I wasn’t enjoying the process and I had no reason to believe the result wouldn’t be anything more than what’s gone before—nothing. James Piper Kitchener, Ontario Post comments on facebook page. Follow me on twitter. Posted 2017/04/14 at 14h02ET in The Deep Blue Cage | Writing A Novel
Post a Comment
Read more

Words: BONE—GONE—LOAN—BOAN

Friday, March 31, 2017 You’d think BONE would rhyme with GONE but no. This is the English language after all. But BONE does rhyme with LOAN so we’ll spell it BOAN. It will take some time to update all the existing writings but it can be done. Meanwhile, if you smash up your car, the insurance company will allow you to get a LOANER and if you happen to meet the right person you may get a BOANER. boan Post comments on facebook page Posted 2017/03/31 at 17h28ET in Words .
Post a Comment
Read more