''A Warm December'' is a 1973 American
romantic drama film
Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typica ...
directed by
Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was an American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two competitive ...
and starring him in the lead role as Dr. Matt Younger. It also stars Jamaican actress
Esther Anderson as Catherine, Matt's love interest. Anderson's performance as an African princess won her a
NAACP Image Award
The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...
for Best Actress in 1973. The film is also notable for an appearance of
Letta Mbulu
Letta Mbulu (born 23 August 1942) is a South African jazz singer who has been active since the 1960s.
Biography
Born and raised in Soweto, South Africa, she has been active as a singer since the 1960s. While still a teenager she toured with th ...
singing, with an African choir, "Nonqonqo" by
Miriam Makeba
Zenzile Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including African popular music, Afropop, jazz, a ...
.
Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (June 14, 1932, Manhattan, New York City or possibly (unconfirmed) Winston-Salem, North Carolina – March 9, 2004, Chicago) was an American composer whose interests spanned the worlds of jazz, dance, pop, film, ...
wrote and conducted the score.
The story was influenced by ''Roman Holiday'' and ''Love Story''. It was shot at
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London.
The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to te ...
.
Plot
Dr. Matt Younger is a recently widowed American who takes his daughter Stefanie on a month-long vacation in London. While there, he meets Catherine, the niece of African Ambassador George Oswandu. Catherine is involved in negotiations with the Soviet Union to build a vital hydroelectric project in her country. As the pair begin to develop feelings for one another, Dr. Younger learns that the two men following Catherine are not the sinister characters he suspected. One is a bodyguard sent by her uncle, the other is a doctor monitoring the
sickle cell disease
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of blood disorders typically inherited from a person's parents. The most common type is known as sickle cell anaemia. It results in an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying protein haemoglobin found in red blo ...
that will end her life all too soon. She herself says that she is in the December of her life. When Dr. Younger proposes, Catherine must decide between not only love and loyalty to her country, but also seizing the time that remains to her and saddling the man she loves with her inevitable death. In the end, she refuses, thanking him for a "warm December".
Cast
*
Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was an American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two competitive ...
as Dr. Matt Younger
*
Esther Anderson as Catherine Oswandu
* Yvette Curtis as Stefanie Younger
*
George Baker as Dr. Henry Barlow
*
Johnny Sekka
Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females.
Variant ...
as Dr. Joseph Myomo
*
Earl Cameron
Earlston Jewitt Cameron, CBE (8 August 19173 July 2020), known as Earl Cameron, was a Bermudian actor who lived and worked in the United Kingdom. After appearing on London's West End stage, he became one of the first black stars in the Britis ...
as Ambassador George Oswandu
*
Hilary Crane
Hilary Crane (1933 – June 2009) was an English actress, best known for her role as Nora Jenkins, the mother of Peter 'Tucker' Jenkins in the BBC series ''Grange Hill'' and its sister show, ''Tucker's Luck
''Tucker's Luck'' is a British tele ...
as Marsha Barlow
References
External links
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1973 films
1973 romantic drama films
American romantic drama films
1970s English-language films
Films directed by Sidney Poitier
Films set in London
Films shot at Pinewood Studios
First Artists films
1970s American films
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