''For Love of Ivy'' is a 1968

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...

film directed by

Daniel Mann Daniel Chugerman (August 8, 1912 – November 21, 1991), known professionally as Daniel Mann, was an American stage, film and television director. Originally trained as an actor by Sanford Meisner, between 1952 and 1987 he directed over 31 feat ...

. The film stars

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 ...

Abbey Lincoln Anna Marie Wooldridge (August 6, 1930 – August 14, 2010), known professionally as Abbey Lincoln, was an American jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress. She was a civil rights activist beginning in the 1960s. Lincoln made a career out of deli ...

Beau Bridges Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III (born December 9, 1941) is an American actor and director. He is a three-time Emmy, two-time Golden Globe and one-time Grammy Award winner, as well as a two-time Screen Actors Guild Award nominee. Bridges was awar ...

Nan Martin Nan Martin (July 15, 1927 – March 4, 2010) was an American actress who starred in movies and on television. Life and career Early life Born in Decatur, Illinois, and raised in Santa Monica, California, she attended Santa Monica High School. ...

, Lauri Peters, and

Carroll O'Connor John Carroll O'Connor (August 2, 1924 – June 21, 2001) was an American actor, producer, and director whose television career spanned over four decades. He became a lifelong member of the Actors Studio in 1971. O'Connor found widespread fame a ...

. The story was written by Poitier with screenwriter

Robert Alan Aurthur Robert Alan Aurthur (June 10, 1922 – November 20, 1978) was an American screenwriter, film director, and film producer. Many of his works examined race relations and featured black actor and director Sidney Poitier. Early life Raised in Freep ...

. The musical score was composed by

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

. The theme song "For Love of Ivy", written by Quincy Jones and Bob Russell, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. The film received

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

supporting-acting nominations for Beau Bridges and Abbey Lincoln.

Plot

Ivy Moore, a 27-year-old African-American woman, has worked as a maid for the department store owning Austin family of

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18t ...

, for nine years, since being brought by them from Florida, where she was raised by her grandmother. Despite protestations that they treat her as a part of the family, she announces her decision to leave her job and go to secretarial school and improve her situation. The Austins are desperate to keep her, and the teenagers, Gena and Tim, hatch a scheme to do so. Tim Austin sets up Ivy with Jack Parks, a trucking company executive, to wine and dine Ivy. Tim hopes that the introduction of excitement in her life will dissuade her from leaving the family. Tim persuades a reluctant Parks to date Ivy, and applies pressure by threatening to reveal his illegal gambling casino, which operates at night in the back of a large, long-distance truck. Their initial meetings are awkward for the cosmopolitan Parks and the less sophisticated Moore, as they go to a Japanese restaurant and a bohemian nightclub in Manhattan. Eventually, however, romance blossoms, but when Moore learns that Parks was coerced into initially dating her, she breaks up with him. Parks overcomes his attachment to swinging bachelorhood and asks Moore to leave with him for New York City. She accepts. As they do so, they witness the illegal casino being pulled over and everyone inside arrested after the Austins had called the police.

Cast

as Jack Parks *

as Ivy Moore *

as Tim Austin *

as Doris Austin * Lauri Peters as Gena Austin *

as Frank Austin *

Leon Bibb Leon Bibb (born October 5, 1944 in Butler, Alabama) is an American news anchor and commentator for WKYC in Cleveland, Ohio, and was a member of the BGSU Board of Trustees. Leon Bibb was the first African American primetime news anchor in Ohio. ...

as Billy Talbot *

Hugh Hurd Hugh Lincoln Hurd (February 11, 1925 – July 15, 1995) was an American actor and civil rights activist. Hurd is known for his lead role in John Cassavetes' debut 1959 feature film '' Shadows'' and for his organizing activities for African-Ameri ...

as Jerry * Lon Satton as Harry *

Jennifer O'Neill Jennifer O'Neill (born February 20, 1948) is a Brazilian-born American actress, model, author, and activist. She is known for her modeling and spokesperson work for CoverGirl cosmetics starting in 1963, and her starring role in the Oscar-winn ...

as Sandy * Paul Harris as Dealer

Response

The film opened to positive reviews and was liked by both black and white audiences. Many applauded the performances of Sidney Poitier and Abbey Lincoln, and they were popular romantic leads. Even ''Ebony'' gave the two a cover story. Also applauded were Bridges and O'Connor; later, both actors appeared in films and TV shows, some dealing with racial issues. Bridges did the urban comedy-drama '' The Landlord'' and other films, and O'Connor landed other roles as he made his way to TV as

Archie Bunker Archie is a masculine given name, a diminutive of Archibald. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname *Archie Alexander (1888–1958), African-American mathematician, engineer and governor of the US Virgin Islands * Archie Blake (mathemati ...

on ''

All in the Family ''All in the Family'' is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS for nine seasons, from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. Afterwards, it was continued with the spin-off series ''Archie Bunker's Place'', which picked up where ''All in ...

''.

Box Office

The movie earned box-office rentals of $5,570,000 in North America with $1.7 million coming from the rest of the world. After distribution fees, prints and advertising, and the negative cost were taken away, the film recorded a profit of $390,000. The film was released on Region 1 DVD by MGM Home Video January 20, 2004

Musical score and soundtrack

The

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

was composed, arranged, and conducted by Quincy Jones, and the

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' ...

was released on the

ABC Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels bef ...

label in 1968.Edwards, D. Eyries, P. & Callahan, M
ABC-Paramount Album Discography, Part 14: Soundtrack Series (1964-1970)
accessed January 19, 2018 The title song performed by

Shirley Horn Shirley Valerie Horn (May 1, 1934 – October 20, 2005) was an American jazz singer and pianist. She collaborated with many jazz musicians including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Ron Carter, Carmen McRae, Wynton Marsalis and othe ...

, composed by Jones, with lyrics by Bob Russell, was released as a single by ABC Records.

Track listing

All compositions by Quincy Jones # "Main Title — For Love of Ivy" − 2:50 # "Wheelin' and Dealin'" − 2:45 # "Little Hippy Dippy" − 4:25 # "Soul Motion" − 3:45 # "Somethin' Strange" − 2:59 # "Black Pearl" − 4:15 # "For Love of Ivy" − 2:57 # "You Put It On Me" (Lyrics by

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and ...

) − 2:45 # "The B. B. Jones" (Lyrics by Maya Angelou) − 2:25 # "Messy But Good" − 2:35 # "My Side of the Sky" (Lyrics by Cashman, Pistilli & West) − 2:43 # "Don't You Believe It" (Lyrics by Cashman, Pistilli & West) − 2:29 # "End Title — For Love of Ivy" (Lyrics by Bob Russell) − 2:54

Personnel

*Unidentified orchestra

arranged In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchest ...

and

conducted Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duti ...

by Quincy Jones including **

B. B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shimm ...

−

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

(tracks 8 and 9),

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

(track 10) **

− vocals (track 13) **

Terry Cashman Terry Cashman (born Dennis Minogue, July 5, 1941) is an American record producer and singer-songwriter, best known for his 1981 hit, " Talkin' Baseball". While the song is well recognized today and allowed Cashman the chance to meet the featured ...

, Gene Pistilli & Tommy West − vocals (tracks 11 and 12)

Themes

The rich family will use any manipulation and blackmail to keep their domestic in a subordinate position, tracing significant racial overtones.

References

External links

* * *
''For Love of Ivy''
at

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of ...

{{Daniel Mann 1968 films 1968 independent films 1960s romantic comedy-drama films American romantic comedy-drama films American independent films Films directed by Daniel Mann Films scored by Quincy Jones Films set in Long Island Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City Cinerama Releasing Corporation films 1968 comedy films 1968 drama films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films