A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun, American film drama, released in 1961, that was based on Lorraine Hansberry’s acclaimed play of the same name about the urban African American experience.

A Raisin in the Sun follows a poor Black family who receive $10,000 from a life insurance policy after the father’s death. Instead of providing salvation, the money causes intense disagreements over what should be done with it. The family matriarch, Lena Younger (played by Claudia McNeil), wants to leave their Chicago apartment and buy a home in a white neighborhood. Her headstrong son, Walter Lee Younger (played by Sidney Poitier), hopes to use the money to open a liquor store.

Heart-wrenching at times and humorous at others, the screenplay was written by Hansberry, one of the first African American playwrights to have work staged on Broadway. Most of the cast members from the stage production—including Ruby Dee, who played Walter Lee’s wife—reprised their roles in this big-screen adaptation. Louis Gossett, Jr., made his film debut, appearing as a wealthy suitor of Lena’s daughter.

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The film was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards—for best actress for McNeil and best actor for Poitier. Dee received an award for best supporting actress from the National Board of Review. In 2005 the film was was added to the National Film Registry, a film preservation program established by the U.S. Library of Congress that selects films of cultural, historical, and aesthetic significance.