For Love of Ivy (1968) User Reviews

Very charming and Sidney is really sexy

[shoolaroon · 7/10 · 31 August 2006]

I caught this last night on Turner and while this is a slight little movie, I found it quite charming, mainly in the developing relationship between the smooth, elegant, slightly dangerous Poitier and the sweet and yet sassy Ms. Lincoln. They're a good match together, and I love the very romantic seduction scene with that great Quincy Jones music playing in the background. From what I've seen of Sidney Poitier he usually plays a somewhat angry young man who's fighting the system in some way. Well, here he just gets to play a smooth hustler, and man is he sexy!!! Wish he'd made more light romantic films like this.

As for the rest of the cast - well, the plot serves them poorly. The white family come across as well meaning stooges, and the hippie look is really dated on Beau Bridges. But it's kind of the equivalent of one of those Rock Hudson/Doris Day movies with a bit more of an edge and a little bit of a conscience. Well worth watching when it comes around again.

For Love of Sidney

[harry-76 · 7/10 · 9 June 2000]

America' love affair with Sidney Poitier, which reached its peak in the 60s, resulted in the need for star vehicles for the actor. One such piece was based on a story conceived by Poitier. Called, "For Love of Ivy," it cast the charismatic actor in a role in which he could wear the latest fashions--slickly tailored suits, sweaters, tuxes, and the like. His female costar, Abbey Lincoln likewise dresses in a varied and stylish wardrobe, looking quite pert and attractive.

The two seem to enjoy their little romantic romp in a lightweight domestic comedy, supported by Beau Bridges and Carroll O'Connor. Too bad the script tends to become a bit limp about midpoint, and never quite regains its zip.

The movie plays better in home video format, where one can lounge back and relax in home surroundings, rather than in the more formal setting of the theater. Then the proceedings become a bit sluggish, it helps to be comfortable. Still, it's fun watching these attractive performers engage in their comedic entanglements, in a brightly designed production, and to a Quincy Jones score.

Plush romantic whimsy with lots of personality...

[moonspinner55 · 7/10 · 20 January 2007]

Sidney Poitier developed the original story for this fantasy-romance between a black maid working for a neurotic, rich white family out on Long Island and a handsome, confirmed bachelor--a partner in a trucking firm which deals (rather craftily) in illegal gambling on the side. In the most prominent role, Abbey Lincoln (real-life jazz vocalist who resembles a young Dionne Warwick) has a firm jaw and a shyly self-conscious manner, but she grows on you--and in her lighter moments displays a tentative yet winning smile and personality. After a static, stilted beginning, the movie picks up some steam and quickly overcomes its contrived set-up, and Poitier is full of jubilant charisma. Nice end-credits theme song, written by Quincy Jones and performed by Shirley Horn, received an Oscar nomination. Good fun! *** from ****

Sidney Poitier and Abbey Lincoln make For Love of Ivy worth a look

[tavm · 6/10 · 7 July 2015]

Just watched this on Netflix disc with Mom. She thought it was weird and I found myself half-agreeing with all the dated '60s clothes abounding in many scenes. While both Mom and me laughed at some scenes, I don't think either of us realized this was a comedy since there wasn't much in the lines we thought was funny. Still, I myself liked the dialogue between Sidney Poitier and Abbey Lincoln that permeated throughout and was glad with the way it ended for them. Interesting seeing Carroll O'Connor as someone other than Archie Bunker and a young Beau Bridges early in his film career. In summary, For Love of Ivy is worth a look. Oh, and unlike many of his characters during this period, Mr. Poitier doesn't seem so noble here...

Great Sidney Poitier Story

[whpratt1 · 7/10 · 15 February 2008]

This is a great film starring Sidney Poiter as Jack Parks, who runs a gambling racket in a large van which is always on the move and he is beloved by all kinds of females who find him very attractive and sexy. It just so happens that a White family has a female Black female servant named Ivy Moore, (Abbey Lincoln) who is very attractive and has been with the family for over nine years of service. Ivey decides she wants to leave their employ and the family becomes very upset and Mr. Frank Austin, (Carroll O'Connor) decides something has to be done to keep Ivy from leaving. The family arranges for Ivy to meet Jack Parks who is a friend of the family and desires to become a match making family to get these two people together in order to keep their family maid still in the family service. There is plenty of comedy and funny situations which makes this a great story created by Sidney Poitier and he gives an outstanding performance along with a great supporting actress, Abbey Lincoln. Enjoy.

Cute romantic comedy

[HotToastyRag · 7/10 · 13 January 2022]

There are lots of reasons to like For Love of Ivy, so if you haven't seen this '60s classic yet, make it this weekend's matinee. You can see a pre-Archie Bunker performance from Carol O'Connor playing the family's patriarch who throws a touch of racism at their black domestic maid. Upon learning she's going to leave their employ, he shrugs to his wife and doesn't see the problem finding a new maid. The matriarch, Nan Martin, is horrified. She looks at Ivy as a member of the family, and even though Ivy wants to get an education and live in her own place, she doesn't want her to leave. It's very much a statement piece, that the white family can't fathom why their black housekeeper feels unsatisfied.

Abbey Lincoln, who plays Ivy, is just delightful. With a cute, spunky personality and great energy, we easily root for her and hope she finds a happy ending - whatever that means. . . The teenaged children of the family, Beau Bridges and Lauri Peters, come up with a scheme to keep Ivy happy and employed: romance. If she falls in love, she'll be happy and give up her idea of leaving. Beau knows a shady bad boy, Sidney Poitier, and blackmails him into dating Ivy. Which is another great reason to see the film: how often do you see Sidney playing a bad boy?

Beau Bridges was nominated for a Golden Globe for his sweet performance, and if it seems like he's very comfortable in front of the camera, it's because he was practically a veteran in 1968. Going all the way back to The Red Pony, he did movies and television before this big splash - no wonder he had a great screen presence! Abbey Lincoln was also nominated for a Golden Globe, but for Supporting Actress. Can anyone explain that? The movie is, literally, all about her, and she has the largest part of all the female characters. Why wasn't she nominated for Actress instead?

you can always count on Sidney Poitier

[lee_eisenberg · 6/10 · 18 April 2021]

Sidney Poitier's trio of movies in 1967 was going to be a hard act to follow. But he starred in an impressive movie in 1968 (if not a masterpiece). What "For Love of Ivy" lacks in the forcefulness of "In the Heat of the Night", it makes up for in elements of the '60s. Sidney Poitier and Abbey Lincoln make the perfect couple, and the movie's Academy Award-nominated song only adds to the joy. I get the feeling that Lincoln's character's desire to stop being a maid reflected the desire of the era's African-American actresses to get roles that didn't exist only in relation to white people.

Among the other cast members, we have Beau Bridges in an early role, and also Carroll O'Connor in a role mildly reminiscent of a certain bigot railing against anyone different from him.

Anyway, I recommend it.

Placebo Ivy

[Lejink · 5/10 · 14 April 2021]

Apparently based on an original idea by Poitier himself, you have to wonder if he couldn't have come up with something a bit more challenging and true-to-life, especially in this of all years. Instead, we get this strangely balanced and oddly bland romantic comedy. Maybe I'm being harsh on him, but coming off three hit films in a row, this seems like a somewhat safe and almost cosy regression in a film which you could almost imagine condensed into a Dick Van Dyke TV show episode of the time.

Poitier, plus an entourage of drivers, croupiers and skimpily-clad cocktail waitresses, runs a permanently floating crap game for predominantly white high-rollers, wives included, from the back of a huge haulage truck, which acts as cover from the law. I'm guessing high-stakes gambling venues were thin on the ground in upstate New York at the time. One of his clients is wealthy businessman Carroll O'Connor and his nuclear family of ditzy wife, flighty daughter and stoner son, who it seems can't do anything at home for themselves, relying on their black maid Ivy to basically organise their lives for them. When Ivy unexpectedly hands in her notice, declaring her intention to leave the household, get an education and no doubt find her true self in the process, the family cracks up and cook up a hair-brained plan to marry her off to some rich, handsome black dude who no doubt will allow her to continue her life of servitude to them within an otherwise blissful married life.

It's all very slight and undemanding, requiring little effort from Poitier who basically just continues to portray the urbane educated persona he'd adopted in "To Sir With Love" and "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner". Abbey Lincoln makes a good impression as the wilful title character, but like everyone else in the film, her character is very thinly sketched.

The humour, mildly taking in tropes like the generation gap and interracial relations, manages to be both forced and lacklustre and the ending is exactly what you could have guessed from ninety minutes out. There's a bizarre scene near the end when Beau Bridges, as the hippie son, puts in his tuppenceworth to resolve the situation which only serves to further demean Ivy's already lowly status even as you appreciate that this time Carroll O'Connor isn't going to pull off a Spencer Tracy and rescue the film at the finish.

On the plus side, there's a pleasing, sultry jazz soundtrack by Quincy Jones, Poitier and Lincoln make for a handsome couple and the look of the film is polished and slick for sure, but really this is one Ivy pretty much out of its league in a film which hasn't aged well and which I know won't stay long in my memory,

The Austins lose a maid

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 10 October 2019]

When Abbey Lincoln in the title role of Ivy announces she's quitting to go out on her own, the Austins except for father Carroll O'Connor hit the panic button. Nan Martin is beside herself as the mom and the kids Lauri Peters and Beau Bridges recoil at the prospect of doing for themselves.

Beau Bridges who is a rather shallow character with pretensions of being a flower child comes up with the idea of fixing Lincoln up with a disreputable character so she would see how well off she is and stay. His choice is Sidney Poitier a man with a trucking company who on the side at night has moving casino inside one of his moving vans.

But as these things work out, Poitier falls for Lincoln and mounts an earnest campaign to win her. That campaign is some of the best parts of the film, Poitier and Lincoln have a real chemistry together.

The other part I like is what goes on with Beau Bridges. Some of the dialog between him and his parents remind me of Carroll O'Connor and son-in-law Rob Reiner from All In The Family.

This is a nice feel good movie about a princess who finds a Prince Charming in a strange place.

I appreciate this film although the screenplay is pretty awful.

[salan0629 · 4/10 · 15 January 2007]

I do understand the social importance of this film. It is refreshing to see this period of film-making tell a novel story where the lead characters are black and involved in a romantic plot line. I get it. That being said, the screenplay is over the top and heavy-handed; clubbing us over the head with the sentiment of "See, blacks are cool, suave, and sophisticated." As a result, the plot is flimsy, awkward, and often confusing. We are expected to follow the story without ever really getting to know any of the characters, again with way too much emphasis on the situation. And, sorry to say, the acting is somewhat tragic. A weak performance by the BRILLIANT Poitier and Abbey Lincoln is beautiful but boring and flat. Weird direction also accompanies the players; odd angles and points of view that only distract. Beau Bridges turns in the most interesting performance and does the best he can do with what he is given; specifically the nonsensical monologue he is given at the end of the film. The most interesting thing about the film is that it does give us a peek into the somewhat decadent and experimental social aspects of 60's nightlife. The scene in the club is very intriguing!

The "Ivy" League (In Other Words A Smart Film).

[happipuppi13 · 10/10 · 28 June 2006]

For film history buffs,this is the film that followed,"Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" in Sid's career. What a great choice it was too! I can't believe I'm only the third person to review this film. I bought a marked down copy of this on DVD and I'm glad I did.

Sidney plays Jack Parks,owner of a trucking company who is a client for Mr. Austin (Carroll O'Conner). This is not the somewhat "good guy" we're used to seeing Sidney play. He's got a secret,his company is a front for an illeagal "traveling casino",in the back of the semi.

The Austin family have a maid named Ivy whose worked for them since she was 18. ...but now she's 27 and wants to leave her job to become a secretary in the city and go to school too. The Austin family react like their whole world is falling apart! Especially Mrs. Austin,who hasn't kept house herself in those 9 years with Ivy. Mr. Austin seems to be the only voice of reason,as far as Ivy leaving is concerned.

Mr. Austin's spoiled hippie son concocts a plan to keep Ivy working for them. If she marries Jack,she'll "have" to stay! Even his usually level-headed sister goes along with it,making it clear that they have only their own selfish interests in mind and not what it is Ivy wants.

I wont spoil the movie for you by saying how it all plays out but it's well worth the watching. It's not strictly a question of race in this film but more about what anyone as a human being wants and needs in their life.

1960's or now,that message is still universal to all. The dialouge,acting and direction are smartly done,so without a doubt,10 stars. Buy it or rent it...but you have to see it. (END)

Two white kids try to get their family's black maid to remain in service by finding her a suitable love interest.

[gregory-j-ford · 7/10 · 29 August 2010]

I was touched by this movie than I expected to be. It is a formulaic romantic comedy with an absurd premise that doesn't quite fit within the bounds of the formula. The clash that can result from differences in cultures and classes is touched on too deeply for what you might expect from such a comedy unless it's directed by Lubitsch or Wilder. But I found the movie satisfying anyway. I think everyone turns in strong, committed performances. Sidney Poitier is in total possession of the camera with his variety of alternating facial expressions. You could call it mugging but for me it worked and every facial expression felt fully motivated. Abby Lincoln is heart-wrenching as Ivy. She does seem too old for this role. But so does Beau Bridges. And both her and Bridges' performances are relentlessly precise, detailed and committed to what their characters are. I was happy with the actors in the roles of the white family. Don't forget that this is a comedy with an absurd premise. And the family is patronizing and cringe-inducing. But I think that is the point. I loved how the director gave us quick, dense pictures of the state of mind of the characters through their body postures. The director does some nice choreography with moving the cast through the house. For example, I loved the opening sequence in which the family moved through the house as they prepared for the morning. I loved Ivy and Jack's departure from the house that ends her employment as a maid. No minor character or extra/atmosphere is ever wasted. This is solid work that is worth seeing.

A weak follow up to a career peak...

[The_Movie_Cat · 5/10 · 4 July 2012]

Sidney Poitier made some films that have become largely forgotten over the course of his career. When you've made over 40 films in your initial run, pre-first retirement, then there's naturally going to be some that slip through the cracks. And today it seems hardly anyone talks about Brother John, The Lost Man, Good-bye My Lady or Virgin Island. But what could perhaps be surprising is that the film he made right off the back of his biggest commercial success should be so overlooked today.

In 1967 Sidney Poitier was the most successful box office star in the world with three big hits in cinemas. Just one year later and he's only got one release, this stagily-directed semi-farce based on Poitier's own storyline. The main theme sees Poitier play possibly his most dislikeable character, arrogant businessman Jack Parks, match-made against his will with a black maid seeking some form of personal empowerment. The film concludes with a title song, informing us that what that empowerment amounts to is the need for love. That's right... although the film touches on themes of emancipation and black pride over the course of its runtime, it turns out all the titular Ivy needed all along was a good shag.

Chief matchmaker Beau Bridges does the best with what he's got as a representative of the 60s counterculture, but his stoner fixations seem today, like the main subtext of the movie, somewhat quaint and parochial; patronising rather than groundbreaking. Look out also for Parks' angered expression when Bridges' characters asks if he's gay, or the confused and confusing monologue from Bridges at the end.

However, such flaws are perhaps not always that of the movie; this was the first depiction of a romantic relationship between a black man and woman in mainstream Hollywood, and was quite groundbreaking for its time. It was just four years after this movie that Poitier had a go at directing himself... you do wonder if this was more than a coincidence, as the TV Movie style framing here makes the direction of Guess Who's Coming To Dinner look like the work of Scorcese. Ultimately it's a film that hasn't aged well, and a poor follow-up to his three '67 vehicles... though it may not have been so at the time.

More Instultingly Paternalistic Than Charming

[hooper-xxx · 7/10 · 18 July 2008]

Most of the other reviews of this film paint it as whimsical and charming family fare. I didn't see it that way at all. Almost from the opening scene, I was fighting the urge to turn it off. Had it not been a Sidney Poitier, I'd have done just that. The paternalistic attitude of the Lincoln family, especially Abbey Lincoln, is what galls me the most. Even when Ivy tells them what she wants to do, they seem incapable of comprehending that her pursuit of happiness doesn't involve scrubbing their floors for the rest of her life. The preposterous scheme that Tim Lincoln hatches in order to keep her busting up chifferobes down on the Lincoln Plantation for the rest of her life is not merely imbecilic. It's down right malevolent. It brings to mind Matthew McConaughey's closing statements in the movie, "A Time to Kill." Think of what these cretins are really trying to do to Ivy. Consider that they would deny her everything that they themselves cherish. Now, imagine that she's white.

Another thing that irked me about this movie was that Abbey Lincoln was, and looked every of, at least 10 years too old to play the part of Ivy, a hard 10 years. Additionally, she had a hard snarling visage that seem to run counter to the ostensible sweetness of the character. At times I half expected her to tell someone that she would cut them. A younger, i.e. age appropriate, actress with a less hard bitten visage would helped me muster up something approximating a suspension of disbelief. And, with the absurd dialog bandied about in this film, especially by Beau Bridges, the suspension of can use all of the help it can get.

I'm giving this film a 6 solely on the basis of Sidney Poitier's performance and elegant mien.

Im A Perana!!!

[ehrldawg · 6/10 · 16 January 2012]

A family tires to match a maid to a trucking company president.

The first 15 minutes of the film is painful to watch. But maybe that's the point. I was about to through this disc out of the truck Then I found out Sidney Portier is a trucking company president. So I watched the rest of the movie,painful parts and all. It ended up being a pretty cool movie.Mr Portier ends up with the girl at the end. The racket he came up with was pretty ingenious. The wrighting and acting in this film are pretty good.

Hugh Hurd drives the White big rig.

Hugh Hurd was a permanent A list actor.

Abbey Lincoln and Nan Martin was hot!!

Lauri Peters is hot!!

---One Truck Drivers Opinion---

erldwgstruckermovies.com

Enjoyable Family Fare!

[gwitherspoon · 10/10 · 3 May 2005]

I wish they were still making movies like this. The dialog is dated and so is the reaction to the son's marriage proposal to Ivy, but I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Sidney and Abbey made "acting" look like art. Abbey Lincoln exuded elegance, poise, common sense and a good sense of humor. Sidney is always classy in whatever role he portrays.

I liked the Austin family too. They seemed to genuinely care about their housekeeper and seemed ahead of their time in terms of their views on race and class. They really meant well even when they said the wrong thing to Ivy, and didn't seem to realize that she wanted a better life for herself, a home of her own and a family of her own just as they did. Why should she be their "maid" until she died and be satisfied with that? Ivy wanted to pursue American Dream just like all of us do. Even the son who really seemed to care about her was selfish and wanted to trick her into staying under the guise of having her best interests at heart.

This film is not a 6.9, rather a 9 or 10!!!

[gfinister · 9/10 · 19 August 2017]

This is a sweet romantic love story. The acting is superb! Beau Bridges is awesome in this movie, and so funny - I cracked up! Sidney Portier, Abbey Lincoln, Carrol O'Conner and the rest are all really good in this film. Sidney is so handsome in this movie, and Abbey so beautiful. It's one of my favorite love stories along with the original About Last Night (with Demi Moore), Pride & Prejudice (with Kiera Knightly), Guess Who's coming to Dinner, and Until September. I will always own these 5 movies because all of them are such sweet romantic love stories, and the acting is great in all of these movies.

One of Poitier's most unusual roles, that's for sure!

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 30 March 2024]

Ivy (Abbey Lincoln) is a maid who is apparently very good at her job. You know this because when she tells her employer that she's going to be quitting in order to go back to school, his hippie kids (Beau Bridges and Lauri Peters) come up with a crazy and very selfish plan. IF they can find Ivy a serious boyfriend, perhaps she'll give up her notion of going back to school. However, they ALSO want to be sure the guy who dates her is NOT the marrying kind. Tim (Bridges) has someone in mind...Jack (Sidney Poitier). He's very successful, doesn't want to marry, and is handsome. So he and his sister work hard to set the pair to meet and date. Where all this goes from here, you'll have to see for yourself...but I can almost guarantee that you won't expect what sort of man Tim is and his 'work'!

This film has a very dry sense of humor that might be lost on some folks. I love how Tim tries very hard to prove he's hip and 'jiggy' with black people...and it's both funny and embarrassing to watch him try hard and fail so miserably.

As for the rest of the story, it's one of the stranger romances I have seen. This is not necessarily a bad thing...but it certainly is unusual and catches your attention. It also is a most unusual relationship she has with the family for whom she works...ALMOST progressive for the 1960s...almost. Overall, a film worth seeing with many surprises, some excellent acting and a dry humor I enjoyed very much.

You will fall in love with this movie ❤

[jsterry-03948 · 10/10 · 14 January 2021]

I love the way this the romance builds up and have you feeling the love they share.