During the 1960s, two American jazz musicians living in Paris meet and fall in love with two American tourist girls and must decide between music and love.
Score
Duke Ellington's jazz compositions that breathe sexier than the dialogue.
Acting
Poitier and Carroll's electric chemistry, plus Armstrong being effortlessly himself.
Cinematography
Paris as black-and-white dreamscape—every frame wants to be a poster.
Director
Martin Ritt
Paul Newman
Ram Bowen
Joanne Woodward
Lillian Corning
Sidney Poitier
Eddie Cook
Diahann Carroll
Connie Lampson
Louis Armstrong
Wild Man Moore
Barbara Laage
Marie Séoul
André Luguet
René Bernard
Marie Versini
Nicole
Serge Reggiani
Michel 'Gypsy' Devigne
Moustache
Mustachio
Roger Blin
Fausto the Moor (uncredited)
Hélène Dieudonné
The Pusher (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Newman and Woodward were already married, and their real tension bleeds through—Ritt used their actual relationship to fuel the 'will they commit' anxiety.
This was Poitier between 'Porgy and Bess' and 'Lilies of the Field,' and his character's comfort in Paris vs. America's racism was deliberate commentary—though the film soft-pedals it for romance.
US
