[.ca] Pressure Point

great movie, poor commentary:
i'm not going to go on about the movie as the other reviewers do a good job. it is a great movie, especially if you want to see how conduct disorder begins and becomes an adult antisocial personality. i do want to spend some time talking about the commentary, which is horrible. mr. cornfield provides the commentary and either has throat cancer or some kind of throat disease. he struggles talking and it's painful just to try to listen to him. it's embarrassing and i don't know why it was even recorded and presented. this is not a cut against what he says, but against mgm for even presenting this on dvd. they should of had someone else do the commentary, like some film critic. i still highly recommend the movie as it is a classic, but forget the commentary.

What a performance by Bobby Darin:
This movie should be required viewing. It is timeless. The doctor and patient talk about the overthrow of the government and hate groups. Two subjects still with us today. Maybe, just maybe, if someone had seen this they would have recognized the signs and 169 people would not have died in my city. Bobby Darin was so good in this role he should have received an Oscar.

Intense psycho-drama duel between two legends.:
Two legends--Sidney Poitier and Bobby Darin--face off in a thrilling and disturbing psycho-drama. Poitier plays an Army psychiatrist locked in a mental duel with his charge, a manipulative Nazi sympathizer played by Darin. As the two characters appear to build a mutual trust, Darin exploits that trust to convince Poitier's supervisors of Darin's sanity in hopes of gaining release. Poitier, however, sees through Darin's showmanship, realizing the danger that the patient still poses. This film marks a great opportunity to observe Bobby Darin's acting talents. While Sidney Poiter performs excellently, as we would expect, those familiar only with Darin's music should see this film to appreciate more fully the man's broad range of abilities.

Does not condescend to the audience:
Typical of Stanley Kramer productions, "Pressure Point" is a fairly explosive "message" movie, and a rare one in that it does not condescend to its audience by sending the combative protagonists on their merry way at the conclusion to live in peace and harmony. Sidney Poitier is excellent as the prison psychiatrist challenged by a disturbed Nazi symphatizer played by singer Bobby Darin. It is Darin, however, who is most impressive, not only for his dynamic yet subtle performance, but for his williness to accept the role of such a bigoted, unappealing character at a time when he was still a "teen idol" married to Sandra Dee. The direction by Hubert Cornfield, the cinematography, and music are all first-rate.