The late 1980s and early 1990s were when Black filmmakers and actors finally started getting the recognition they richly deserved after decades of work that warranted it. So while directors like Spike Lee and John Singleton brought their magic to the masses with mostly Black casts, it wasn’t like Black actors hadn’t been crushing it in Hollywood for decades. Here is a look at classic films with fantastic performances by African American actors.
Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner (1967)
It’s just crazy to realize that interracial marriage was actually illegal in many U.S. states before a landmark Supreme Court ruling in 1967. Just six months after that ruling, called Loving V. Virginia, Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner was released starring an all-star cast that included Sidney Poitier as a Black man engaged to a white woman played by Katharine Houghton. Houghton’s character brings her fiancé home to meet her parents, played by the legendary Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn.
later be immortalized again in The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Black romantic movie from the era of Blaxploitation in Claudine. Diahann Carroll was even nominated for an Oscar, and both were nominated for Golden Globes.
who passed away in 2024, was only nominated for an Oscar once in his career. That nomination came for 1970’s The Great White Hope, where he plays a boxer named Jack Jefferson, based loosely on the great heavyweight Jack Johnson. It’s a role Jones originated one of his best roles on Broadway in a play by the same name, for which he did win a Tony.
redefined what Black cinema could be.
Ryan Coogler.
controversial for its content. Part of that controversy is Hattie McDaniel’s “Mammy” character. However, McDaniel deserves to be mentioned on this list as the first African American to win an Oscar for her performance.
Sidney Poitier’s best roles came in 1967’s In The Heat of the Night, and the movie was one of the most important of the 1960s. You really can’t lavish enough praise on the movie, which was nominated for seven Oscars and won five, including Best Picture. The score, written by the late Quincy Jones, was also lauded, winning a Grammy. It led to multiple sequels and a TV show in the late ’80s.
Danny DeVito, Bill Duke, and Antonio Fargas. The Pointer Sisters even appear in the movie.
Michael Jackson is great, and though Diana Ross has been criticized for being too old to play Dorothy, people need to chill out because she’s fantastic.
Quentin Tarantino gives his blessing by including an old movie in one of his scripts, as he did with The Mack in True Romance, you can count on the movie being good. Or at least interesting. The Mack is luckily both, and is yet another example of a Richard Pryor movie that found real life as a cult classic, after not being well-received initially.
Imitation Of Life (1959)
You don’t really expect a movie from the 1950s to so directly address societal issues like interracial relationships and other pressures that were just beginning to bubble to the surface for much of white America. Imitation of Life is a powerful and nuanced movie that talks about lots of issues that just weren’t talked about in the day. It’s fantastic in that way.
Carmen Jones (1954)
Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte star in this wonderful musical based on the Opera Carmen. Dandridge, who was at the height of her power, received a well-deserved nomination for an Oscar, and the score also picked up a nomination.
Sergeant Rutledge (1960)
Another movie on here that you wouldn’t expect would be so upfront about racial issues, Sergeant Rutledge from 1960, makes someone who wasn’t around in those days realize that the biggest issues of the day weren’t whitewashed completely in mass media, as we sometimes mistakenly assume. The story, about an all-white jury deciding the fate of a Black man, is scarily relevant today.
Cleopatra Jones (1974)
Cleopatra Jones is hands down the most fun Blaxploitation film with a female hero. Tamara Dobson stars as the titular character, and she is as awesome as any hero of the genre. It’s funny and full of great action, and of course, oozes with style.
Anna Lucasta (1958)
Anna Lucasta’s production and promotion were, frankly, a mess. Sammy Davis, Jr. and Eartha Kitt still manage to give great performances, and it’s worth watching for that alone. While it bombed at the box office, the movie has been re-evaluated positively over the ensuing years.
Cry, The Beloved Country (1951)
Without mincing words, Cry, The Beloved Country, is a must-watch for anyone. The movie, shot on location in Apartheid South Africa, tells a powerful story about the horrors of the era. It doesn’t pull any punches, and while it’s not an easy watch, it is a necessary one.
St. Louis Blues (1958)
Nat King Cole, a true American original, plays another American original, W.C. Handy. The musical features some of the biggest stars of the jazz era as they all pay tribute to Handy. In addition to Cole, it stars Eartha Kitt, Mahalia Jackson, Ruby Dee, Cab Calloway, Lee Young, and Ella Fitzgerald as herself. It even bridges the generation gap with a young Billy Preston, who got famous in the 1960s as a sideman with The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, in a small role.
Foxy Brown (1974)
Pam Grier is a 1970s Blaxploitation legend for a reason. Her most famous role, at least before starring as Jackie Brown in the Tarantino movie, was another Brown, Foxy Brown, in the movie named for the character. Foxy Brown is everything you want from a movie in the genre. Grier looks great, she’s got the right attitude, and she’s just a bad mother…you know.
The Harder They Come (1972)
The Harder They Come is a different kind of movie from one on this list. It’s really a modern (for 1972) musical of sorts hidden under a drama. It features some amazing early reggae, mostly by the film’s star, musician Jimmy Cliff. In a real way, it brought Reggae to the world, even before Bob Marley found worldwide fame.
Salt And Pepper (1968)
Salt and Pepper is really more a Rat Pack movie than anything else. It stars two primary members of the crew, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Peter Lawford, as nightclub owners in Swingin’ London of the 1960s. It’s more about the style than the substance, but sometimes that’s just what you need.
Black Caesar (1973)
If we’re honest, there is one reason to love this movie, and that’s the amazing soundtrack by James Brown which includes the classic “The Boss.”