Daniel Mannix Petrie (November 26, 1920 – August 22, 2004) was a Canadian television and movie director.
Petrie was born in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada, the son of Mary Anne (née Campbell) and William Mark Petrie, a soft-drink manufacturer. He moved to the United States in 1945. One of his most famous credits was 1961’s A Raisin in the Sun, which was nominated for the Golden Palm award at the Cannes Film Festival. He also directed Buster and Billie (1974), the Academy Award-nominated Resurrection (1980), Fort Apache, The Bronx (1981) and Cocoon: The Return (1988). He directed well-known television movies such as Sybil, Eleanor and Franklin, The Dollmaker and My Name is Bill W., and produced a 1999 remake of Inherit the Wind. His feature films were rarely box office successes, but they often feature large well-known casts (such as 1978’s The Betsy, starring Laurence Olivier and Robert Duvall), and his films are among the earliest screen appearances by such stars as Winona Ryder… read more
It deals, in a very touching way, with issues that test all real life families regardless of their ethnicity or economical background. The strong morality of the family matriarch who tries to lessen their children's rebellious and contestatary attitude towards an unfair society.
Most times I prefer reading the script because minor details are often omitted, when filmed, to adhere to the sensibilities of the times (ex. A Streetcar Named Desire largely ignored the script's implications of homosexuality and rape). I feel though, that this is a very good, and accurate, adaptation of the play.
