The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte hosts the Tonight Show

Name: The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte hosts the Tonight Show
Genre: Documentary
Released: September 10, 2020
Duration: 75 min
Rating: 70
Cast: Harry Belafonte, Whoopi Goldberg

2020

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 4 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

No score yet

tbd

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

tbd	Your Score
tbd	User Score No score yet

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show

Now Playing: The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show

Movie Details & Credits

Peacock | Release Date (Streaming): September 10, 2020 | Not Rated

Starring: Harry Belafonte, Whoopi Goldberg

Summary: In 1968, entertainer and activist Harry Belafonte took over "The Tonight Show" for one historic week, introducing a fractured, changing country to itself alongside legendary guests.

Director: Yoruba Richen

Genre(s): Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 75 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Stream On

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

Richard Roeper

Sep 10, 2020

We learn all kinds of illuminating factoids. Read full review

Hank Stuever

Sep 10, 2020

Richen makes excellent use of what remains. Read full review

Robert Lloyd

Sep 11, 2020

An arresting if somewhat wayward documentary. Read full review

John Anderson

Sep 10, 2020

Ms. Richen has a problematic subject for a documentary, and the problems extend beyond the limitations of footage. She needs to sell the event, thus her lineup of marginally relevant characters gushing about it. Read full review

SEE ALL 4 REVIEWS

User Score

Write a Review

tbd

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

User Reviews

Indiefilmlover

Oct 2, 2020

Harry Belafonte hosting the Tonight Show for an entire week in 1968 is definitely a subject worth exploring. Despite rising political unrest, racial tensions, class division, and an unpopular war raging in Vietnam, network televison was largely in a lily white land of escapism. What a breathHarry Belafonte hosting the Tonight Show for an entire week in 1968 is definitely a subject worth exploring. Despite rising political unrest, racial tensions, class division, and an unpopular war raging in Vietnam, network televison was largely in a lily white land of escapism. What a breath of fresh air it must have been for Belafonte to fill-in for Johnny Carson and give a America a small dose of reality between the banter and the musical numbers. While we get some sense of what the show must have been like that week (largely through interviews with Belafonte himself), the audience is left wanting more. With the exception of Belafonte, only a Tonight Show staffer and Dionne Warwick were actually present during the taping of at least one of the shows that week. To help provide some historical context, we also get some input from media critics, but their interviews focus more on Belafonte's career and his activism than his actual appearance on the Tonight Show that week. Peppered through the documentary are celebrity interviews, which mainly consist of their reactions to learning about Belafonte's appearance on The Tonight Show and their admiration of him as an artist. While one appreciates the nuggets of information revealed in "The Sit-In," by the closing credits, one is left wanting more.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

SEE ALL 1 REVIEWS