Pressure Point (1962): Cast & Plot
Pressure Point is a 1962 drama directed by Hubert Cornfield, starring Peter Falk as Young Psychiatrist, Sidney Poitier and Bobby Darin. It runs 1 hour 29 minutes.
- Released
- Runtime
- 1h 29m (89 min)
- Director
- Hubert Cornfield
- Genre
- Drama
- Original language
-
English - Studio
- Stanley Kramer Productions
- After the credits
- No No extra scene
What Is Pressure Point About?
The premise of Pressure Point without spoilers. The whole story is in the plot summary further down.
A volatile clash erupts between two men who have turned against the world and each other. An African‑American prison psychiatrist is forced to confront his own limits when he is assigned to counsel a troubled inmate whose bigoted, Nazi‑inspired beliefs threaten to break the fragile order of the facility.
Pressure Point Themes & Keywords
· 50 tags- reference to franklin d. roosevelt
- downward spiral
- cheating husband
- american
- psychiatrist
- prison
- sedition
- american nazi
- nightmare
- african american
- flashback within a flashback
- child abuse
+38 more Show fewer
- german american bund
- parole hearing
- cafeteria
- bedridden mother
- alcoholic father
- racial slur
- framing story
- denouement
- year 1942
- hate crime
- jewish american
- german american
- hallucination
- told in flashback
- saloon
- first person narrative
- liver
- new york city
- manhattan new york city
- madison square garden manhattan new york city
- harlem manhattan new york city
- world war two
- wanting to kill father
- voice over narration
- violence
- vandalism
- tic tac toe
- terrorism
- telephone call
- synagogue
- symbolism
- swastika
- surrealism
- storm trooper
- star spangled banner
- split screen
- slow motion scene
- sink
Pressure Point Cast & Characters
Peter Falk leads the cast as Young Psychiatrist, with Sidney Poitier as Doctor and Bobby Darin as Patient. Directed by Hubert Cornfield; 35 actors are credited in all.
- Director Hubert Cornfield
-
Peter Falk as Young Psychiatrist -
Sidney Poitier as Doctor - Bobby Darin as Patient
-
Richard Bakalyan as Jimmy
Also Starring in Pressure Point
· 31 more- William H. O'Brien Bund Meeting Spectator
- Butch Patrick Imaginary Playmate
- Max Wagner
- Ethan Laidlaw
- Harry Wilson
- Carl Benton Reid Chief Medical Officer
- James Anderson Father
- Jimmie Horan Patient
- Jack Perrin
- Michael Jeffers
- Clegg Hoyt Pete
- George Murdock
- Gil Perkins
- Barry Gordon Patient (as a boy)
- Chalky Williams
- Benjie Bancroft
Show all 35 cast members Show fewer cast members
- Duke Fishman
- Phil Schumacher
- Frank Maxwell Bund Meeting Spectator
- Howard Caine Tavern Owner
- Yvette Vickers Drunken Woman
- Bud Cokes
- Gilbert Green Jewish Father
- Lars Hensen
- Mike Morelli
- Anne Barton Mother
- Mary Munday Bar Hostess
- Lynn Loring Jewish Girl
- Tiger Joe Marsh
- Clyde McLeod
- Herman Rudin
More from Hubert Cornfield
More films directed by Hubert Cornfield: Les Grands Moyens, The Night of the Following Day, Angel Baby and The 3rd Voice.
Pressure Point Plot Summary
What happens in Pressure Point from start to finish, spoilers included, with a timeline of 13 key events. The opening is below; the full summary is a 2-minute read.
Spoilers ahead
Set in a 1962 psychiatric institution, the film centers on a tense dynamic between a young doctor Peter Falk on a staff headed by a senior psychiatrist Sidney Poitier, and a Black patient who detests him because he is white. For seven and a half months, the young doctor struggles to land a breakthrough, growing increasingly weary and even requesting that the patient be reassigned to another clinician. The senior psychiatrist, drawing on a hard‑won experience from two decades earlier, shares a memory from 1942 when he worked as a psychiatrist at a federal penitentiary and encountered a Nazi sympathizer who would shape his own approach to care.
Full summary
The whole story of Pressure Point, scene by scene
Pressure Point Trailers & Videos
The trailer of Pressure Point.
How Well Do You Know Pressure Point?
10 questions about the story, each with a hint if you get stuck. Pick an answer to see whether you were right.
Question 1 of 10
- Question 1: not answered
- Question 2: not answered
- Question 3: not answered
- Question 4: not answered
- Question 5: not answered
- Question 6: not answered
- Question 7: not answered
- Question 8: not answered
- Question 9: not answered
- Question 10: not answered
Which actor plays the young doctor who struggles with the difficult patient?
Pressure Point Also Known As
11 alternative titles, including “Болевая точка” and “社会暴徒”.
- Also known as
-
- Болевая точка
- 社会暴徒
- La clave de la cuestión
- La scuola dell'odio
- Granice wytrzymałości
- Точка давления
- Tormentos D'Alma
- 紧急边缘
- Die Sprache der Gewalt
- Okamžik rozhodnutí
- Punt de pressió
Seen Pressure Point?
Movies Like Pressure Point
Films with a similar story, tone or audience, including Pressure Point, The Turning Point and Point Defiance.
Pressure Point FAQ: Cast, Runtime & Release Date
Runtime, release date, director, cast and post-credit scenes of Pressure Point, each answered in a sentence.
How long is Pressure Point?
Pressure Point runs 1 hour 29 minutes (89 minutes).
When was Pressure Point released?
Pressure Point was released on October 10, 1962.
Who directed Pressure Point?
Pressure Point was directed by Hubert Cornfield.
More films by Hubert Cornfield Who is in the cast of Pressure Point?
Pressure Point stars Peter Falk as Young Psychiatrist, Sidney Poitier as Doctor and Bobby Darin as Patient, among 35 credited actors.
Does Pressure Point have a post-credit scene?
No. Pressure Point has no extra scene during or after the credits.
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