Ruby Dee, who died this week at age 91, was a great actress of film and stage, as well as the artistic and political partner of her husband Ossie Davis. One of her most affecting scenes is “Gator’s Last Dance” in Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever. Samuel L. Jackson (in the breakthrough performance that set up Jackson for his star-making turn in Pulp Fiction) plays a crackhead. Badly strung out, he bursts into the home of his parents (Dee and Davis) looking for some dope money. At first look, Dee seems to have less of a role in the scene than Jackson or Davis. But the key is her intense desperation to avoid – and then to mitigate – the encounter between son and father. And, finally, her fears are realized and manifest into profound grief. It’s a searing performance (and it’s worth sitting through the advertisement).
Movie Recommendations, Rants and Ruminations
