In 1944, Laura director Rouben Mamoulian was replaced by Otto Preminger -; the film became a hit. Fourteen years later, Rouben Mamoulian vacated the director's seat of Porgy and Bess for... Otto Preminger. Studio head Sam Goldwyn evidently thought that as it had worked once... Preminger jumped at the chance to stage another "black opera" four years after his Carmen Jones, although, as a hired hand, he had to bow to Goldwyn's restrictions. That meant: no script changes and no location shooting. So Preminger shot the tale on a meticulously arranged set (although the picnic sequence could be shot on location).

Porgy and Bess is the story of beautiful Bess (Dorothy Dandridge) on the run from her pimp Crown (Brock Peters).

She meets and falls in love with crippled beggar Porgy (Sidney Poitier). But things get tricky when Crown reappears on the scene and Porgy has to kill him.

George Gershwin's rousing score and assured use of the Todd-AO widescreen process make Porgy and Bess an aural and visual treat.