Popi (1969)

The plot of this film is so batshit crazy that I think it could only have been made during a singular time and place. Alan Arkin is a widowed Puerto Rican living in poverty with his two young boys. He is weighed down by all of his responsibilities: being away all day working multiple jobs, wanting a better place for his family to live, trying to keep his boys from a life of crime, loving his girlfriend but knowing if they wed that there would eventually be even more mouths to feed. So he concocts the most dangerous and ridiculous plan possible in order to give his sons the better life that is otherwise impossible for him to give them. Arkin brings a needed manic energy to his role that, while not necessarily making the story believable, makes his actions understandable. The kids are cute and their chemistry as a family works. Rita Moreno is the voice of reason and sanity in the whole endeavor, so sadly her role is small.