1h 8min | Drama, Music | 17 April 1953
Director: Gerald Mayer
Stars: Dorothy Dandridge, Philip Hepburn, Harry Belafonte.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045578/
Watched online, good print.
The Soundtracks says DD sang twice; I don't remember it, unless she was part of a group sing. The poster is terribly misleading. She never appears in an evening gown in this film (but appears exactly like this in Remains To Be Seen ('53)). Here she wears plain schoolteacher clothes and pulled-back hair.
I do remember HF singing, only his own guitar accompaniment, not an impressive selection. But he's the principal of a school, not an entertainer. I wouldn't classify this as music/al, but I won't fight it.
I'm very glad to have seen the film. I'm sure it's mostly white behind the camera, but this is incredible progress for black portrayal onscreen. Especially since I speculated that a black number in the film I watched immediately prior was still excisable.
It's very nice to see DD act a straight-arrow role. This is her 24th of 32 credits. 1st of 13 film credits for HF. PH has only 1 other credit 4 years later.
This is a tale of good new teacher trying to reach the troubled boy. It's told well, with nice details, and voice-over to convey the teacher's thoughts at times. The story could easily have been about a white rural community instead. But the fact that it's black educated adults dealing with black children makes it very refreshing in '53.
I liked it.
MGM, dir. Mayer; 8
