A history of the racially stereotyped portrayal of African Americans in cinema.
Director: Mark Daniels
Writer/Narrator: Melvin Van Peebles
Watched online, mediocre copy.
MV gives his perspective on the issue, illustrated with film clips. Unfortunately, he only gives screen credit to studios/archives in a group at the end, not to specific actors. So on IMDb, many of the actors shown are not credited, despite white actors who get less screen time being listed. Among the missing: the Nicholas Brothers, Willie Best, Mantan Moreland, Paul Robeson, Bill Robinson, Herb Jeffries. At least I thought I saw all these here. Maybe next time I'll capture some names and try to submit them. But to prove MV's point, some of the white actors credited are names I don't know, from the era that I know well.
Update: I added 14 films from the DVD's Film Index to the Connections page, but some listings are unclear. Next viewing, make a list and see if you can find all of the Connections films (more than what was on the Index). If the description says "film mentioned", that's one I added as References; make sure it shouldn't be "Features".
Update: I added 14 films from the DVD's Film Index to the Connections page, but some listings are unclear. Next viewing, make a list and see if you can find all of the Connections films (more than what was on the Index). If the description says "film mentioned", that's one I added as References; make sure it shouldn't be "Features".
Rated 7.0 (194)
indie, dir. Daniels; 7
