So Cringe worthy!!!! how did they know not to do this black face? Wasn't it common practice in the 50's to still do mock minstrel shows in black face. I've seen Joan crawford in a dance number in black face. How did the director predict that to give his movie any longevity he had to lose the black face.
shareI too cringe at the "Abraham" number in "Holiday Inn", but it's difficult to make judgements in the 2010s about the culture of the early-mid-1900s. It might help to read Wikipedia's entry on Al Jolson...skip down to the section entitled "Relations with African-Americans". And this from another source: "At a time when blacks were not seen on Broadway, Jolson promoted a play by Garland Anderson, which became the first Broadway production with an all-black cast. He insisted on equal treatment for Cab Calloway, with whom he performed in The Singing Kid. Jolson and his wife Ruby Keeler were the rare entertainers who invited black singers and dancers their home, and when he died, black actors turned out in force for Jolson’s funeral. According to the St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, “Almost single-handedly, Jolson helped to introduce African-American innovations like jazz, ragtime, and the blues to white audiences…[and] paved the way for African-American performers like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, and Ethel Waters.” Clearly, Jolson felt a kinship with African-Americans." So let's not be so sure we -- more than half a century removed -- understand all there is to know about Al Jolson and Black face.
shareCringe worthy? Arsenio Hall's show is sooooo racist against whites in 2013 that this minstrel number is nothing compared to his show.
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Not sure about posting this here, but since other ppl have been bringing it up already, I'd like to point out that the blackface number in HOLIDAY INN is part of the plot. The reason it's done is that Bing is trying to hide Marjorie Reynolds identity from Fred Astaire at that point. It's not gratuitous. I've never seen it with that scene cut out...I can't understand how that doesn't leave a hole in the storyline...?
I think by the 50's it was in bad taste and out of fashion. There was still the black train steward, is that racist, too?
Minstrel in itself is not racist. It is only one definition that has become synonymous with these types of shows. a minstrel was someone who sang, dance, told jokes, etc. regardless of race. Kind of like burlesque does not necessarily mean stripper.
I am not sure how it could be racist having a black train steward since there were black train stewards then.
It would be as silly as insisting that all maids in movies made today be played by white actors as though there were no black or Hispanic maids at work today.
My only problem with casting various races in parts is at least make the casting make some semblance of sense. I once saw a production of Les Miserables where Fantine is played by a black actress, her daughter as a child is played by a white actress and the child as an adult is played by an Asian actress! All three of them were fine in their parts but it was totally unbelievable. Make them all black or all white or all Asian or at least some combination that makes some sense.
I hate this number and the one about choreography. The film is too long as is and dropping these two numbers would improve things. I love this movie and it is amazing it was directed by the same guy that directed "Clasablanca". They are so different.
shareYou love the movie but you say it's overlong and could be improved by dropping two musical numbers in a musical.
Of course the movie is different than "Casablanca". Are you shocked that "Lincoln" is different than "Jaws", being by the same director but totally different genres and released years apart?
The minstrel dance number is brilliant. The talent on display in that number is incredible.
shareQuite right. I scarcely think many new viewers even know of the minstrel show tradition.
We can't erase it from history in any case. And this number is presented brilliantly, as you pointed out. Long takes where you can see the dancers dance.
"Our Art Is a Reflection of Our Reality"
I tend to decide on my level of offense by what the motivations were by any scene in a film. Did the filmmakers include a blackface scene because they thought it was how all black people of that time actually were? Did they include it as part of the accepted minstrel tradition of the time? Hindsight is always much easier years later. Is there ANY use of blackface that is not insulting? Is there any use of a black person in white face that is not insulting?
In this particular movie, the minstrel show is brilliant. The dancing is incredible. The jokes are appropriately corny just as they were in the minstrel shows they were saluting. The scene was saluting the talent involved in those shows, not trying to insult anybody. Taking offense at every instance you can seems to be awfully tiring to me.
was that the choreography one?
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