That's Old News! (#12)

Below are links to ten historic entertainment news articles:

• "Merle Oberon's Marriage Stranger Than Fiction"

St. Petersburg Times - July 29, 1945

Source

Famed columnist Louella Parsons didn't seem too enthusiastic about Merle Oberon's marriage to cinematographer and DP, Lucien Ballard. This union was Oberon's second marriage. Click the link above to read the article.

• "Hal Boyle Writes...Cantinflas Explains What Makes a Comedian" 

The Nevada Daily Mail - September 20, 1960

Cantinflas with Bing Crosby in Pepe (1960) - Source

Just as the article's title says, comedy legend, Cantinflas, explains to Hal Boyle what makes a good comedian. He also explains why he never took on a "serious role". 

• "You Can't Help Liking Ethel Waters, Her Hearty Laugh, Sparkling Eyes"

Ottawa Citizen - February 23, 1954

Accompanied photo in Ottawa Citizen

Radio and television editor for the Ottawa Citizen, Claude Hammerston, made a trip to Toronto just to interview the legendary Ethel Waters. He had a nice chat with her about her career, her opinion on television, her religion, and more. 

• "Howe Observes His 50th Year"

Toledo Blade - December 31, 1967

Source

James Wong Howe celebrated his 50th year as a Hollywood cinematographer while shooting The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1967) in Selma, Alabama. 

• "Eartha Kitt Casts Strange Spell On Stage"

Palm Beach Daily News - December 26, 1954

Even at the age of 26, Eartha Kitt had a confidence, frankness, and maturity that was well beyond her years. Click the link above to read her rags-to-riches story as originally told to the International News Service.

• "Sunshine Sammy: He Tells How He First Got Into the Movies"

The Afro American - February 4, 1933

Accompanied photo in The Afro American

Ernest "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison not only told The Afro American how he got his start in movies, but also how he got the nickname "Sunshine Sammy". He also talked about his love for the stage and what (at the time) kept him from returning to Hollywood. 

• "Theresa Harris on "Hollywood Hotel""

The Afro American - August 28, 1937

Source

Singer/actress Theresa Harris was a busy woman in 1937! Not only did she appear in four films released that year (one, Bargain with Bullets, aka Gangsters on the Loose is mentioned in the article), but one could also hear her voice in a radio adaptation of One Mile from Heaven. 

• "Nicholas Brothers: 50 Years of Footwork"

Schenectady Gazette - June 20, 1987

Source

Click the link above to take a short journey through Fayard and Harold Nicholas' 50-year career in show business.

• "New York to Call Anna Chang In Spring"

The Gridley Herald - November 19, 1924

Anna Chang pictured with Cary Grant in Singapore Sue (1932) (Source)

The Gridley Herald reported that the "Chinese Songbird of San Francisco", Anna Chang would be joining Irving Berlin's Music Box revue in Spring of 1925! Get all of the details in the link above.

• "Spencer Williams Back to Hollywood"

Washington Afro-American - January 24, 1950

Source

After spending ten years in Texas making independent pictures, Spencer Williams made his return to Hollywood in 1950. It's possible that he was returning to prepare for his new role in the Amos 'n' Andy TV series. Click the link above to view the small news story!

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I hope you found this installment of "That's Old News!" to be very informative! :)

Spencer Williams Online (An Appreciation Post)

Check out movies (and television episodes) featuring, written by, and/or directed by February 2015's Star of the Month, Spencer Williams!

Spencer Williams (right) with Tim Moore (middle) and Alvin Childress (left) for the Amos 'n' Andy TV series

YouTube Links:

Melancholy Dame (1929)

Music Hath Arms (1929)

The Framing of the Shrew (1929)

Oft the Silly Night (1929)

Two-Gun Man from Harlem (1938)

The Bronze Buckaroo (1939)

Harlem Rides the Range (1939)

(also writer)

Bad Boy (1939)

Son of Ingagi (1940)

(also writer)

The Blood of Jesus (1941)

(also writer and director)

Go Down, Death (1944)

(also writer and director)

Dirty Gertie from Harlem U.S.A. (1946)

(also director)

Juke Joint (1947)

(also director)

Amos 'n' Andy (TV Series)

(YouTube Search Results)

Spencer Williams News Articles

Spencer Williams returns to Hollywood after making movies in Dallas

(Washington Afro-American - Jan. 24, 1950)

Biography and announcement of Amos 'n' Andy role

(Baltimore Afro-American - Sep. 11, 1954)

Short Obituary in the Toledo Blade 

(Toledo Blade - Dec. 17, 1969)

Spencer Williams films rediscovered in 1996

(Times Daily - Jan. 2, 1996)

Go Down, Death! (1944) - (Review)

Once again, Spencer Williams tackles the theme of "good vs. evil" in 1944's Go Down, Death!, made three years and three projects after the previously reviewed, The Blood of Jesus. Is Go Down, Death! just as good as Williams' directoral debut or better? Unfortunately, it falls very short.

As a result of The Blood of Jesus' critical and commercial success, Spencer Williams went on to write and direct several more pictures for Sack Amusement Enterprises. Of course, clout like that gives filmmakers the opportunity to really show off their craft. You want to create bigger and better. Go Down, Death! has more characters and more drama, but no one really "brought it" in this film.

The Blood of Jesus (1941) - Review

*WARNING: Use of GIF images*

Movie poster from Wikipedia

IMDb Summary

In the rural south of the United States, a godly young woman ("Martha Ann Jackson" played by Cathryn Caviness) is accidently wounded by her unchurched husband (Spencer Williams). She succumbs to the injuries, whereupon a good angel (played by Rogenia Goldthwaite) bids her to journey with him to the Crossroads of Life. Before she can travel far, the devil (Jas B. Jones) lures her with the temptations of juke joints and the city. Can she regain the straight and narrow before it's too late? And what is to become of those she left behind? 

Our Star of the Month, Spencer Williams made his directoral debut with The Blood of Jesus (1941). He also wrote and produced this film. Here are my thoughts:


Portrayal of the "Black Church"

Real-life preacher, Reverend R.L. Robertson & the Heavenly Choir

Religious themes (particularly "prodigal son" stories) were prevalent in most movies featuring all-Black casts. Hallelujah! (1929), Cabin in the Sky (originally a play), and Miracle in Harlem (1948) are just a few examples. In fact, The Blood of Jesus is very much like Cabin in the Sky. However, The Blood of Jesus still manages to stand out from the others.


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For most African-Americans (especially during the years of slavery and well into...I'll say into the 1960s or 70s), Christianity and the Church were especially central in communities and individual lives. The church served as the soup kitchen, the schoolhouse, the dance hall (Rated G dancing, of course), the city hall, etc. It was versatile place that was always opened to guests. Even if you were a blues singer at the juke joint up the street, it was likely that you first started singing in church.

R.L. Robertson leads his congregation with "Sister Ellerby" (left) and "Sister Jenkins" by his sides.

Spencer Williams allowed that unique culture to shine in his script without making caricatures of African-American churchgoers. The cast members' prayer and worship didn't come off as an energetic screen performance. Even though actresses Juanita Riley and Reather Hardeman (as "Sister Jenkins" and "Sister Ellerby") played comedic roles, they too seemed honest in their praise to God. Speaking from a personal perspective, this showed the African-American church in a most natural light. 

*Further reading: Check out this link (scroll down a bit) to see how King Vidor (director of Hallelujah!) made the "connection" between African-Americans' sexual expression and religious expression. Although I still enjoy watching this movie, Vidor's observation of the "Black church" is a strange one--and it is apparent in Hallelujah!'s church scenes.

Writing

Race movie storylines were usually pretty simple. For the tight budgets didn't allow writers the opportunity to write scenes that would have required, say for instance, enough time for two brothers to tap, flip, and jump about in a large space. Instead, you'd get a familiar script with two or three musical acts thrown in to "spice it up". Not to mention that these acts were liable to perform at a tiny nightclub or at somebody's fictional rent party. Like the others, Spencer Williams stuck to a simple script for The Blood of Jesus and it did call for a "heavenly choir" and "jazz performers", but unlike the others, none of the musical performances seemed to be fillers.

Satan (Jas B. Jones) spots an angel (Rogenia Goldthwaite)

The Blood of Jesus makes a clear cut distinction between what gets you into Heaven and what sends you to hell: fast city life, fun outside of church, and wanting quick gratification=hell; waiting patiently for finer things/being thankful for what you have, seeking comfort in God, and friendship within the church=Heaven. Again, pretty simple. Some (myself included) may find the "black-and-whiteness" of such a storyline to be off-putting, but the film is grounded in some of the Bible's most often-cited teachings, after all. Even so, this didn't seem like a movie with a plan to convert people or get people to "get their house in order". It seemed to be Spencer Williams' way of making people relate to or understand the Bible in 1941.


Characters & Acting


There wasn't a bad performance in this film but there wasn't an exceptional performance, either. But again, simplicity was the key in this film. There was no need for anyone to chew the scenery. However, I think Spencer Williams (as "Raz"), Juanita Riley, and Reather Hardeman gave the more memorable performances.

Sister Martha Ann Jackson (Cathryn Caviness) having a good time

To fling synonyms of "honesty" around once again, I must applaud Spencer Williams for a genuine (or better yet, multi-dimensional) depiction of the African-American church congregation. While there was that distinction between what was "good" and what was "evil", Williams made certain that the characters weren't this precise. For example, his own character, "Razz", wasn't religious--and a character element such as that might tempt one to make Razz mean and nasty for the sake of being mean and nasty, but thankfully, Williams strayed far from this stereotype. The same could be said about other characters, including the lead character, Martha Ann. While Martha Ann strays away from the "straight and narrow" path for a bit, she doesn't go completely (and unbelievably) out of control. 

Sister Jenkins (Juanita Riley) catches Razz Jackson (Spencer Williams) in a lie. 

Overall Thoughts

Overall, I loved this movie. It's just under an hour long, but it didn't feel too short. As stated numerous times before, this a short, sweet, and refreshingly simple production--from the story to the cinematography and even down to the sound. Of all the Spencer Williams movies I've seen, I think this was his best. It's entertaining and it's also educational. Plus, if you ever spent time in "the church" or just in some rural areas in the United States' Southern region, this movie just may stir up some memories and nostalgia for you. It did that for me.



The Blood of Jesus (1941) on YouTube

Star of the Month (February 2015): Spencer Williams

This month, People of Color in Classic Film will pay tribute to Spencer Williams--actor, comedian, and filmmaker. 

Movie of the Week: "Amos 'n' Andy" Episodes (Review)

From EpGuides, Tim Moore (top), Spencer Williams, Jr. (bottom left), and Alvin Childress as Kingfish, Andy, and Amos (respectively).

This week, I watched two episodes of the short-lived television series, Amos 'n' Andy, starring Alvin Childress, Spencer Williams, Jr., and Tim Moore. 

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I watched the first episode of the series, titled Kingfish Gets Drafted. 

In this episode, George "Kingfish" Stevens is wrongfully drafted into the Army. Of course, upon receiving the notice, he knows a mistake has been made, but Army officials assure him that he is the George Stevens they're looking for. Kingfish, fearful and upset, goes to tell his wife, Sapphire (played by Ernestine Wade) the bad news, but surprisingly, she is happy for him--she assumes that he actually enlisted and refers to him as "her hero". The entire neighborhood hears the news and celebrates, leaving Kingfish no choice but to pretend that he really is going away. Of course, comedy ensues.

I literally "laughed-out-loud" while watching this episode. You may be turned off a bit (like I was) by what seems like fake and forced laughter from the audience, but it won't take long before the laughter goes unnoticed. The episode was cleverly written, the comedic timing was seamless, and all performances were great. There really isn't much more I can say about the episode--I absolutely loved it.

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Next, I watched Kingfish's Secretary. I'm not sure if this was the second episode of the series or not. Some sites, like IMDb, have it listed as the second episode, while others do not. 

In this episode, the lodge (that Amos, Andy, and Kingfish are members of, by the way) makes some renovations and even hires a secretary named Daphne (to my surprise and joy, played by the multi-talented Jeni Le Gon). Upon learning about the new secretary, Sapphie Stevens' claws come out and she lets Kingfish (and later, the unknowing Daphne) have it. 

Jeni Le Gon (American Vaudeville Museum)

Also, in this episode, a lodge member comes in requesting that Daphne take dictation for a letter to a mail-order bride he has his eyes on. Now, before this, Kingfish asked Daphne to take dictation for a letter to a cleaning service to hire a cleaning woman. When Daphne is out, Lightnin' (played by Nick Stewart) comes in to pay the lodge a visit. Kingfish, while lounging in his office, asks Lightnin' to bring him the letter for the cleaning service for him to sign. Lightnin' accidentally knocks the cleaning service letter in the trash and Kingfish signs the mail-order bridge letter!

Ruby Dandridge (Copper Colored Gal)

Next thing you know, Henrietta Smith (played by Ruby Dandridge) comes barging into the lodge to claim her man, Mr. George Stevens. Again, comedy ensues.

Like the previous episode, I don't have much to say about this one. I literally "laughed out loud". The comedic timing of these actors is worthy of endless praise.

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Overall Thoughts

Again, I enjoyed these episodes--so much so that I plan to either purchase the series on DVD or watch all of them online. The show was criticized for its negative portrayals (lazy Kingfish, jealous Sapphire) of Black-Americans, but the only thing that differentiates these characters from other characters in television and movies at the time was the color of their skin. However, here is the problem:

When Amos 'n' Andy aired on television, the only other show that featured a black cast (or a central black character, rather) was Beulah. Beulah was--what else?--a maid. When you have less than a handful of shows "representing" your race, of course you're going to be very critical of what you see. This is still going on today, actually (see varying opinions within the black community on shows like Scandal, Being Mary Jane, and Tyler Perry's shows). It's a shame that the show was cancelled so soon, because again, it was hilarious, but I'm not going to be "that person" who thinks that all of the controversy and complaints were unreasonable. 

From TV Party--the lodge men taking cover against the wrath of Sapphire.

The only problem I had with the show (the two episodes that I actually watched), was the way in which the black female characters were written. In these two episodes, there were only four women--Sapphire Stevens, Sapphire's mom (played by Amanda Randolph), Daphne, the secretary, and Henrietta Smith. You would expect to see a wide range of personality among these four women, but nope--three of these four women were all domineering, rambunctious women quick to throw a punch and/or tear a man down. Now, to be clear, I don't think there's anything wrong with being a domineering and rambunctious woman, but when three out of four black, female characters in two episodes of a show alone are seemingly mean and unpleasant, I have to ask, "Just what did the writers think about black women?"

Ernestine Wade (Find-A-Grave)

Also, again, jealous, domineering women were not new to television, movies, or radio by this time and they were played by actresses of different races, shapes, sizes, and ages (see Lucy is Jealous of Girl Singer), but like I said, it's easy to be very critical of what you see of yourself on television when the choices are limited.

However, I highly recommend that you check out episodes of Amos 'n' Andy. Below are links to the episodes I watched this week.

Kingfish Gets Drafted

[Youtube]

Kingfish's Secretary

[Matinee Classics]

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I will be back later this week with a video review of No Way Out (1950).

Youtube Find: Melancholy Dame (1929)

Hearts in Dixie and Hallelujah! were Hollywood's first all-black cast (and all-talking also) films. Both were released in 1929 (Hearts in Dixie was released in May, Hallelujah! in August). However, Oscar Micheaux and other independent companies were making "all-Colored" cast films way before Hollywood was. One film company in particular was key in helping to blaze trails for Black-American filmmakers (like Spencer Williams, Jr.) and performers--The Christie Film Company [link to a Blogpost post].

I am delighted to inform you that a Youtube user has posted a "Christie" comedy short and it is believed to be the first all-black "talkie" period. 

Opening credits of Melancholy Dame (1929)

Click Here to watch Melancholy Dame, a short comedy released on February 2, 1929 by The Christie Film Company. It stars Edward Thompson, Evelyn Preer (real-life husband and wife), Spencer Williams, Roberta Hyson, and Charles Olden. 

Enjoy!

Spencer Williams, Jr.--Before Amos 'n Andy

Before his role as "Andy" in the controversial television series Amos 'n Andy, Spencer Williams, Jr. made an even more important mark in the American Film industry.

Spencer Williams starred, wrote, produced, and directed a string of movies during the 1930's and 40's--making him one of (the other being Oscar Micheaux) the most prominent African-American filmmakers of that time. 

  Unfortunately, his work in Amos 'N Andy has eclipsed his pioneering work. 

But have no fear--Captain Internet is here!

(I apologize for that corniness--there was no way I could resist typing that out.)

Below is a list of films either written, produced, directed by, and/or starring Spencer Williams, Jr.

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Harlem Rides the Range (1939)

Mr. Williams wrote and starred in this legendary Western. 

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Son of Ingagi (1940)

Mr. Williams wrote and starred in this Sci-Fi Thriller. 

This movie is credited with being the first Sci-Fi/Horror film with an all-Black cast. 

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The Blood of Jesus (1941)

Mr. Williams wrote, produced, directed, and starred in this historical film. 

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Go Down, Death! (1944)

Mr. Williams wrote (uncredited), directed, and starred in this movie. Its tagline: "Saturday Sinners and Sunday Saints Clash in the Battle of Good Against Evil!"

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Jivin' in Be-Bop (1946)

Mr. Williams co-directed this musical documentary.

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Dirty Gertie from Harlem, U.S.A. (1946)

Mr. Williams directed and starred in this film adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's novel, Rain.

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Also, here is an episode of the early 1950's television series, Amos 'n Andy. The episode is titled "The Uranium Mine". 

Spencer Williams Jr.--An Unsung Pioneer

Actor, writer, and director Mr. Spencer Williams (sometimes billed as Spencer Williams, Jr.) passed away on this day in 1969.

Mr. Williams is one of the many unsung pioneers of America's entertainment industry. 

Here are three of the films he wrote and/or directed available to us on Youtube:

The Blood of Jesus (1941)

Go Down, Death! (1944)

Dirty Gertie from Harlem U.S.A. (1946)

You may also be able to find a few clips of Mr. Williams' work in the Amos 'n Andy television series. 

Dirty Gertie from Harlem U.S.A. (ALF Review)

While watching this movie I decided to read about it a bit and I also read about the director, Spencer Williams.

I read a few things saying that Spencer Williams' directing and filmmaking has been criticized--basically for its low production and lack of camera angles, stuff like that--but if anybody knows anything about American history, American Film History, and "race films", they may easily come to the conclusion that Spencer Williams may have had little to work with and that most "race films" were low-budget, dark, and have been poorly preserved. (Wikipedia page on "Race Movies")

(Click 'Read More')

Dirty Gertie from Harlem U.S.A.

I am now about to watch this 1946 "race film"--Dirty Gertie from Harlem U.S.A. starring the gorgeous Francine Everett!