Films Unavailable Due to Racial Stereotyping

[realist]

What films are being withheld from distribution on TV,DVD, or streaming because of perceived “racial stereotyping?” I can think of two off the bat (“Song of the South” and Charlie McCarthy, Detective.”) There has to be more that board members know about.

[Richard Finegan]

What films are being withheld from distribution on TV,DVD, or streaming because of perceived “racial stereotyping?” I can think of two off the bat (“Song of the South” and "Charlie McCarthy, Detective.”) There has to be more that board members know about.

I never heard of CHARLIE McCARTHY, DETECTIVE being withheld. It was in Universal's "Comedy Festival" movie package for TV through at least the late 1980's. It was shown a few times on a local station in the mid-1970's and on another in the late 1980's.
Unfortunately it's the kind of movie that hardly any TV stations left would run, unless TCM acquires it.

[Ray Faiola]

I have a print of KENTUCKY KERNELS that was savaged by a station editor, who removed almost all of Willie Best's scenes in the picture!

[entredeuxguerres]

If that's Edgar Bergen's Charlie playing the detective, the loss is one I can't mourn, but it's saddening to learn such a joyous production as Song has been proscribed.

[syd]

When it comes to classic animation, titles such
as Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs, Uncle Tom's
Cabana and various snippets from Tex Avery
cartoons (when Butch's face explodes in Droopy
Dog cartoons he becomes a pickaninny, etc.) have
been eliminated from broadcast tv and possibly
new DVD releases. I have Droopy Dog cartoons
on VHS that are uncomfortably complete.

Our Gang has also been the victim of censorship
over the years. In the 1970's, titles such as The Kid
From Borneo were shown with regularity on a local
kids show. It disappeared in the early eighties and was
only recently available on DVD.

There was an Our Gang short called Little Sinner
that didn't make sense until I saw the complete
version years later. The plot involved Spanky,
Buckwheat, and Porky playing hookey from
Sunday school to go fishing. As they return
from the trip, their walk through the woods
encounters an eclipse and a black
church congregation at a baptism.
The print I saw as a kid showed the eclipse and the
strains of black spirituals were on the soundtrack.
What the censors cut were some members of the black congre-
gation wandering through the woods in white sheets.

[drednm]

It's not a talkie, but we'll never see the Duncan Sisters in the film version of their hit stage show Topsy and Eva (1927) even though Mona Ray patterned her Topsy in Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927) on Rosetta Duncan's.

[CliffordWeimer]

I was advised by a Sony rep that much of their Columbia short subject catalog, comedies and serials, is "unreleasable" because of racial stereotyping. They just don't want the headache. That was a few years ago, during the height of the Charlie Chan on TCM controversy (or non-controversy), so hopefully that's in the past.

[sc1957]

Is it a bad thing that some films are unavailable due to racial stereotyping (assuming that there aren't other reasons as well)?

I know some folks will say yes, of course it's bad. But do we need to preserve everything just because someone created it?

[Rollo Treadway]

I recently watched the Warner Archive release of the musical Wonder Bar (1934) which would rightly belong on the Busby Berkeley box set if not for the "Goin' to Heaven on a Mule" number with Al Jolson doing his blackface shtick and all the stereotypes you can think of: Pork chops, watermelon, "pickaninnies" etc. And I assume the film is rarely shown on TCM (if at all) for the same reason.

That sequence may actually be the least of the problems with Wonder Bar, which has a peculiarly callous, not to say misanthropic story line. However, the Berkeley magic is fully at work in the musical numbers, and the comedy byplay offers much pre-code fun. The film should definitely not be neglected because of PC trepidations.

[Scoundrel]

" if not for an infamous "N----er Heaven" number with Al Jolson doing his blackface shtick.."


For the record, the sequence is known as "Goin to Heaven on a Mule.."

The description above is more offensive than the sequence itself.

[moviepas]

"Goin to Heaven on a Mule..

This number is on the Laserdisc of The Busby Berkeley Disc but is censored out of the DVD version and noted by George that he had that done.

[Rollo Treadway]

The description above is more offensive than the sequence itself.

You're absolutely right, and I've edited my post accordingly.

[silentfilm]

Well, The Kid From Borneo Our Gang short wasn't shown on TV either, although it's a hilarious short.

[Jim Reid]

The Little Rascals censorship started when King World got hold of the rights in the mid 70s. I used to watch them on a cable station out of KC in the early 70s and it was all there. Little Sinner, Kid from Borneo, A Tough Winter. Then in 1977 when the tv station I worked for bought the package, we got all brand new prints, straight from the lab. Only they were different. No Tough Winter or Kid From Borneo and Little Sinner went from 20 minutes to 6 minutes and made no sense at all. They really hacked them up.

[radiotelefonia]

NATIVE SON (1950) in its authentic form: the film was heavily edited for the American release and that version is lousy. It was produced in Argentina and Fernando Martín Peña rescued a print of the original version which we believed that it was lost until a high quality version appeared in Library of Congress.

[Richard Finegan]

It's not a talkie, but we'll never see the Duncan Sisters in the film version of their hit stage show Topsy and Eva (1927) even though Mona Ray patterned her Topsy in Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927) on Rosetta Duncan's.

I guess we should define "unavailable" regarding these films.
Unavailable to TV?
Unavailable for video & DVD release?
Unavailable for screenings at festivals?
TOPSY AND EVA (1927) is certainly available for viewing at The Library of Congress (where I saw it about ten years ago).

(Edited to say I meant TOPSY AND EVA, not UNCLE TOM'S CABIN)

[drednm]

Yes. I've seen Uncle Tom's Cabin but I have no idea where I saw it years ago ... I assume it was on TCM?

In the broad sense, I think any film should be available in its original state. Anything less is censorship. No one is forced to watch films. I think we've become way too sensitive about racial issues in films that are part of their time. It's funny that people get all upset about censorship of books but think nothing of censoring films.

The butchering of something like the "Little Rascal" series because of racial humor is pretty astounding. I remember watching one a few years back that I fondly remembered and the film was cut to pieces ... to the point that the story made no sense. I think it was the one where the candle is on a turtle that wanders off into a pond, leaving the kids in darkness.

Bottom line question is as always: where to draw the line? The racism question usually centers on Blacks and Asians, but I can think of quite a few film moments that target gays, Italians, Hispanics, Southerners, etc....

[entredeuxguerres]

No one is forced to watch films.

The cardinal point, usually ignored. Are there circumstances in which viewing of the Rascals, Wonder Bar, etc., is compulsory?

My initial exposure to the Rascals occured on Sat. mornings during the years when everyone (except the Reds) "liked Ike"; uncensored, I presume. What struck me as amazing was the spectacle of black & white kids playing happily together--unthinkable where I grew up. How peculiar, then, that this series ever aroused the indignation of anyone--except the Klan.