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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 194«THE SONG OF Some Cleveland-THE SOUTH ers visiting California this past summer had the pleasure of seeing the Disney Studios and conversing with some of the directors and producers of the Song of theSouth”, which is, as you know the Disnev version of Uncle Remus.The persons affiliated with the production were most anxious at that time to have the American public, especially Negroes accept the story for its literary value and not make it a racial issue of bclittlement. The Clevelanders were asked to contact the studio after they had seen the production an4 relay their true impression from a lerary viewpoint.#The largest movie house in Atlanta, the Paramount showed Song of |he South last week in its premier opqping. All the stars were invited. Afl»the press agents were there. It wai a very gala affair in its initial production. Everybody was there indeed, everybody except the leadingcharacter Uncle Remus* Negro JamesBa«fkett. The local liberals witted:• “Where was Uncle Remus when thoughts went on?”f The irrational Jim (*w pattern was carried to such a ridiculous extent that the name of James Baskett was even omitted from all press advertisements.•The NAACP has denounced this production as perpetuating a dangerous glorified picture of s. a very. While complimenting the artistic merit it deplored the idyllic master-slave relationship as a complete distortion of facts. ;:Vyitt The Urban League critic Ann Tanneyhili called. Song of the South another repetition of the stereotyped servant Negro in an indolent lazy carefree role, who handles the truthvety* lightly.'The Baltimore Afro-American renamed the film The Song of the Decadent South” and its movie reviewer called it the most vicious piece of Southern propaganda Hollywood has produced. He added that Senator Bilboand Columbians Incorporated were going to live it. ££i.riy#if:- T;Fredi Washington of A. C. Powell'sPeople’s Voice, said that none of the white actors had accents but the Negroes were saddled in dialect of the very worst kind. It will add new courage and impetus to the discriminationalready in the South. fcjThe only Negro paper giving favorable comment was the Pittsburgh Courier whose reviewer, Herman Hill,sVH; UP?:“A truly sympathetic production from a racial standpoint, very good in furthering inter-racial good will in the Southland.” ^The Negro organizations and press were given special preview of thefilm in RKO studios last week in Radio Citv. A spokesman for Disneyed that any unfavorable reactions had resulted and that the Negroes had fntmd anvthing objectionable in thefilm. * . *We are at a loss for making any statement pro or con in regard to the film since we have not seen it. However, we can not help but wonder if it is possible to take any productionemotionally enjoyed by millions ofpeople and divorce it entirely from their every day lives. Can the massesto whom the motion picture industry caters say, this is merely a film and close the chapter? In our daily newspapers we see everyday proof that many crimes have had pictures as aStreet motive for mode of perform**ance. Why would not any film of racial stereotype serve to enhance in the biased mind of Southerners, thefeet that the master-slave relationship is the most correct procedure for Negro behavior? Rather than a literary production, the-e Southerners consider it as sanction to their Jim Crow status. Why then should theWNegro be so intellectual that he should ignore its social effects and regard it purely in the fashion of the higher literary arts?ST1 • . —R W. B.r
Newspaper Details
Call and Post
Cleveland, Ohio, US
Sat, Dec 14, 1946
Page 18
Full Page
Clipped by
Rotten T.
USA 29 Mar 2022
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