This is a wonderful film about the tensions of growing up Black in what seems like another's Time and Space. Johnny Nash comes into his own as Spence Scott, an angry, troubled youth suffering from a bad case of African American culture shock. I agree with Mark Waltz that the problem is in the Exposition, where you never really get a good sense of Spence confronting the limits of his teacher's insight into the true roots of American Culture. Dialogue was a must here simply to size up the contrasting views of History from Black and White perspectives. It also would have been great to have his teacher be the likes of Virginia Mayo or even Jeanne Crain or Lauren Bacall to play up the Sexism angle. This would have made an excellent counterpoint to Spence's meeting with The Girl in the Bar played by Ellen Holly, who was straddling the fence between being a good middle class housewife to giving up her sexual virtue simply to pay the rent. But the natural cinematic prejudice for the visual over the verbal, as in other cases, holds sway here. A shame because here was a wasted opportunity to get inside and demonstrate what all the angst was about.
Spence grumbles about Frederick Douglass not being mentioned as contemporaneous with leading nineteenth century history makers. But how he got this information which is somehow beyond the ken of his teacher, is never fully explored. It is ostensibly suggested because he is too angry about it. This is an experience similar to what happened to me, but whereas I was simply mystified about it, Spence is shown from the very beginning to be boiling with rage. Strange too that his father, Lem Scott, as played by Frederick Douglass O'Neal does not seize this opportunity to go into more detail about this. I'll tell you one thing, it would have been interesting if he had gotten his information about Frederick Douglass from Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge or Eartha Kitt! But then, I suppose that tells you everything about the cultural atmosphere and its limits to growth in 1959.
The main thing this movie has going for it is its evocation of the critical and hostile environment that blacks find themselves consciously or unconsciously recreating in themselves and their surroundings due in large measure to their experiences on plantations and earlier than this on slave ships where they were at the behest of Slave Masters. One has to be curious and wonder how this has colored their behavior even in Modern Times. But here it seems to be suggested that this is beyond the scope of this medium at this time. It would have been interesting to hear Lem Scott and May Scott, as played by Beah Richards, sit down and have a heart to heart talk about the hidden contributions of African Americans to the American Empire and World Culture for that matter. But it seems to me that the main thing Spence's parents wanted to get across was how their son should comport himself so as to keep from getting lynched or causing them to have their house burned down!
It is also obvious that with Spence being 'the only one' who was black in his class or let's say charitably one of the few blacks at his high school, that many of the whites were fascinated with his presence there. Since he was a relatively good looking healthy male, this probably included even a few relatively good looking and healthy females. But this dimension of his sexual angst is off limits in this drama. And did you notice that as Spence moved from the all-white suburban environment to the all-black ghetto environment things immediately went South? He goes from the benefits of higher education and wholesome family life to the confines of a seedy bar and call girls! The subliminal message being that everything good the whites have and all the dregs are left for the blacks! Seems like a stereotype rearing its hoary head to me! Isn't possible that somewhere in the predominantly black environment there was also higher education and wholesome family life? Isn't it also possible that before Spence had mainly white friends here in suburbia that he might have had mainly black friends in his previous environment? Do you think it might have been interesting to explore whether or not his earlier friends ever made efforts to try and contact or visit him? Also, wouldn't it have been a dramatic moment to have Johnny, Bobby, Tony and Frank confront his old friends simply see what kind of cultural fireworks would go off? It wouldn't have to start on the street, it could have been during a debate between high schools or a chess tournament and then boil out into the streets!
But then I digress...
The point is producers Julius J. Epstein and executive producer Burt Lancaster had their hearts in the right place in dealing with what is still a highly charged subject. A subject which by all accounts has befuddled the wits and lowered the intelligence of even the most well meaning citizens. I for one was astonished to discover that Frederick Douglass O'Neal was such a force in American and British Theater and quite the activist as well. It reminds me of the line Ruby Dee, playing Christine the maid to the Scott family, utters to Spence as she catches her bus after receiving her walking papers. It's one of three great lines penned by Louis S. Peterson from his play and screenplay that are worth the price of admission. Estelle Hemsley is also a treat as Gram Martin, and I am glad I met her before she took her giant step...
Spence grumbles about Frederick Douglass not being mentioned as contemporaneous with leading nineteenth century history makers. But how he got this information which is somehow beyond the ken of his teacher, is never fully explored. It is ostensibly suggested because he is too angry about it. This is an experience similar to what happened to me, but whereas I was simply mystified about it, Spence is shown from the very beginning to be boiling with rage. Strange too that his father, Lem Scott, as played by Frederick Douglass O'Neal does not seize this opportunity to go into more detail about this. I'll tell you one thing, it would have been interesting if he had gotten his information about Frederick Douglass from Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge or Eartha Kitt! But then, I suppose that tells you everything about the cultural atmosphere and its limits to growth in 1959.
The main thing this movie has going for it is its evocation of the critical and hostile environment that blacks find themselves consciously or unconsciously recreating in themselves and their surroundings due in large measure to their experiences on plantations and earlier than this on slave ships where they were at the behest of Slave Masters. One has to be curious and wonder how this has colored their behavior even in Modern Times. But here it seems to be suggested that this is beyond the scope of this medium at this time. It would have been interesting to hear Lem Scott and May Scott, as played by Beah Richards, sit down and have a heart to heart talk about the hidden contributions of African Americans to the American Empire and World Culture for that matter. But it seems to me that the main thing Spence's parents wanted to get across was how their son should comport himself so as to keep from getting lynched or causing them to have their house burned down!
It is also obvious that with Spence being 'the only one' who was black in his class or let's say charitably one of the few blacks at his high school, that many of the whites were fascinated with his presence there. Since he was a relatively good looking healthy male, this probably included even a few relatively good looking and healthy females. But this dimension of his sexual angst is off limits in this drama. And did you notice that as Spence moved from the all-white suburban environment to the all-black ghetto environment things immediately went South? He goes from the benefits of higher education and wholesome family life to the confines of a seedy bar and call girls! The subliminal message being that everything good the whites have and all the dregs are left for the blacks! Seems like a stereotype rearing its hoary head to me! Isn't possible that somewhere in the predominantly black environment there was also higher education and wholesome family life? Isn't it also possible that before Spence had mainly white friends here in suburbia that he might have had mainly black friends in his previous environment? Do you think it might have been interesting to explore whether or not his earlier friends ever made efforts to try and contact or visit him? Also, wouldn't it have been a dramatic moment to have Johnny, Bobby, Tony and Frank confront his old friends simply see what kind of cultural fireworks would go off? It wouldn't have to start on the street, it could have been during a debate between high schools or a chess tournament and then boil out into the streets!
But then I digress...
The point is producers Julius J. Epstein and executive producer Burt Lancaster had their hearts in the right place in dealing with what is still a highly charged subject. A subject which by all accounts has befuddled the wits and lowered the intelligence of even the most well meaning citizens. I for one was astonished to discover that Frederick Douglass O'Neal was such a force in American and British Theater and quite the activist as well. It reminds me of the line Ruby Dee, playing Christine the maid to the Scott family, utters to Spence as she catches her bus after receiving her walking papers. It's one of three great lines penned by Louis S. Peterson from his play and screenplay that are worth the price of admission. Estelle Hemsley is also a treat as Gram Martin, and I am glad I met her before she took her giant step...