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The Black Kino Fist: Black life as depicted in film historyMain MenuThe Black Kino FistThe ProjectA Fool and His Money (1912)Directed by Alice Guy-BlachéThe Homesteader (1919)Directed by Oscar MicheauxWithin Our Gates (1920)Directed by Oscar MicheauxBody and Soul (1924)Directed by Oscar MicheauxThe Scar of Shame (1927)Directed by Frank PereginiHallelujah (1929)Directed by King VidorThe Exile (1931)Directed by Oscar MicheauxHarlem on the Prairie (1937)Directed by Sam NewfieldThe Blood of Jesus (1941)Directed by Spencer WilliamsStormy Weather (1943)Directed by Andrew L. StoneHome of the Brave (1949)Directed by Mark RobsonPinky (1949)Directed by Elia KazanNo Way Out (1950)Directed by Joseph L. MankiewiczThe Jackie Robinson Story (1950)Directed by Alfred E. GreenCry, the Beloved Country (1951)Directed by Zoltán KordaCarmen Jones (1954)Directed by Otto PremingerBlackboard Jungle (1955)Directed by Richard BrooksBand of Angels (1957)Directed by Raoul WalshSt. Louis Blues (1958)Directed by Allen ReisnerThe Defiant Ones (1958)Directed by Stanley KramerPorgy and Bess (1959)Directed by Otto PremingerA Raisin in the Sun (1961)Directed by Daniel PetrieParis Blues (1961)Directed by Martin RittA Patch of Blue (1965)Directed by Guy GreenGuess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)Directed by Stanley KramerIn the Heat of the Night (1967)Directed by Norman JewisonTo Sir, With Love (1967)Directed by James ClavellThe Story of a Three-Day Pass (1968)Directed by Melvin Van PeeblesSweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971)Directed by Melvin Van PeeblesSounder (1972)Directed by Martin RittThe Wilby Conspiracy (1975)Directed by Ralph NelsonA Soldier's Story (1984)Directed by Norman JewisonThe Color Purple (1985)Directed by Steven SpielbergShe's Gotta Have it (1986)Directed by Spike LeeMississippi Burning (1988)Directed by Alan ParkerDo the Right Thing (1989)Directed by Spike LeeGlory (1989)Directed by Edward ZwickParis is Burning (1990)Directed by Jennie LivingstonDaughters of the Dust (1991)Directed by Julie DashMississippi Masala (1991)Malcolm X (1992)Directed by Spike LeeDevil in a Blue Dress (1995)Directed By Carl FranklinWaiting to Exhale (1995)Directed by Forest WhitakerEve's Bayou (1997)Directed by Kasi LemmonsUnBowed (1999)Directed by Nanci RossovSomething New (2006)Directed by Sanaa HamriThe Princess and the Frog (2009)Directed by Ron Clements and John MuskerPariah (2011)Directed by Dee ReesDear White People (2014)Directed by Justin SimienMoonlight (2016)Directed by Barry JenkinsAlexandria Paul014600705294d3be68699bbfdbd499ecb5541133
Imitation of Life (1934)
12017-04-02T16:15:24-07:00Alexandria Paul014600705294d3be68699bbfdbd499ecb5541133168497Directed by John M. Stahlplain2017-04-25T14:39:47-07:00Alexandria Paul014600705294d3be68699bbfdbd499ecb5541133
"Less well known than the 1959 Douglas Sirk remake starring Lana Turner and Juanita Moore, the first film version of Imitation of Life (1934), directed by John M. Stahl, is actually more faithful to the Fannie Hurst novel and in many ways presents a much more socially progressive viewpoint than the Sirk version. For one thing, Stahl's version was ahead of its time in presenting single women as successful entrepreneurs in a business traditionally run by men. Even more significant was its subplot which addressed sensitive racial issues (light-skinned vs. dark-skinned blacks) that were rarely acknowledged in Hollywood films.
Stahl's version of Imitation of Life is also significant for another reason - Fredi Washington's performance as Peola. According to Jean-Pierre Coursodon in his essay on John M. Stahl in American Directors, 'Fredi Washington...reportedly received a great deal of mail from young blacks thanking her for having expressed their intimate concerns and contradictions so well. One may add that Stahl's film was somewhat unique in its casting of a black actress in this kind of part - which was to become a Hollywood stereotype of sorts. Subsequently, the studios cautiously used white actresses in semi-blackface: Helen Morgan in the 1936 and Ava Gardner in the 1951 Show Boat, Jeanne Crain in Pinky, Susan Kohner in the second Imitation of Life.'"