Précis of Race Cinema, the Transition to Sound, and Hollywood’s African-American-Cast Musicals

Film has inevitably played a significant role in the development and evolution of America’s social climate– whether it intended to or not. The article “Race Cinema, the Transition to Sound, and Hollywood’s African-American-Cast Musicals” by Ryan Jay Friedman delves into a discussion of sound and the influence of its introduction into the film industry in the early to mid-1900’s, a time when every corner of the United States was brimming with racial segregation and discrimination. During this era, the film industry was uniquely utilized as both a platform for African-Americans to share ideologies of the progressive movement toward racial equality and a handicap by which the predominantly Caucasian Hollywood continued to portray African-Americans in a negative light.

These racial tensions continued to thrust forward with the transition to sound in movies during 1926 to 1931. Hollywood took advantage of the new sound technology to create all African-American cast films and musicals, such as Hearts in Dixie and Hallelujah, for the viewing pleasure of their white audiences. Interestingly enough, the plots for these films exaggerated the African-American way of life, as depicted by Caucasian writers. and were ridden with racial slurs and rudely stereotypical behavior. The target audience for these films were the affluent white people who were inclined to attend showings of these African-American films because they depicted the “exotic” products of the Harlem Renaissance. Thus, Hollywood production companies such as Fox and MGM continued to produce these types of discriminatory and suppressive storylines to appease their white audience.

In catering to the rich, white audiences, these production companies were subsequently rejecting African-American audiences for fear that such a demographic might detract from their target audience. The African-American community, especially those in the cinematic arts, became enraged at this level of segregation and the lack of accurate representation in these major productions. Many viewed this move as a threat to the progressive movement, as it insinuated that African-Americans were lowly and undeserving of equality. At the same time, the transition to sound saw a downturn in the number of black independent and race films in production, because such race film companies could not afford the expensive and complex machinery used to create talkies (sound movies). Amidst the decline, only one African-American producer, Oscar Micheaux, was able to continue working consistently in the race film industry during the transitional years; he even produced the first all-talking race movie called The Exile in 1931. Others were only able to recover and attempt to fight back in the late 1930’s, and by that time Hollywood had already churned out a myriad of “race” films on their own terms. However, these obstacles did not keep the African-American mass movement from building momentum during this critical era.

Ultimately, Friedman relays how Hollywood and Race Cinema held polar opposite views of how African-Americans should be portrayed in films. On one side, Hollywood continued to propel the stereotypical projections of African-Americans as criminals and poor contributors to society whilst avoiding the impending social issues at hand by distracting the audience with song and dance numbers. On the other hand, race cinema and it’s proponents such as Oscar Micheaux aimed to destigmatize exaggerated aspects of African-American culture and address the social issues and opportunities that would bring about social mobility. Friedman then concludes his discussion by noting the interesting interplay between Hollywood’s insistence on sticking to the status quo and the continuously growing African-American mass movement for social change.