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I was watching an early John Ford sound movie yesterday, Judge Priest, to remind myself of how much I enjoy Will Rogers' perfomances. The other star part was Stepin Fetchit, along with a couple of songs from Hattie McDaniel who won the Best Actress in a Supporting Role Oscar in Gone with the Wind five years later playing Mammy.

I don't think I've ever seen Stepin Fetchit play out of character but even in it he always manages to give a knowing sign that it's a front, that he plays a trickster. That's not the actor slipping it in, it's the character, which is a huge difference. So, is the character of Jeff Poindexter, played by Stepin Fetchit, believable and admirable? Or is he an outrage on modern sensibilities?

I think I own the FG record for the proportion of posts which drop off the radar with no reponses. This is an interesting question! I'd point out that John Ford cited Judge Priest as among his favorite movies that he directed.

I like all John Ford movies. There Spot, did that help the ole ego a bit.:wah:

That depends on whether you click the first hyperlink, watch the movie and discuss the acting skills of Stepin Fetchit, really.

Here, let's cut it down to two minutes. click to 57:38 in http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 5576088530 and watch to 59:28.

Note the supreme subtlety of the diagogue:

Will Rogers: Can you play Dixie on that thing there?

Stepin Fetchit: For that coon coat? Yes Sir, I'll play Dixie... and Marching Through Georgia...

Sorry Spot but I have never heard of him.So was not ignoring your post but did not have an opinion.

Keep on posting,we like you really.

I really don't have time to watch the movie right now. I am an old movie lover too my wifes bain but I don't remember seeing that particular movie before. I will watch out for it on TCM and other old movie channels and tivo it so I can watch it.

spot;683710 wrote: I think I own the FG record for the proportion of posts which drop off the radar with no reponses. .


start a thread about boobs, I hear they're very popular!

YZGI;683737 wrote: I really don't have time to watch the movie right now. I am an old movie lover too my wifes bain but I don't remember seeing that particular movie before. I will watch out for it on TCM and other old movie channels and tivo it so I can watch it.


One of the good things about video.google is that you can click directly to the frames you're looking for.

spot;682908 wrote: I was watching an early John Ford sound movie yesterday, Judge Priest, to remind myself of how much I enjoy Will Rogers' perfomances. The other star part was Stepin Fetchit, along with a couple of songs from Hattie McDaniel who won the Best Actress in a Supporting Role Oscar in Gone with the Wind five years later playing Mammy.



I don't think I've ever seen Stepin Fetchit play out of character but even in it he always manages to give a knowing sign that it's a front, that he plays a trickster. That's not the actor slipping it in, it's the character, which is a huge difference. So, is the character of Jeff Poindexter, played by Stepin Fetchit, believable and admirable? Or is he an outrage on modern sensibilities?
He seems to be a parody of how blacks were portrayed back in those days. In todays standards it would be an outrage on the sensibilities. The line that caught me off guard was Will Rogers telling him he has saved him from one lynching already and if he plays marching through Georgia he won't save him again.

You think it's a parody and that nobody behaved like that? That's not what the actor's biographer says about him, he says the performance was based on reality."The lazy man character that [Perry] played was based on something that had come from slavery," Watkins says. "It was called 'putting on old massa' -- break the tools, break the hoe, do anything to postpone the work that was to be done."

Finally, the white characters would become exasperated and do the work themselves. "And blacks understood it perfectly, and laughed heartily at it," Watkins says.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=5245089

That's the interpretation I've seen, and it fits the dialog of this film perfectly.

spot;683916 wrote: You think it's a parody and that nobody behaved like that? That's not what the actor's biographer says about him, he says the performance was based on reality."The lazy man character that [Perry] played was based on something that had come from slavery," Watkins says. "It was called 'putting on old massa' -- break the tools, break the hoe, do anything to postpone the work that was to be done."



Finally, the white characters would become exasperated and do the work themselves. "And blacks understood it perfectly, and laughed heartily at it," Watkins says.



http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=5245089

That's the interpretation I've seen, and it fits the dialog of this film perfectly.
Isn't that in a way parodying the personna held by the whites, to their own benefit?

YZGI;683919 wrote: Isn't that in a way parodying the personna held by the whites, to their own benefit?Definitely, but it means that the character portrayed is always aware of the pretence he's playing and the trickery he's involved in. It means he's never stupid or lazy, he's deliberately obstructive and rebellious in an environment where obstruction and rebellion can get him killed if he's not careful.

spot;683933 wrote: Definitely, but it means that the character portrayed is always aware of the pretence he's playing and the trickery he's involved in. It means he's never stupid or lazy, he's deliberately obstructive and rebellious in an environment where obstruction and rebellion can get him killed if he's not careful.
He may be deliberately being rebellious but he is doing it in a manner which appeases the whites and makes them feel superior. In other words the joke is on the whites but he has to be careful not cross the line and keep the whites feeling superior.

If they've got the guns and the one-sided law and you don't, perhaps that seems the most you can hope for.