Hattie McDaniel & Willie Best were each paid $50,000 ($756,000 in 2021) for their appearance in this film. They each donated all of it to The Hollywood Canteen, a club at 1451 Cahuenga Blvd. in Hollywood. The club had food, dancing, and entertainment, all for free, for Servicemen and Servicewomen only. It was open from October 3, 1942 to November 22, 1945 and was founded by Bette Davis and John Garfield. The salaries plus admissions to this film raised over $2M for the club.
Wow! My mother, God rest her soul, 1921-2007, if you would see a particular photo of her, you would sworn it was her "calling cast card" for Hollywood producers. She and her sisters dressed just like the women depicted in this movie. Beautiful. :))
she was a very talented women like alot of the black actors and actresses of her time!if hollyweird would have given these men and women of color i real chance iam sure that they would have more of their talent!
Absolutely! In 2022 terms, there's a lot wrong with this number, but it is just wonderful anyway! Hattie McDaniel, it doesn't get better. Every voice inflection, every facial expression. The tapping, the most amazing wedding dress ever, yummy! The sardonic jokes hidden in the lyrics. I can't stop watching this!
It wasn't Hollywood that wouldn't give them a chance. It was American society. Films featuring black actors in "normal" rolls did not do well much of the time, especially in Southern markets, because so much of America still only wanted to see black people on screen as buffoons in blackface or as maids.
Gone With the Wind has come under so much fire in the recent weeks. She won an Academy award for her brilliant performance but she and the industry was criticized saying she only played a maid. Apparently, that’s not true. She was a wonderful woman and lived a wonderful life. Too bad so many people see the glass only half empty. That half empty glass doesn’t serve anyone well.
I've only seen GWTW once but my memory of it is that maid or not, Miss McDaniel played one of the only decent and genuinely good characters in it. All the others were schemers, con artists, cretins or bigots.
Hattie’s character was wise, she could see thru Scarletts southern belle facade and knew she was a scheming b-it-h underneath. Hatties friendship with Rhett was great. There’s a fun clip of her and James Cagney in a movie together showing their hilarious comradery. Also she sings with Paul Robeson in Showboat a tune called “Ah still suits me”
All I could do was smile with joy and pleasure seeing this wonderful clip. So much talent, so much wonderful music. Swingin' to the beat. Why do we not see more of these beautiful, talented stars of Hollywood?
They wouldn’t let black stars who most likely would have out performed and upstaged hollywood then. Racism
2 года назад
Southern audiences at the time didn't liked movies or scenes where blacks were treated equally, making studios often lose money having to cut these scenes or not releasing movies in some states, making the production of more stuff like this very difficult to happen :(
I love it! Its great to finally see a scene from old Hollywood that show cased the class and talent of black old Hollywood without anyone having to degrade or downplay themselves. I'm so impressed with Ms. Hattie. I never knew she was a singer, too. Thank you so much for sharing!😄♥️
@John Edwards lol! Thank you! Of course I've seen Lena Horne and Dorothy Dandidge movies. They were amazing, but their skin was lighter so of course they played classier roles. It is also great to have known that happened for the darker skinned ladies every now and then back then, too😊. Talent is talent no matter what.😉
@John Edwards But those scenes were cut when the film played in the South. So they were deliberately made irrelevant to the plot of the film so that they could be easily cut.
I recognised the song at first as the opening music for the 1944 Warner Bros. Cartoon. "Tom Turk and Daffy". But this is without a doubt, one of the most enjoyable musical sequences I've ever seen. And it's a wonderful pleasure to see the great Hattie McDaniel in a role different from a maid.
You could write a book about how Golden Age animators carried on a kind of mocking running commentary on their 'betters' in live-action feature films, by quoting from their scores. It gave moviegoers the pleasure of recognition while they were settling down for the main part of the programme.
That's a pretty impressive continuous shot at the beginning. This has so few cuts in it and probably was filmed as one continuous performance. That's talent folks.
I remember seeing this movie, " Thank Your Lucky Stars" when I was younger and was totally swept away w/the dazzling costumes the dancing and the feeling that we were at war and were one as a nation all contributing to the war effort. It was the only time I got to see Hattie dressed to kill in something fun and upbeat. I truly wish she had more opportunities but she did the best she could with what she had.
@Renkar820, hi. I love watching Hattie McDaniel act. I loved her in GWTW. I also think she's funny and her country english cracks me up. One of my favorite scenes in GWTW is when Rhett Butler gave her the red silk petticoat and she pulled her skirt up so he could see that she was wearing it....Lol!! Her brother acted with her as well in some movies. They acted together in the movie " The big lie" starring Bette Davis. I love watching old black and white movies. It was acting back then. It has certainly been a pleasure chatting with you. You're a breath of fresh air.
@renkar820 Wow!! I don't have enough personal family information on her to do that. I really wish that I did. My mother knew a lot of the family history and also my grandfather because Hattie was related to my grandfather. My mother and grandfather are both deceased now. My grandfather is the McDaniel. I wish that I would have realized the importance of family history back then growing up. It is so important especially with 'Royalty ' in the family...Lol!! Oh, by the way, I never heard of that movie with Hattie and Barbara Stanwyck. I'm going to have to look for it and watch it. Thank you so much for your interest.
Beautifully staged and shot! No one made musicals better than Hollywood. And all that talent! RU-vid is the single greatest repository of African American culture on Earth.
Hattie did indeed have a wonderful life, as a singer and actress, she was a very popular Blues singer on radio on the 1920;s and cut many records. Search for her in iTunes and Spotify and listen just how good she was. Clark Gable was one of the few white actors to be invited to her house parties. A rare talent and generous lady to friends and strangers alike.
Ice Cold Katie- was played by Rita Christiani, a dancer with Katherine Dunham's Troupe. She was also a dead ringer for Mike Tyson's second wife- Monica.
@@lumiere7216 eh, obesity does cause cancer though, plus the heart issues and mild stroke. But generally speaking , its not great for your health, but being a heavy set woman with such an abundance of character and talent, she was a fantastically extraordinary person.
That was the most entertaining video I have seen all month if not all year. It gave me an insight on how the 1940's we're like and how talented everyone was back then
Wonderful to see Hattie McDaniel not playing a maid or stereotypical roles for black folks back them. Nice to see her talent singing and acting in an empowered role!
What a great lively video! Hattie at her best using her numerous talents. The singing and dancing by the rest of the cast is priceless, such a nice contribution for the morale of the military men during WWII. Like the quick cameo by S.Z. Sakall.
Extraordinary production. Magnificent choreography, splendid singing, wonderful camerawork, great costumes and an all round good time had by everyone. 😁🍾🥂🎂💃🏽🎷🎺
Today is October 15th 2018, this is absolutely fantastic!!! From the singing to the costumes to the set design, the music ... just everything is wonderful! I think I met ""ice-cold-Katie a few years back!!! Lol
Right?!?! Nobody is twerking, nobody is having saggy pants and calling anybody a N word! Everyone is just singing and having a good time. No guns and no fighting ✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿
612th Bomb Squadron 401st Bomb Group 8th Airforce B-17G Flying Fortress 'Ice Cold Katy' Named after this song. Well this song and the fact that the cockpit heater in this particular B-17G was always defective.
I always loved these guys in the movies - they were just real people to me that brought fun and enjoyment to their parts. Willie was always great to see.
By 1947 she was the star of The Beulah Show. Two years later she was on TV with Ed Wynn, doing a Sophie Tucker impression. It should still be on RU-vid.
Fabulous! actors at their finest !!!! Hattie McDaniel my favorite of all times , Amazing actress their are non like her .....WELL loved Cicley Tyson another one the greats and favorite of mine !
Willie Best was much in demand as a character man who could inject a little of his own into any part, transcending the stereotyped roles as a slow-witted and shiftless guy to which he was confined. He was always in work, racking up 120 movie credits and many more in TV.
Wow! My mother, God rest her soul, 1921-2007, if you would see a particular photo of her, you would sworn it was her "calling cast card" for Hollywood producers. She and her sisters dressed just like the women depicted in this movie. Beautiful. :))
Regardless of its context, her performance in Gone With the Wind was also undeniably fantastic. She got an Emmy for it and deserves the credit. I didn't realize she could sing!
