Couples in order courtesy of Bobby White (Swungover): 1:58 Dorothy “Dot” Miller (Norma’s older sister) and John “Johnny” Innis 2:06 Norma Miller and Leon James 2:19 Willa Mae Ricker and Pettis Dotson “Snookie” Beasley 2:40 Ella “Rhythm” Gibson and “Long” George Greenidge
I love this music and performance; totally outstanding, especially compared to todays music -- the majority of which is absolute crap! I must've had a previous life in those days; I get goosebumps when I hear this "real" music ❣
@@missmice659terrible thing to say , how do you think these performers got parts in the movie? They were part of the circuit the Marx Brothers came up in. In those days the White stars requested & fought to have Black artists in their films because they knew & respected them. The industry would have had white dancers
To hide from the police officers and in 1937, blackface wasn’t considered to be racist by African Americans. It wasn’t until the 60s and 70s that blackface was correctly seen as racist. For its time, something like this was pretty progressive.
Despite the blackface, this was pretty progressive for its time. In 1937, African Americans didn’t see it as racist. It would take until the 60s for that to be corrected. The brothers were victims of discrimination themselves because they were Jewish. They were also the ones who pressured the producers to keep the scene in because the producers wanted to cut the scene. Ironically, if you were to cut the scene because of the blackface, it would actually be worse. You’d be cutting out something that allowed African Americans to show what they could do in the acting profession.
Black people did not "like" blackface. We did see it as racist and just ugly, BUT there is still division in the Black arts community as to whether it was helpful or harmful to Black Entertainment.
Art imitates life. The Boston Tea party for an example, the “Patriots” painted their faces and hands with black coal soot, to pretend to be Mohawk Indians. They wanted the Mohawks to take the blamed. The majority of the BLM protester where white, dressed as black people. Videos showed white (paid rioters) busting windows and starting fires and blacks trying to stop them. The Whole BLM Movement is in “Black Face” to hide their LBGTQQIA Agenda (stated on their website). Not One Black Person was helped by BLM ...well, the two “Appointed” founders were.
Back in 1937, blackface was not considered racist by African Americans. It wouldn’t be correctly considered racist until the 1960s and 1970s. Plus, they weren’t making fun of anyone, but trying to blend in and hide from the police. The brothers endured discrimination themselves and pressured the producers to keep the scene in because the producers wanted to cut the scene.