EBOOK Slow Fade to Black

Set against the backdrop of the black struggle in society, Slow Fade to Black is        the definitive history of African-American accomplishment in film--both before and        behind the camera--from the earliest movies through World War II. As he records the        changing attitudes toward African-Americans both in Hollywood and the nation at        large, Cripps explores the growth of discrimination as filmmakers became more and        more intrigued with myths of the Old South: the "e;lost cause"e; aspect of the Civil        War, the stately mansions and gracious ladies of the antebellum South, the "e;happy"e;        slaves singing in the fields. Cripps shows how these characterizations culminated in        the blatantly racist attitudes of Griffith's The Birth of a Nation, and how this        film inspired the N.A.A.C.P. to campaign vigorously--and successfully--for change.          While the period of the 1920s to 1940s was one replete with Hollywood stereotypes        (blacks most often appeared as domestics or "e;natives,"e; or were portrayed in        shiftless, cowardly "e;Stepin Fetchit"e; roles), there was also an attempt at        independent black production--on the whole unsuccessful. But with the coming of        World War II, increasing pressures for a wider use of blacks in films, and calls for        more equitable treatment, African-Americans did begin to receive more sympathetic        roles, such as that of Sam, the piano player in the 1942 classic Casablanca.A        lively, thorough history of African-Americans in the movies, Slow Fade to Black is        also a perceptive social commentary on evolving racial attitudes in this country        during the first four decades of the twentieth century.