Don't watch Holiday Inn on AMC!

The blackface scene should definetly be deleted from TV or anywhere else for that matter. I don't care if its a part of history or not. Also, if you want to watch the scene, go to your local video store and buy the DVD.

I always tell the truth even when I lie-Tony Montana (Scarface)

The fact that you put both "Jewish" and "atheist" as descriptors for the same person (i.e. yourself, in your thinly veiled sarcastic scenario) makes you look stupid. Had you said "a non-practicing Jewish descendant who is an atheist", I could buy it, although it still wouldn't have been that funny. Otherwise, look up the meaning of both Jewish and atheist.

I don't think it's an issue of race so much as it is an issue of not getting an entire movie's content. For example, I hate it when mainstream networks censor movies or cut them, no matter what it is that is cut. I think a filmmaker should have the right to have his or her film shown in its entirety. And if he or she can't, then the film shouldn't be shown at all. So if AMC judged Holiday Inn too offensive, then they shouldn't have shown it at all. But that's just my opinion: it's all or nothing. I don't want half a film.

Get over it, diamondSocuteonMe. You're just going to have to learn how to tolerate it. My people have been persecuted for thousands of years and I can't remember the last time I've been offended. I like how you said "WHITE PEOPLE DEM DAYS WERE IGNORANT...". Could that statement have been anymore ironic? I guess ALL white people were dumb racists, eh? Go bitch somewhere else.

By the way, what did you think of the recent film "White Chicks?"

I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with anyone here. I too noticed the absence of that scene the last time I saw it on AMC and was not really surprised when I gave it a little thought.
However, diamondSocuteonMe, try typing your words the way they're supposed to spelled and not in slang, and maybe you won't be perpetuating the very stereotypes that almost made you cry when you saw the movie.

Did you not notice that they were doing the blackface routine talking about how great Abraham Lincoln was in abolishing slavery? It seems more racist to me that it be removed, because then you're removing the message about how slavery was horrible and the work that Lincoln did to end it. We can't end racism today by just ignoring the fact that it ever existed. Yes people back then were ignorant, yes people today are ignorant, but intentionally racist? I doubt it. Accept the movie for what it is, and move on with your life.

Here's a thought, if AMC keeps on the way it is going and people email the station before they stop watching altogether and tell them why they are boycotting them, they will start to get the message. After a while their income will dry up and they might start thinking about why this happened but sadly for them, it will be too late. If I was in charge of the station I would change the censorship policy immediately before I was out of a job.
If people feel that strongly about this why not get a petition going on petitionsonline.com

the commentary talks about the blackface issue. Crosby was one of the first top white singers to perform with top black bands so he was not racist. I think the Lincloln song was actually suppose to be a tribute. At the time it was not seen as offensive. The Minstral Show, and it was a black music, and it was apparently a very powerful artistic influence on white American Music. Many whites first heard and saw black performers in these blackface minstral shows and were wowed by it. Minstral Shows dominated music for decades even as the actual Minstral Shows vanished. It was such a powerful artistic influence that White Christmas as a Minstral Show number in 1956 --- but now minus the blackface. It simply took that long for music to realize blackface now implied racism when before, it was seen as a genuine homage to the first black minstral singers who became national stars. And these firt black singers performed in minstral shows and top Broadway shows in blackface. So blackface is a paradox. PS: Astare performed in blackface for his homage to Bojangles who probably at some points in his life performed in blackface.

tabathainc, I also noticed that it was part of the plot in the movie even though I have to say I've watched and loved this movie for many years, and that scene has always made me cringe. I was watching it on DVD the other night with my 13 year old daughter, and she asked why they were putting black paint on their face and thought it was weird. I told her about how many years ago people sometimes did that while performing certain types of music, to appear like a black person. She was quite surprised and I told her that I thought it was offense and today it is considered offensive to do that. She totally agreed. She said that things really have changed. I guess it's a good thing that young people feel that this kind of thing is unacceptable and that they feel the world is a different place for all of us today. I would really have a problem with the movie if it wasn't stated that they(the performers) had agreed not to do the blackface, but Jim insisted because he was just desperate to try not to have Linda noticed by his two friends. That plot point at least makes some sense as to why we see this kind of thing.

If you are teaching a film history class I'm surprised you are having that hard of a time deciding to show it. That is an important part of history. Bamboozled has an interesting perspective on the entire issue. Personally I think people are way too easily offended & should just grow up & get over it.

I don't think you should worry about it that much. Anyone who ever saw this film in the past saw that scene. It should be noted that the reason why Bing put the blackface on himself and Linda was to hide her face from Astaire. It's an integral part of the plot.

Personally, I think that the fear of not being politically correct is becoming ridiculous in this society, not just in terms of the use of blackface in a 60 year old film being racist. Recent rants and feuds from Rosie O'Donnell is a case in point. She went on a huge tirade when Kelly Ripa told Clay Aiken not to put his hand on her mouth as she didn't know where it had been. Rosie decided that was a homophobic statement. It's high time that we learned to be reasonable about things, not more and more uptight.

I don't suspect that the black actors who appeared in Holiday Inn thought the use of blackface was offensive. It wasn't considered so at the time the film was made. To edit a film and remove a plot device, leaving the viewer hanging, is just ridiculous. As others have stated, in the context of the film, it is needed to explain the next scene.

One thing vampire children have to learn early on is don't run with a wooden stake