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Was this the first movie to tackle the subject of racism?


I just watched this movie for the first time yesterday morning when it came on AMC. I'm very impressed by the quality of the wriitng, direction and the acting. The 3 leads were excellent and the supporting cast was rock solid.

What I want to know is...Was this the first movie to tackle the subject of racism? 1950 seems like a very early time to portray racism in such an unflinching manner. Every old movie I've seen that even minimally deals with the subject seems to skirt around the issue.

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The movies that I can think of that were direct in addressing racism were made in the 1940s after the war: "Gentlemen's Agreement", "Crossfire", "Pinky" "intruder in the Dust" and "Home of the Brave." There is also 1937's "They Won't Forget" starring Lana Turner in one of her first movie roles, but this film has not been shown on television for years.

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...that "Gentleman's Agreement", (a term which ahs been applied to baseball owner's refusal to hire black players for 60 years), was supposed to be aobut blacks but they changed it to Jews because that topic was "safer". I know that happened with "Crossfire" (1946).

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Actually the novel CROSSFIRE's original victim was a homosexual.

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Never even heard of the Lana Turner one.

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I'm not sure of the first film to bring this subject to the big screen.
But, there is a 1949 film, "Intruder In The Dust", that also is compelling and
interesting. You may want to check it out. It's well...you'll see.

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Actually, movies were addressing racism from the beginning. The earliest one I've seen was Oscar Micheaux's "Within Our Gates" (1920), which itself was a reaction to the racism in D.W. Griffith's "Birth of a Nation" (1915).

However, a special genre called race movies, often made by black directors and with black actors, continued to address race and racism through the 1920s and '30s. Movies tackled lots of issues way earlier than you'd think.

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"Home Of The Brave" 1949 with Lloyd Bridges and James Edwards. James Edwards was a fine black actor who should have had a bigger career. Before Sidney Poitier, he portrayed a heroic black man in a white movie. In this movie, he is the only black soldier on a dangerous mission with white soldiers.

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James Edwards also appeared in "Bright Victory" from 1949. It's the story of a white soldier from a racist family, who is blinded in the war. He befriends a black soldier played by Edwards, not realizing that he is black. It's definitely worth checking out.

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Like someone said, Within Our Gates (1920) by Oscar Micheaux is the earliest movie I can think of. Quite a good movie, even if it suffered a little from its small budget.

If someone knows of an earlier movie, do tell.

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