TopBilled Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 It's Black history month, Whitney's in the news, and I don't remember seeing a thread on here that addresses white characters that turn black in American motion pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Some differences, of course, but I saw The Tuskegee Airmen a few nights ago and it reminded me of a couple of John Wayne WWII flying movies. The Tuskegee Airmen is actually a made-for-TV movie, but it's very good, and very sad too. Quite interesting. It should have been made 50 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 Sounds interesting, Fred. I will have to look for it. Here's one I haven't seen yet, but I think it does look interesting: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 This is a great idea for a thread! Here are a couple of great Film Noirs about private detectives in old Los Angeles, involving politics, dames, money, and crime: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 Thanks...I was thinking about some of the remakes Eddie Murphy did. He took Rex Harrison's role for an updated DR. DOLITTLE and Jerry Lewis' role in THE NUTTY PROFESSOR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I saw these a few weeks apart, and I was surprised at how similar the stories are. Crimson Tide can almost be called a re-make of Hell Below, with Denzel Washington playing the Robert Montgomery role. Hell Below (1933) On a later patrol, (Robert) Montgomery violates orders to maintain silence to start a battle Huston wanted to avoid. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024100/plotsummary Crimson Tide (1995) On a US nuclear missile sub, a young first officer (Denzel Washington) stages a mutiny to prevent his trigger happy captain from launching his missiles before confirming his orders to do so. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112740/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfpcc1 Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I always thought that What Happening was kind of a black version of Happy Days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValentineXavier Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 > {quote:title=TopBilled wrote:}{quote}It's Black history month, Whitney's in the news, and I don't remember seeing a thread on here that addresses white characters that turn black in American motion pictures. > Well there is Melvin Van Peebles' 1970 film *Watermelon Man*, where a white bigot turns black. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066550/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 Interesting post, Valentine. TCM aired WATERMELON MAN not long ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 >I always thought that What Happening was kind of a black version of Happy Days. Good comment. I would agree. Slightly different characters but the premise was similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 Fred, Denzel also took a previously white role in the remake of THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriegerg69 Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Cedric The Entertainer and others take over for Jackie Gleason and company. "One of these days, Alice...Bang!...ZOOM!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriegerg69 Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, and company ease on down the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriegerg69 Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 > {quote:title=TopBilled wrote:}{quote}It's Black history month, Whitney's in the news, and I don't remember seeing a thread on here that addresses white characters that turn black in American motion pictures. I think you more accurately mean that are portrayed by black actors in remakes...not white characters that become black, as in *Watermelon Man* or *Black Like Me* (James Whitmore). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clore Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriegerg69 Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 *I also thought about posting those two, Clore....but didn't because those movies were changes in name only...not in the characters themselves. Blacula is not actually a black portrayal of Bram Stoker's character...and Blackenstein is just plain garbage, in any case.* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriegerg69 Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 > {quote:title=TopBilled wrote:}{quote}Thanks...I was thinking about some of the remakes Eddie Murphy did. He took Rex Harrison's role for an updated DR. DOLITTLE and Jerry Lewis' role in THE NUTTY PROFESSOR. Will Smith has also done it twice: *I, Robot* (previously done with a white actor on the original Outer Limits) *I Am Legend* (previously done as *The Last Man On Earth*, with Vincent Price) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clore Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 My memory may be slipping, but as I recall BLACULA, he was an African Prince played by a black actor who is bitten by Dracula. Then we segue to contemporary times and he's on the prowl again. For me, it was a blaxploitation spin on the character and while not exactly a faithful retelling of Stoker, in reality most other film versions weren't either. I've never seen BLACKENSTEIN but I figured it worthy of inclusion as it is an attempt to rip off a theme associated with whites and fashion it for a black audience. Oh, here's another four that come to mind: GET CARTER = HIT MAN THE ASPHALT JUNGLE = COOL BREEZE ODD MAN OUT = THE LOST MAN THE INFORMER = UP TIGHT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriegerg69 Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 > {quote:title=clore wrote:}{quote}My memory may be slipping, but as I recall BLACULA, he was an African Prince played by a black actor who is bitten by Dracula. Then we segue to contemporary times and he's on the prowl again. Stiil, it has virtually nothing to do with Stoker, and again, it's not a black actor portraying the character of Dracula...if that were the case then yes it would qualify, but it doesn't. Same reason Blackenstein doesn't count. Neither does the film Abby, often referred to as "black exorcist"....because it was a wholly original story and had NOTHING at all to do with The Exorcist, having only a theme of possession. That along does not qualify it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 Another one: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clore Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 It's not that I don't see your point, it's just that as in terms of the way they were marketed, I think that they both suit the theme of the thread's subject matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 >I figured it worth of inclusion as it is an attempt to rip off a theme associated with whites and fashion it for a black audience. That is how I would define the trend, too. These are remakes geared for a niche market, in this case the African American population. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriegerg69 Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Disney's tv remake of the tv musical classic Cinderella, previously done (in 1957 and 1964) with an all-white cast, was given a multi-racial recasting this time around....and was outstanding, IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 That's such a great example. And I thought they did a fine job presenting a black Cinderella. It is definitely a classic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clore Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Whew! Thanks to your quote, I spotted an error in typing in which I was lucky enough not to have thrown back at me. As far as the two horror films go, here the "source" material was obvious in the title, regardless of whether or not they were faithful adaptaions or not. The titles more or less screamed that they were twisting the material to fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts