15 Movies That Changed Black-American Cinema

Days before the 87th Academy Awards, ABC aired an Oscar special--15 Movies That Changed American Cinema. For the most part, I enjoyed what I saw and as I typically do when it comes to film/Hollywood-related things, I found inspiration in it. With that said (this explains the "for the most part"), being the young Black-American that I am, I'm always looking to see myself in anything media-related, and when I realized only two or three of the films listed had a significant number of black actors/characters (Lillies of the Field, Gone with the Wind (eh), and (double-eh) The Birth of a Nation), I decided to come up with a little list of my own!

Here's my list of 15 Movies That Changed Black American Cinema! 


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15. The Birth of a Nation

 

D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915) is always marked as a turning point in American Cinema. It was the longest running film of its time, the first "blockbuster", and it laid the foundation for camera techniques and visual effects that are still recognized (if not always used) today. However, just as The Birth of a Nation is and was influential, it is/was also controversial.

The Birth of a Nation (based on the book titled The Clansman) paints probably the most inaccurate picture of race relations in the South during and after the Civil War. Black-Americans are portrayed as lazy, deceptive, and barbaric creatures who are incapable of holding any position of power--or even power over themselves. If that isn't insulting enough, the heroes of the film are none other than the Ku Klux Klan--there to restore peace and harmony; and to place power back into white hands (because black people gained sooo much power after the Civil War). The NAACP stood on the front-line of protest against this film, but nothing could suppress its monumental success. 

However, there was one filmmaker who didn't plan on letting Griffith get away too easily--we'll get to him later...

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14. Imitation of Life (1934)

Unless the film featured an "all-Colored cast", Hollywood films rarely (almost never) gave story-lines to black characters. No one knew (or were supposed to care) about 'Hydrangea's' hot date or 'Raleigh's' family (ever notice how the servants were usually named after flowers or cities?). This changed when Fannie Hurst's Imitation of Life was originally brought to the screen in 1934. For the first time, the black servant's personal life was just as relevant as their white employer's. Although a "friendship" between blacks and whites (I put friendship in quotes because the white characters still always had power over their black "friends"--see Jack Benny and Rochester; Lily and Chico; Tod and Ham) had been depicted on the screen before, Imitation of Life probably marks the first time black and white characters were allowed to relate to one another.

Source

Louise Beavers and Fredi Washington received overwhelmingly positive reviews of their performances and as a result, many new opportunities were thrown their way. What these new opportunities entailed? That's another story.

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13. A Natural Born Gambler

While The Birth of a Nation seemed like a step back in 1915, 1916's A Natural Born Gambler was a leap forward. By 1916, vaudevillian Bert Williams was one of the most popular entertainers in the world, so it was only natural for moviegoers to want to see him on the big screen. Not only did Bert Williams star in this film (produced by the Biograph Company), but he also wrote and directed it. This marked the first time a major motion picture company gave such powers to a black performer. Bert Williams and his work on A Natural Born Gambler blazed a trail for countless black filmmakers in America (Hollywood and independent).

Further Reading: Bert Williams wrote, directed, and starred in many films for the Biograph Company but many of them are now considered lost. However, the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) recently made an exciting discovery. 

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12. Gone with the Wind

1939's Gone with the Wind could be considered just as controversial as The Birth of a Nation when it comes to the portrayal of Black-Americans. However, the film proved to be a notable opportunity for its black performers: Hattie McDaniel, of course; Butterfly McQueen, Oscar Polk, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, and countless extras. Among the nameless performers was Ben Carter--an actor turned agent who not only "appeared" in the film (his scene was cut), but is believed to have been the man responsible for casting all of the black extras and bit players. Things on the other side of the doors weren't always sweet, but nonetheless, Gone with the Wind helped to open those doors for Hollywood's black actors and actresses.  

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11. Hearts in Dixie

1929's Hearts in Dixie was the first feature-length "all-talkie" film with a predominantly Black cast. Despite this monumental feat and the film's heartfelt storyline, it isn't as remembered or revered as the year's other "all-colored" movies. It's very possible that over the years, people were driven away from the film because of its star, Stepin Fetchit. Nonetheless, Hearts in Dixie has an irreplaceable spot in Hollywood and overall cinema history. 

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10. Hallelujah! 

1939 was without a doubt "Hollywood's greatest year"--and I like to think that 1929 was "Black Hollywood's greatest year". After the introduction of sound into motion pictures, filmmakers began to see "advantages" in African-American culture (the music, the dialect, overall ways of life), and as a result, a string of musicals (short and feature-length) featuring "all-Colored" casts were released in 1929: the Birmingham Black Bottom comedies, Black and Tan, the previously mentioned Hearts in Dixie, and of course, Hallelujah!, just to name a few.

Hallelujah! star, Nina Mae McKinney

Hallelujah! wasn't the first all-Black talkie, but it is arguably the most popular of "the firsts". It is noted for being one of the first films to successfully combine sound recorded on location and sound recorded in a studio in the post-production process; and although the movie flopped at the box office, it received mostly positive reviews from critics. Hallelujah! also made a star out of its leading lady, Nina Mae McKinney. Positive reviews of her performance left MGM with no other choice than to draw up a long-term contract for McKinney, making her the first black actor to sign a long-term contract with a major studio. 

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9. The Defiant Ones

 

 

By the time production for The Defiant Ones (1958) began, Sidney Poitier had been in the entertainment business for ten years. With each screen and stage role, his space in entertainment history became more and more spacious. Though he was able to acquire several leading roles before 1958, The Defiant Ones is what made a "star" out of him. He earned numerous award nominations for his work (including the Academy Award for Best Actor) and went on to become one of Hollywood's quintessential leading men. However, I didn't include The Defiant Ones on this list only because it made a star out of Sidney Poitier. 

As the Civil Rights movement began to pick up steam in the U.S., Black-Americans' overall motto for equality began to make a shift from "We embrace gradual progress" to "It's time for us to speed this process up, y'all." In The Defiant Ones, Poitier's character, 'Noah Cullen' sacrifices his own freedom to save 'Joker' (played by Tony Curtis), a man who'd been spouting racist venom at him throughout most of the movie. This heroic moment wasn't well received by most black audiences, and Poitier was criticized for his "Uncle Tom-like" portrayal in The Defiant Ones and in subsequent roles (including his Academy Award-winning role in Lilies of the Field).

Sidney Poitier holding his monumental Oscar in 1964 (USA Today)

As members of the black community grew increasingly tired of "Uncle Toms" (or who they perceived to be "Uncle Tom-like") being spokespersons for the race, a different (not necessarily "new") discussion on how Black-Americans should fight for equality began to make its way to the forefront. When it comes to cinema, I like to think that without the Noah Cullens and the butlers and maids, there would be no John Shaft, no Cleopatra Jones, and not even a Virgil Tibbs.

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8. Coffy

 

On June 13, 1973--after Shaft and just before Cleopatra Jones--the world was introduced to a new kind of leading lady: she was sexy like Carmen Jones and could rough you up like John Shaft--she was 'Coffy'. The closest American audiences had come to a woman like Coffy was during the Pre-Code era, but even in that era of "bad girls", being bad sometimes meant merely showing a man your leg. Pam Grier played the film's title role and instantaneously became a Blaxploitation icon. After Coffy came Cleopatra Jones (starring Tamara Dobson), TV's Get Christie Love! (starring Teresa Graves), and a string of other Pam Grier vehicles.

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7. Stormy Weather 

 

Stormy Weather was one of many feel-good musicals released during World War II. It had everything a movie needed to take audiences' minds off the war--singing, dancing, handsome men, beautiful women, comedy. What made it unique in that time was (of course) its bountiful cast of brown-skinned entertainers. You had your big names: Lena Horne, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Cab Calloway, Katherine Dunham, Fats Waller--and you even had your unsung familiar faces: Dooley Wilson, Emmett "Babe" Wallace, Nick Stewart, Florence O'Brien. And who can forget The Nicholas Brothers' legendary routine to Cab Calloway's "The Jumpin' Jive"?!

Fayard and Harold Nicholas jumpin' and jivin' in Stormy Weather (The Red List)

"Black Excellence" is a phrase often used to describe a black person (or a group of black people) who tears down racial (racist) barriers and kicks them to the side. These are the people who find their way out of the maze built specifically for them--they find their way out through talent and/or intelligence. Stormy Weather was a bounty of "Black Excellence" whose cast reminded American audiences that the Bings, the Jolsons, the (Sophie) Tuckers, and the (Paul) Whitemans were not the first to do it--and they weren't the best. 

At least, that's what I take away from the film :) 

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6. Carmen Jones (1954)

I am a huge Dorothy Dandridge fan, so you can just imagine the number and the intensity of Birdman hand rubs that erupted when reaching this point in this list. Of course, Ms. Dandridge isn't the sole or even the main reason Carmen Jones makes the cut!

It had been almost a decade since Hollywood released a musical with an all-Black cast, so the announcement of production on Carmen Jones was very much a celebrated one. Carmen wasn't just highly anticipated in the black community, but by all moviegoers--for it was another movie that was colored by De Luxe, boasted stereophonic sound, and was in an anamorphic format (in this case, the almighty Cinemascope)--all things utilized by movie studios to yank audiences away from the television sets and back into the theater seats. With its operatic soundtrack and sizzling performances, Carmen Jones not only raked in positive reviews, but it also became one of 1954's top ten grossing films (number seven, to be exact), a first for a film with a predominantly black cast. 

Carmen Jones also made stars out of its performers--particularly Dorothy Dandridge. Dandridge's beauty and sex appeal made her Hollywood's first black "love goddess" and her performance as the titular character earned her the Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role. 


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5. Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971)

 Sweetback was the hero that shocked many in 1971:

"The original 1971 movie was scruffy and raw, the story of a man born in a brothel and initiated to sex at the age of 12, who grows up as an urban survivor, attacks two racist cops and eludes capture. That Sweetback got away with it electrified the movie's first audiences, who were intrigued by ad lines like "Rated X by an All-White Jury." - an excerpt from Roger Ebert's review of Baadasssss, Mario Van Peebles' film on the 'making' of Sweet Sweetback.

Some would argue that Melvin Van Peebles' Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song was the first "Blaxploitation" film because it contained plot elements later to be seen in other "black movies" aka Blaxploitation movies. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word 'exploit' as: "to make productive use of" or "to make use of meanly or unfairly for one's own advantage". With the latter definition in mind, many would say that the success of Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song--and Shaft, also released in '71--led filmmakers to pick out the plot elements (urban setting, drugs, crime, sex) that made those movies popular--or "familiar"--and toss them into subsequent films. They were inexpensive to make and sure to make a decent profit (like B-movies in the 1930s and 40s). 

The short version: studios churned out carbon copies of what Melvin Van Peebles originally created with purpose.

The film was controversial for many reasons but despite controversy, it marked the beginning of a sub-genre that lasted for almost a decade--putting money into major and minor studios, and giving black audiences a chance to see themselves "stickin' it to the man". 


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4. Boyz n the Hood 

While Blaxploitation movies were quite popular in their heyday, they were (and still are) met with a lot of criticism. Critics despised the movies because not only did they believe that the movies painted an inaccurate picture of urban-dwelling African-Americans (or African-Americans in general) but they especially believed that the movies glorified criminals (drug dealers, pimps, etc.). Blaxploitation and its images soon faded away, but the "black criminal" could still be seen in movies and television--only now as an angry young man or woman in need of courses on how to be respectable. Then came John Singleton's Boyz n the Hood...


At the time of Boyz n the Hood's release, it was rare to see a "positive" or even complex image of a young black man on the screen. With the exception of A Different World's male characters, as previously mentioned, most of the young black men you saw on the screen were juvenile delinquents on the path of self-destruction--young drug dealers or robbers angry at the world. Now, what Boyz n the Hood DIDN'T do was say, "Here are some of these young black men--they are saints. These fellas are good! They're educated and not like those other blacks!" Instead, John Singleton said, "Here are those cold, angry, undereducated, and rebellious young black men you see on TV all of the time...now, let me show you the MANY reasons as to why they're like that--and IF they're even like that."

Left to right: Ricky, Tre, and Doughboy (Black on Black Cinema)

I guess you could say that Boyz n the Hood not only humanized young black men in general, but it also humanized the ones who didn't fit into the mold of a "respectable" black man. The 90's later saw a string of similar movies like South Central, Menace to Society, and John Singleton's own Poetic Justice. 


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3. Do the Right Thing

Do the Right Thing--considered one of the most "controversial" films of all-time. Some say the film advocates violence and rioting; others say that it merely shows a possible reaction of a people constantly oppressed (particularly in their own neighborhood). No matter what side of the debate you're on, there wasn't a moviegoer or a movie reviewer who wasn't talking about Do the Right Thing in 1989--and that alone is enough to make this movie a bright light in cinema history. 

Aside from the content and controversy, I must also say that Do the Right Thing is also a visual beauty: it has all the stamps of Spike Lee direction (low angles, other oddly place angles; light splashes of color against the natural brownness of Brooklyn architecture) and Ernest R. Dickerson's warm cinematography.

Further Reading: Cinema Arts Online Discussion: "Cinematography in "Do the Right Thing""

I believe that Do the Right Thing's legacy is a paradox--it's still one of Spike Lee's most talked-about films, yet at the same time, its uniqueness is actually quite unsung. From the storyline and message; on down to the cinematography and even the dialogue--there hasn't been a movie like Do the Right Thing since its 1989 release. Which leads me to pose this question: Is/was Do the Right Thing so good and on-point that no other movie like it needs to be made? Or was/is it so good that every generation (unfortunately) needs a movie like it?


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2. Malcolm X (1992)

"You've been had! You've been took! You've been hoodwinked! Bamboozled! Led astray! Run amok!"

"We didn't land on Plymouth Rock--Plymouth Rock landed on us!"

I'm so relieved to have finally reached this point--I wanted to type those words so bad. Malcolm X (1992) is one of Black America's often-quoted films, but of course, that isn't the main reason for its inclusion on this list. In fact, my reasoning for including this film is quite...layered (for lack of a better term).

Turn on your Walkman and journey with me to 1991/1992. In those years--and in the years before and after them--every black man, woman, boy, and girl could see themselves in movies, television, art, books; on Billboard charts, on every major and minor awards show--black people seeing representations of themselves wasn't exactly something "special"--it was something that was just normal. I was born in 1992, so while I don't remember everything that happened in the 90's (contrary to popular 90's baby beliefs), I do know that as a child, there was never a time where I felt something was "missing"--my peers and I could mention "Addy books" and we all knew exactly what that meant. We played with Christie dolls; I played with my big sister's Kenya doll; I flipped through thick issues of Ebony and Jet (albeit, for the pictures); I watched the Soul Train and Image Awards for Whitney Houston performances. Again, not seeing myself was never a matter of concern when I was a child in the 90s.

Okay, now that I've taken that trip down memory lane, let's add the level of consciousness to it. There were dark spots in that great 90s renaissance, unfortunately--arguably the biggest blow being the Rodney King attack (shown at the beginning of Malcolm X), the trial/verdict, and the riots. On top of that, here you have young filmmaker, Spike Lee, trying to make a movie about one of the race's most courageous leaders and teachers, Malcolm X--and having a hard time doing so. Consequently, celebrities and other everyday folks began making Malcolm X apart of everyday life: people were reading his autobiography; shirts, hats, and posters were everywhere (see The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Roc). You simply could not ignore Malcolm X at the time, and you couldn't ignore Spike Lee's fight, either. Malcolm X had an impact on the black (and the film) community before it was even released!

Of course, after the movie's release, you can only imagine just how many people truly became interested in Brother Malcolm's teachings and beliefs, as opposed to just being a part of a movement, or a trend. The movie was and still is shown in classrooms all across the country and maybe even the world (and if you went to a predominantly black school like myself, you watched it whenever you reached the one-page Civil Rights era portion of your textbook). Once you watch Malcolm X, you've unlocked doors to American History, Black History; a history of being black and Muslim in America, and of course, your conscience. A great movie makes you think; it turns on light bulbs and ignites flames of inspiration. I think Malcolm X did that in 1992 and it still does it today.

 (I realized that even before Malcolm X came out, Brother Malcolm was all over the place in media. I asked my mom what re-sparked so much interest in him before the movie even came out, and she took her own trip down memory lane to explain it to me. Shout-out to my mom!)


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Before I get to the "top" movie, I'd like to let you all in on my process for compiling this list--I'll be honest, I didn't have some sort of criteria checklist or anything. Every entry was included and included in its particular order based on my own views of what makes a movie good and impacting movie.

I sat back and thought about all of the great movies with black characters and black actors--Malcolm X, Do the Right Thing, Stormy Weather, all those familiar movies--and I asked myself these questions: did this movie have a cultural, social, or even an emotional impact on the Black-American community? What about in all of America? Did it lead to more or greater productions? More or greater opportunities for black film artists? Did this movie piss people off? Did this movie make people cry? Was it a "first" of something? And most importantly--is this the kind of movie that would appear on just about every list similar to this? If so, put it to the side for now--then come back to it.

 I just took all of those things in consideration and from my own POV, placed them in an order that I felt comfortable with and I thought others might feel comfortable with.

Now, with all of that said, the movie that I believe had the greatest impact on Black American Cinema...



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1. Within Our Gates (1920)

Before it was even released it was one of the most controversial films of the early 20th-Century. Within Our Gates was young filmmaker, Oscar Micheaux's response to the popular and just-as-controversial film, The Birth of the Nation.

Within Our Gates was initially rejected by the Board of Censors in Chicago because both the board and critics thought the lynching and attempted rape scenes would reignite race riots throughout the country. Amid fear and contention, Within Our Gates was released on January 12, 1920. However, significant cuts were made to the movie based on where it was being screened, and as a result, scenes that had been described by the movie's original viewers are now missing from the only known surviving copy of it.

Oscar Micheaux in 1919 (Wikipedia)

 Not only did Oscar Micheaux make history by courageously countering one of America's "beloved" pictures, but Micheaux opened doors for other black filmmakers and for black performers, as well. Yes, there were black filmmakers before Micheaux, but Gates was controversial enough to bring thousands of viewers to its screenings--thus allowing Micheaux to make more movies for the next two decades--and further allowing others like Spencer Williams and Ralph Cooper to make movies of their own. If Hollywood wasn't hiring, black filmmakers and low-budget production companies were--and this is still the case today. 

Evelyn Preer, star of Within Our Gates (Wikipedia)

 Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, Shaft, Coffy, (although it was a miniseries) Roots, Boyz n the Hood, Do the Right Thing, and Malcolm X were all movies that depicted racial oppression through the eyes of the oppressed; movies that made black men and women the heroes and heroines of their own stories--but Oscar Micheaux's Within Our Gates blazed the trail for all of those movies. 

Might I also add that many of Oscar Micheaux's film protagonists were women? :)


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I hope you enjoyed reading this list!



25 Movies That Almost Made It 
(in no particular order)

1. The Color Purple
2. The Exile
3. The Wiz
4. Shaft
5. The Bull-Dogger
6. The Crimson Skull
7. Friday
8. The Scar of Shame
9. What's Love Got to Do With It
10. Claudine
11. Cooley High
12. Eve's Bayou
13. A Time to Kill
14. Crooklyn
15. Poetic Justice
16.Waiting to Exhale
17. Soul Food
18. Ray
19. 12 Years a Slave
20. Selma
21. The Emperor Jones
 22. Lady Sings the Blues

23. Lillies of the Field

24. Uptown Saturday Night

25. Imitation of Life (1959)

 What 15 movies do YOU think changed Black American Cinema?