History of Film

• Which group was involved with Hollywood?

  NAACP
• What did the NAACP do to help with race relations within Hollywood?

  They brokered an agreement in 1942 and contributed to the opening of roles for African Americans
• When did films begin to draw wider audiences then literature?

  During the 1940s and 50s and had a greater influence in shaping race relations and reflecting attitudes
• What film discussed race relations in the late 1940s?

  Pinky
• When was Pinky produced?

  1949
• How many countries still banned interracial marriages as of 1949?

  298
• Who was the main character in Pinky?

  A nurse, who was 1/8 black
• What did Pinky do as a result of her heritage?

  She gave up her fiance due to fact it would be interracial
• When was the depiction of interracial marriages banned until?

  1956
• What film discussed race relations in the 1950s?

  Island in the Sun
• When was Island in the Sun released?

  1957
• Where was Island in the Sun set?

  A British West Indian island
• What did Island in the Sun depict?

  It depicted an interracial relationship
• Who played the black American in Island in the Sun?

  Harry Belafonte
• Who played the white American in Island in the Sun?

  Joan Fontaine
• How did the film do in terms of grossing?

  3rd highest grossing film of 1957
• What is the representation of black Americans in Island in the Sun?

  As educated and powerful, politicians
• What was the reaction to ITS in South Carolina?


  They threatened to fine any theatres which showed it
• What was the reaction to ITS in the south?

  Some Southern theatres boycotted and it was banned in Memphis, Tennessee
• What was the reaction to ITS in Minnesota?

  Widespread protests and parents feared it would encourage mixed-race parties
• What did Joan Fontaine experience for her role?

  Received hatemail from across the country
• What did a group in California call for?

  A white supremacist group published the flyer calling for a boycott
• What was the White Supremacist group in California called?

  American Nationalist group
• Which towns would have theatres by the early 1900s?

  Every town with a population of around 5000
• How many went to the movies weekly in 1920?

  50 million
• How many people went to the theatre each week by 1926?

  110 million
• When were 'talkies' developed?

  1927
• What was the first talkie?

  The Jazz Singer
• When was the First 'Great Migration'?

  1916
• How many African-Americans left the South in 1916?

  1.6 million
• Who was hailed as the first major black filmmaker?

  Oscar Micheaux
• How many feature films did Oscar Micheaux produce?

  42 feature films between 1919-1948
• What was Oscar Micheaux's films classified as?

  'race films' which were during the 'Jim Crow' era and were created for and by black people
• What subjects did the 'race films' tackle?

  Racial violence, rape, economic depression and discrimination
• What was Oscar Micheaux inducted into?

  Posthumously inducted into Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame
• What was a period of greater black art?

  The Harlem Renaissance
• Who was the most prolific writer of the Harlem Renaissance?

  Langston Hughes
• Who was an actor during the Harlem Renaissance?

  Paul Robenson
• Who were famous musicians during the Harlem Renaissance?

  Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong
• What was the name given to the radicalised films in the 1970s?

  Blaxploitation films