A Century of Black Cinema

In looking over my notes for this historical overview of blacks in cinema, I see a list of names, not insights: early on, a trickle--Bert Williams, Hattie McDaniel, the Nicholas Brothers; later, a flood: Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Spike Lee, Sidney Poitier, Angela Bassett, Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, and many more. Combining archival footage (including an inordinate amount of trailers) and interviews, A Century of Black Cinema is a disappointing effort, both as entertainment and as scholastic research. Although the quality of the film clips are generally mediocre, the earlier snippets featuring such wonderful comic talents as Lincoln Perry, Bill Robinson, and Louise Weaver, are far more interesting and entertaining than the latter segments which appear to be arbitrarily thrown together (including an in-depth interview with Carl Weathers over his role in the utterly forgettable 1988 action flick Action Jackson). Larger collections may want to consider, simply because there is precious little else available on the topic (although a far better title on early black cinema is Midnight Ramble [VL-5/95]). Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)