The racing movie, often known as a black film, was a type of cinema made in the United States between roughly 1915 and the early 1950s, consisting of pictures made for black audiences and starring black actors. There were approximately 500 race movies made.
There are only about a hundred of them left. Race films were virtually ignored by conventional film historians until they resurfaced on the BET cable network in the 1980s because they were made outside of the Hollywood studio structure. Race films were formerly immensely popular among African American moviegoers. Their influence may still be seen in African-American-targeted films and television shows.
The phrase ‘race film’ is also used to refer to films made at the time that were intended for other minorities. For example, the 1926 picture Silk Bouquet, which starred Asian-American actress Anna May Wong and was marketed to Chinese-American viewers, starred Asian-American actress Anna May Wong.
Race movies were exhibited in designated black cinemas in the South to comply with racial segregation laws. Race films were generally exhibited in black districts, even if northern towns were not necessarily strictly separated. Many prominent northern theatres segregated black audiences by seating them in the balconies or scheduling them for later shows.
Students of African American cinema are fascinated with race films. They are historically noteworthy because they allow actors who were previously restricted to conventional supporting roles in major studio films to shine. Hattie McDaniel and Clarence Muse are two of the most notable examples of excellent actors who were typically cast in supporting roles in popular films. Paul Robeson and Evelyn Preer, for example, were able to cross over to considerable prominence in mainstream works after appearing in race films. Race films were frequently used by Hollywood studios to recruit black talent.
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