I must really know how to pick 'em because three straight movies have found a way to work in blackface: "Sweetie" (1929), "Happy Days" (1930), and this movie, "Love Among the Millionaires" (1930). In the case of "Love Among the Millionaires" I was just cautiously waiting to see what direction they were going to take a lame joke.
Boots McGee (Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher) gave his frenemy Clicker Watson (Stuart Erwin) an oily handkerchief for him to wipe his face. Clicker obligingly took the rag and without looking at it he began wiping his face with it. Naturally, it made his face dark with oil. The little girl (Mitzi Green) had a good laugh at it at which point the joke should've been over. But... they had to slip in some racism.
Boots added more oil to Clicker's face and said, "Now you can order watermelon." An ignorant joke that shouldn't go over the head of anyone. It was clearly an attempt to indicate he was now Black because it's common knowledge (sarcasm) that Black people love fried chicken and watermelon.
A week ago I may have finished watching this movie, but it was the third pre-code movie in a row in which I had to suffer through offensive behavior at the expense of Black folks. There are too many good movies from that era for me to waste my time on tripe like this.
Free on Internet Archive as "Poor Boy, Rich Girl"
Boots McGee (Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher) gave his frenemy Clicker Watson (Stuart Erwin) an oily handkerchief for him to wipe his face. Clicker obligingly took the rag and without looking at it he began wiping his face with it. Naturally, it made his face dark with oil. The little girl (Mitzi Green) had a good laugh at it at which point the joke should've been over. But... they had to slip in some racism.
Boots added more oil to Clicker's face and said, "Now you can order watermelon." An ignorant joke that shouldn't go over the head of anyone. It was clearly an attempt to indicate he was now Black because it's common knowledge (sarcasm) that Black people love fried chicken and watermelon.
A week ago I may have finished watching this movie, but it was the third pre-code movie in a row in which I had to suffer through offensive behavior at the expense of Black folks. There are too many good movies from that era for me to waste my time on tripe like this.
Free on Internet Archive as "Poor Boy, Rich Girl"