Pixie_Squarepants Review of Who Killed 'Doc' Robbin?

Who Killed 'Doc' Robbin? (1948)

Racism & a weird guy who hangs w/ kids

[15 July 2005]

This Hal Roach guy, "filmmaker" must've been some piece of work. You can tell he was racist against blacks. This cast consists of mostly white brats whose characters all have names and dialogue. The only 2 black kids in this are little black boys, and I guess because they're black, don't deserve names. Instead, they're called "Dis" and the other one is "Dat". Dis & Dat- no kidding. Aside from not having dialogue, they're portrayed as black people were back then, and as white people attributed them to be, as rather dense. I'll bet any amount of money that these 2 kids weren't even paid the SAG wages their white counterparts were. Several things about this movie offended me re: the race portrayal. In one scene, the white kids opened a door into a darkened room where only floaty round white objects were. Turns out, it was Dis & Dat's eyes & teeth. This old cliché from old movies, that you can only see black people's teeth or eyes in a dark room, really offends me. They are relegated to being on par w/ an animal that has eye-shine. Humans don't have eye-shine. The old "black people are like monkeys & apes" mentality of old Hollywood really pi**es me off. Another scene depicts exactly that. A scary monkey gets loose & the white kids confuse Dis or Dat with the monkey & run shrieking. Another moment, Dat gets scared & actually turns white- special effects blanch him out. Another scene, Dis & Dat are left in charge of the lemonade stand. After the white kids leave the boys lay down on their backs & w/ rubber hoses, drink all the lemonade-virtually doing lemonade bongs. I guess this is to convey that all blacks are lazy, unreliable, and this thinly implied Dis & Dat were on their way to future alcoholism. As for "Fix-It Dan", (who by the way reminded me of a fusion of a crazy-haired David Lynch & Floyd the barber from Mayberry)- in today's world, it's just weird for a bunch of kids to be hanging w/ a grown man. Unless you're Michael Jackson of course.