A few things need to be noted before reviewing this movie.
1.) This was a political movie.
2.) Shirley Temple had about five minutes of screen time.
3.) Stepin Fetchit had about five minutes of screen time.
A man named Lawrence Cromwell (Warner Baxter) was selected by the POTUS to be Secretary of Amusement, a new position created in order to help people forget about the Depression. Already that gave me pause. The government would much rather spend $100M to entertain people in hopes that they'd forget about being poor and jobless, instead of putting that money to programs that would remedy their poverty and joblessness. There was even a musical number in which all of these poor folks in hopeless situations were singing about how they're "laughin'" even in their state "so can you."
"I'm laughin' with a dozen kids that I have to feed. So if I can laugh while I'm in need, sister so can you."
Laughin' with a mortgage around my neck.
Laughin' while I'm in the snow and sleet pounding the pavement.
Laughin' in my sweat and grime.
And on and on until Aunt Jemima (yes, like the syrup), played by Tess Gardella, was singing about laughin' while in her bandana and servants' clothing.
Where's the face-palm emoji?
Here's the deal: I don't disagree with the message in principle, I just disagree with the chosen messenger (ie the government). I don't care to hear the government telling me don't worry and be happy, I'll go to Bobby McFerrin for that. I want the government to tell me how and when they will get the country out of its bad economic situation.
In this movie the government decided to try to distract people with amusement while they figured things out. The Secretary of Amusement, Cromwell, employed a bunch of assistant secretaries to find talent throughout the country. He hired Mary Adams (Madge Evans) to find child acts. You would think that that's how we got to see Shirley Temple, but no. Shirley Temple was tossed in the middle with James Dunn to do a song and dance number. Besides a scene she was in before her routine, that's all we saw of her.
We also saw Stepin Fetchit. There isn't a movie that he's in except it's discredited. Stepin Fetchit was such a degrading character persona. His real name was Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry, but he went by Stepin Fetchit. His whole act was a whiny, slow, dimwitted man who personified some of the worst stereotypes about Black men. He's an embarrassment to watch.
I don't blame him. I don't blame him at all. He was just doing what society allowed him to do. I blame systemic racism for the Stepin Fetchits, Fred 'Snowflake' Toones, Oscar Smiths, blackface, and the mammies. They refused to see or portray Black people any other way.
So, while it was a downer that we only got to see about five minutes of Shirley Temple, it was a downer that we had to see any of Stepin Fetchit at all.
Had "Stand Up and Cheer" dispensed with government involvement in entertainment, gave us more Shirley Temple and no Stepin Fetchit, then the movie would've been so much better.
Free on YouTube.
1.) This was a political movie.
2.) Shirley Temple had about five minutes of screen time.
3.) Stepin Fetchit had about five minutes of screen time.
A man named Lawrence Cromwell (Warner Baxter) was selected by the POTUS to be Secretary of Amusement, a new position created in order to help people forget about the Depression. Already that gave me pause. The government would much rather spend $100M to entertain people in hopes that they'd forget about being poor and jobless, instead of putting that money to programs that would remedy their poverty and joblessness. There was even a musical number in which all of these poor folks in hopeless situations were singing about how they're "laughin'" even in their state "so can you."
"I'm laughin' with a dozen kids that I have to feed. So if I can laugh while I'm in need, sister so can you."
Laughin' with a mortgage around my neck.
Laughin' while I'm in the snow and sleet pounding the pavement.
Laughin' in my sweat and grime.
And on and on until Aunt Jemima (yes, like the syrup), played by Tess Gardella, was singing about laughin' while in her bandana and servants' clothing.
Where's the face-palm emoji?
Here's the deal: I don't disagree with the message in principle, I just disagree with the chosen messenger (ie the government). I don't care to hear the government telling me don't worry and be happy, I'll go to Bobby McFerrin for that. I want the government to tell me how and when they will get the country out of its bad economic situation.
In this movie the government decided to try to distract people with amusement while they figured things out. The Secretary of Amusement, Cromwell, employed a bunch of assistant secretaries to find talent throughout the country. He hired Mary Adams (Madge Evans) to find child acts. You would think that that's how we got to see Shirley Temple, but no. Shirley Temple was tossed in the middle with James Dunn to do a song and dance number. Besides a scene she was in before her routine, that's all we saw of her.
We also saw Stepin Fetchit. There isn't a movie that he's in except it's discredited. Stepin Fetchit was such a degrading character persona. His real name was Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry, but he went by Stepin Fetchit. His whole act was a whiny, slow, dimwitted man who personified some of the worst stereotypes about Black men. He's an embarrassment to watch.
I don't blame him. I don't blame him at all. He was just doing what society allowed him to do. I blame systemic racism for the Stepin Fetchits, Fred 'Snowflake' Toones, Oscar Smiths, blackface, and the mammies. They refused to see or portray Black people any other way.
So, while it was a downer that we only got to see about five minutes of Shirley Temple, it was a downer that we had to see any of Stepin Fetchit at all.
Had "Stand Up and Cheer" dispensed with government involvement in entertainment, gave us more Shirley Temple and no Stepin Fetchit, then the movie would've been so much better.
Free on YouTube.