Check and Double Check

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Movie poster for the film.

Check and Double Check was a 1930 motion picture made and released by RKO based on the then-popular Amos 'n' Andy radio show. The title was derived from a catch phrase associated with the show.

The making of the picture posed several problems. Perhaps foremost was the fact that the characters of the program were portrayed as blacks but were in fact entirely voiced by whites. This had posed no problem on the radio, but obviously would not be suitable for a movie where the actors could be seen as well as heard. Rather than hire black actors for the roles and instruct them to imitate to the maximum extent possible the very stereotypical voices used by the radio performers, program creators Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll performed the roles themselves in blackface.

Another problem was the attempt to base a full-length picture on a 15-minute long radio program. In order to do this, the movie's producers unwisely decided to flesh out the story with a love triangle involving white characters, essentially making Amos and Andy minor characters in what was marketed as a film about them.

The movie was quite profitable for RKO but critically panned and a disappointment to many moviegoers. Two animated short films were made following Check and Double Check: The Rasslin' Match and The Lion Tamer. However, no sequel was ever produced and there were no further attempts at live-action portrayals of Amos 'n' Andy until the advent of network television. Today, the film is in the public domain, and several DVD editions exist.