The Scar of Shame
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The Scar of Shame is a silent film, which was filmed in 1926 and released in 1927.
It was produced by the Colored Players Film Corporation of Philadelphia, in one of the earliest examples of "race movies", in which an entirely black cast (with the aid of white filmmakers) performed a feature film specifically for a black audience. The film was produced and written by David Starkman and was directed by Frank Peregini.
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[edit] Social statements
The film made strong statements for its time regarding "color caste" in the black community, as the educated protagonist, Alvin Hillyard (Harry Henderson), was light-skinned and well-spoken, while the poor damsel in distress, Louise Howard (Lucia Lynn Moses), was of dark complexion and spoke in a form of ebonics. This theme would be seen throughout the movie, as the lower-class characters and servants had darker skin tones while the well-read intellectuals in the film were somewhat lighter (special lighting was used to make their skin even "whiter" than usual).
Another social statement the filmmakers made was using the Alvin Hillyard role to speak for the entirety of black people, and what they could achieve, going as far as to discredit poorer blacks as "not our set" (which can be seen in the scene in which he receives a letter from his mother). In what is perhaps the most memorable scene of the film, Alvin punches the drifter Eddie for manhandling Louise, with his intertitle reading "You dirty dog! I'll teach you to have more respect for our women!" [1]
[edit] Plot
Alvin Hillyard, a music student, moves to the big city to pursue his passion. He rooms in Miss Lucretia Green's (Ann Kennedy) boarding house. One day, while practicing the piano, he witnesses a girl from across the alley, Louise Howard, being beaten by her stepfather Spike. He runs over, knocks Spike unconscious, and rescues Louise, bringing her to Lucretia's boarding house. Lucretia allows Louise to stay with her, in exchange for chores around the house.
One of the lodgers, Eddie Blake (Norman Johnstone), is a friend of Spike's, and tries to convince Louise to go back to her stepfather, which she refuses. Eddie tries to strong-arm her out of the house, but Alvin overhears and punches him. Lucretia comes in from the other room and insists that Eddie must leave, because she does not want "his kind" to stay in her house.
Alvin and Louise fall in love and are married. Eddie schemes to break up the marriage by sending a telegram to Alvin, purportedly from his mother, telling him that she is very sick and he must return home immediately. Alvin, still ashamed of Louise's lower-class background, goes home without her.
Deeply hurt, Louise runs off with Eddie and becomes a cabaret singer. When Alvin returns, he and Spike get in a gun battle, and he accidentally wounds Louise. Alvin goes to jail; by the time he gets out, he starts a new life as a piano teacher and falls in love with his student, Alice Hathaway (Pearl McCormack). Alice's father is sexually involved with Louise, and she and Alvin meet in a chance encounter. After Alvin refuses her advances, she kills herself. After the rest of the Hathaway family learn of Alvin's past marriage, he explains the secret, and the family forgives him.
[edit] Library of Congress
The film has been preserved by the Library of Congress, but it is not on the National Film Registry preservation list. On all Library of Congress VHS/DVD prints, The Scar of Shame is accompanied by a 1923 short film, in which Noble Sissle sings jazz tunes while Eubie Blake plays the melody on the piano. The short film, called "Sissle and Blake" by the Library of Congress, is one of the earliest examples of sound-on-film technology.
