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 performed a feature film specifically for a black audience. The film was produced and written by David Starkman and was directed by Frank Peregini, both white.
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The Scar of Shame was a black silent melodrama with black actors written for a predominately black Audience. [1]Melodramas were the genre of choice for early 20th century black filmmakers. This film emerged during a time of great breakthroughs in not only African American film but all art with the Harlem Renaissance when âa new sense of black consciousness emergedâ [2] likely after witnessing the bravery of African American soldiers in World War I. This was a collaboration of a âblack cast, white crew and interracial production teamâ[3] produced by the conspicuously named âColored Playersâ who were mostly white, in 1927. The Scar of Shame was one of the only three films produced by this company which was founded in 1926 in Philadelphia by a generous investment. [4] In Jane Gaineâs article on âSkin Color and Caste in Black Melodrama,â she claims that the film mostly takes itâs substance from D.W. Griffithâs films: Intolerance (1916) and Broken Blossoms (1919). [5] There are undeniable similarities between the films with scenes such as Spike beating Louise matching up remarkably with paternal beatings of the character Lucy in Broken Blossoms and so forth.
In essence, this is a film detailing the struggle to advance from the depths of black urban life representing bluntly by the ghetto environment, to fabled high class society seen when Alvin visits his motherâs house in the suburbs. With the new emergence of a black bourgeois class, the film provides âa manual for those on the make,â embodied in Alvin Hilliard, but also âa caution to the weak willed who might be diverted from success by urban temptations,â [6]such as Louise who is tempted by the opportunity of a âbig breakâ as a cabaret singer and also her father, Spike, who is unable to resist alcohol. The message is not so straightforward however and we see those who strive for more ending up hurting those they care about when Alvin gives Louise âthe scar,â and deserting those less fortunate of the same race just by a desire for success. The Scar of Shame gives us insight into a âdetailed anatomy of the conflicting strata of black urban life,â [7]so that we see those that would be called âstriversâ in conflict with those who feel unable to leave their place in society or are resentful towards strivers who abandon them. There is also the problem of moving up simply by being assimilated into white culture, seen when Alvin seems to only compose âwhite musicâ on the piano, and losing track of oneâs black heritage. There is no clearly distinct skin color differentiation that sets some characters above others even though commonly a darker skin tone is associated with lower class whereas those more close to white skin are higher class in film. The message here is that it is not the skin that determines the characterâs fate but rather the ambition in their hearts. Though this may be as true as we hope it is, if one wants to split hairs, it could be found that Alice is slightly more white and portrayed in more alluring camera shots than Louise and Spike, one of the more base characters in the film and the butler at Alvinâs motherâs estate are darker than the rest. Though this film is a commentary on the anatomy of black social stratification, it cannot shut out the racism of its era. Wealthy white investors hiring black crews only added to the stark divide between races in the film industry. The reality was, the more âwhite bloodâ one inherited, the more successful they were thought to be. Later more emphasis would be put on income, education and achievements of course but this idea of darkness as a marker of insignificance still somewhat permeated the film. A common theme throughout the film is the conflict between the top and bottom classes and their role in the degradation of black women. It seems that the lower classes were thought to act as sort of a whirlpool, dragging others down with their sinful temptations and clubs of ill repute and loose morals. Simultaneously there was a top class that tried so hard to separate itself from the rest that it ended up not allowing for those trapped below to move up by âholding up impossible hurdles.â [8] The peak of this conflict is seen during the plan conceived by Eddie to kidnap Louise while Alvin is distracted at his motherâs. Louise is caught in the middle in the house while Eddie and Spike, here representing the lower class, sneak up on her and Alvin, coming back from the suburbs and his mother who is âconcerned with casteâ represents higher class. She feels somewhat shunned from Alvinâs side after reading his motherâs letter, which expressed her desire for him to marry another, more sophisticated girl while she is simultaneously drawn in by the allure of a business deal with Eddie. The scar, which she receives during the ensuing gunfight, marks and makes final her decision to become corrupted by the lower class. Just as Louise feels oppressed by high class and unable to be on the same level as Alvin, Alvin feels as if he is being dragged down by the shame of his past and unable to open up to Alice, his high-class love. What allows some to move up while most are trapped then? The drive to succeed seems not to be enough on its own. One wonders after seeing the first title card, which puts so much importance on childhood as a determining factor of success in life, how is such a fate determined so early? What does the âknowing handâ know that is so critical to success in life? If we apply this to main characters we see that Alvin had success in life and his mother impressed on him from an early age the importance of staying in oneâs âset,â that is to say avoid the suction of the lower class. Though it is true Alvin married Louise, there was never a time when love was apparent. The desire seemed to come more from Alvinâs gentleness and protective attitude, almost pitying Louise. Later, Alvin pulls a gun on her with Eddie and tells them to hold still âthe two of you.â Clearly there was little love lost in the breakup. If Alvin had heeded his motherâs advice, his life might have turned out differently for it was almost ruined by the touch of the ghetto. The dealings of Eddie and Spike get him stuck in jail and force him to live the life of an escaped convict for the rest of his life. This ideal of self-preservation is the justification for suppressing the lower class and making wide divides between the black urban strata to minimize the risk of the ill effects of associating with low class culture. The image of childhood dreams appears again when Louise decides to leave Alvin. Alvin drops Louiseâs childhood doll down to the floor as he leaves for his motherâs and she leaves it there as a neglected victim of a poor environment. Gaines argues that the doll or âchildâ rather, is not a victim of caste but rather of âclass prejudice,â [9] and that it is the grudges of high-class black society and the resentment of low-class society that are the root of this system that is cause of the demise of so many lives.
The film begins with a foreword of warning about knowledge during childhood: âSurroundings, childhood training and companion often is the deciding factor in our lives. â It shapes our destinies and guides our ambitions. âIf early in life some knowing, loving hand, lights the lamp of knowledge and with tender care keeps it burning, then our course will run true âtil the end of our useful time on this earth, but, if that lamp should fail through lack of tender care, through lack of loving hands to feed its hungry flame â then will come sorrow and shame!â This remarks on the lack of education available to African American children during this time and urges more care and tenderness be given to avoid the alternative âsorrow and shame.â As the cast is introduced, their values are related to music: Louise, whose âmusic is all in discord,â can be seen struggling sporadically and unsuccessfully to escape a birth into low class black society, though she is unable to conjure up the same drive and ambition to succeed seen in Alvin. Music symbolizes refined taste and high class; therefore an appreciation of it helps distinguish people of different âsetsâ throughout the movie. The scene is set in the city though right away we see stark contrasts. Alvinâs room is bright and has a portrait of Frederick Douglass, a model of social mobility, while just out the window the setting is darker and less prim. This is the juxtaposition of the ghetto and âfiner livingâ which is an important theme throughout the film. As Louise is introduced, a quote comes up on a title card for our digestion: âOne half the world doesnât know how the other half lives.â There is no prompting or explanation for it but it just appears. It could be taken as referring to ignorance between white and black races or relegated just within the black social strata. Taking it to mean the latter, the association with Louise makes sense. Throughout the film she tilts from one side: higher class with Alvin, to the other which eventually pulls her down and that is the influence of the ghetto with Spike and Eddie. This half and half between high and low class represents the primary problem that eventually leads to her death. Alvin sees Louise being beaten by Spike outside while practicing piano and knocks him unconscious, rescuing the damsel in distress then brings her back to Lucretiaâs house. It should be noted that Alvin had to descend from his room down to the level where Louise and Spike were, representing a descent into the ghetto. Alvin comments on the injustices that âwomen of our race are subjected toâ and places the blame on lack of education. Lucretia, the owner of the boarding house where Alvin is residing allows Louise to stay, to protect her, in return for chores around the house. Eddie meets with Spike, who is sporting a splendid black eye he claims to have been caused by a trolley car, after the incident and attempts to convince him to let Louise work as an entertainer for him. Spike doesnât seem enthusiastic and shows regret for beating her, which he would later credit to alcoholism. Spike has some desire to allow his daughter to escape the kind of life he is stuck in but is unable to change any of his actions without being sucked back into his old lifestyle by booze given to him by Eddie. Eddie represents one of âtwo sides of black ambition: the urge to flee the ghetto or to control itâ[10] Since it seems Eddie is in his element working poker games in the club and also as we see his need to control Spike we can assume that he represents the latter of the fore stated dichotomy of black urban life which is the group aiming to control the ghetto. Eddie learns the truth about the confrontation between Alvin and Spike during dinner at Lucretiaâs and we learn something more about Eddie. We see a stark contrast between the refined manners of Alvin who pulls the chair for the women guests and refrains from eating until they are seated and Eddie who helps himself to food without acknowledging the arrival of the women. Later in the evening, Eddie forcefully attempts to bring Louise back to her âold pappyâ but again Alvin intervenes. We can assume that Eddie has an ulterior motive. Drunk again off Eddieâs liquor, Spike continues to harass Louise who contemplates suicide if it continues, foreshadowing events to come. Alvin proposes to Louise in a touching scene on the bed after rescuing her again form the altercation claiming that she wouldnât need to worry about harm if they were married. Here we see a different side of Alvin. Instead of the anti-social, striving for him only mentality, women soften his heart. An important theme is the care and uplifting of women. Characters like Eddie who we are meant to dislike, use women and degrade them while characters we are meant to admire like Alvin bring women up and care for them. After he defends Louise from Eddie at Lucretiaâs house, Alvin exclaims, âIâll teach you to treat our women like that!â Over more alcohol, Eddie schemes with Spike to distract Alvin with a fake telegram announcing his motherâs illness while they kidnap Louise. Alvin cannot take Louise with him because he hasnât informed his mother of their marriage which she would not have approved of because of her concern with castes. Louise laments her lot in life and finds a letter from Alvinâs mother urging him to marry another woman who is âpart of our set,â referring to the same level in black urban social stratification. She proceeds to rip the letter and then the marriage certificate. Louise âsymbolically abandons respectable black valuesâ [11]embodied in her doll as she crushes it remarking: âyou too had to be a victim of caste.â Before they go through with the plan, Spike once again shows hesitance, remarking that she is better off away from people like him. It is hard to make anything of Spikeâs feelings of lament even as he doesnât take part in the plan but cowers against a fence. It could be interpreted as his surrender to the plight of those trapped in the ghetto with nothing like music to pull them out. Alvin comes back to confront Eddie after learning he had been tricked, and that his mother was visiting friends out of town. The scene is cut back and forth between Alvin in the car in the suburbs and Louise tearing up mementos of their marriage. This crosscutting shows a direct link between the importance Alvin places on the caste system and his loyalties to his mother and the inability for their relationship to work. [12] Eddie breaks into the house and entices Louise with long shot possibilities of becoming rich. As Alvin enters and guns are pulled, someone accidentally shoots Louise in the neck leaving a scar. Louise becomes in cahoots with Eddie in his gambling schemes while Alvin is in prison. Eddie refers to Alvin as a âdicty sapâ which insults his ambitions to move up the rungs of the caste system. Alvin escapes prison by filing the bars in his cell and re-establishes himself as a music instructor with a false name. Alvin seems to be consistent in his role as an escapist; first striving to escape the ghetto through music and now escapes prison to re establish himself as respectable in society. Alvin falls in love with his student, Alice, but âlives a daily lieâ because he has hidden the secrets of his past. Louise is involved with Aliceâs father so Alvin meets her after dropping an urgent note to Aliceâs father. Aliceâs father unknowingly pairs the two together for a dance. Later that night, Louise makes advances on Alvin, threatening to expose him and he gives in for a moment but in a later scene Alvin rejects her and leaves. This scene stands in contrast to the multitude of times when Alvin saved her because this time it is Alvin throwing Louise to the ground. This has an element of symbolism in that he is no longer going to save her from the âgutterâ or low class dragging her down. In distress, Louise kills herself after writing a revealing letter of repentance and apology. In it she confesses that it was really Eddie who shot her neck and he wouldnât allow her to tell the truth during the trial. Alvin feels compelled to let Alice and her family in on his secrets after hearing of Louiseâs death and they forgive him. Aliceâs fatherâs lament mirrors the earlier foreword, in blaming the environment and Louiseâs lack of education, finishing with the statement: âour people have much to learn.â This seems to be a fitting end, however in that it shows how one can strive and have ambition like Alvin or be doomed to misery like Louise. The setting of her death is also worth noticing. A burned down candle is there to be noticed as representative of Louiseâs failure in life to do anything of importance. Her choice to abandon her hope of rising above poverty that lied in Alvin led her to a life of low class depression and emptiness. There once was a girl who fought against men like Eddie and Spike with fire but in the end her weakness prevailed, extinguishing the flame, or the âlamp of knowledgeâ due to lack of âtender care.â
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.