1921 - American Indians are joining the Chinese to film their own movies - and make themselves the heroes, for once.
New York, Dec 12 - Americans will soon be villains on the
screen. The supply of Chinese and Indian villains will have run thin.
James B
Leong and Quan Foo have organized a new motion picture company at Los Angeles
to produce four pictures a year. This company is an outgrowth of the
organization which produced "The Lotus Blossom" to show the Chinese
as they really are and not as they usually are pictured in films made by
Caucasians. Cherokee Indians, having accumulated great wealth in oil lands, have
turned to eradicating the stain of villainy placed upon the Indians by the
cinema.
The
Cherokees met at Okmulgee, Okla, raised a fund and appointed a committee to see
that Indians become heroes and heroines in books, plays and films.
The Indians, said that Monte Blue is a member
of their tribe and that he plays the part of Danton in "Two Orphans,"
recently filmed by D.W. Griffith. Chief Roan Peters referred to history to show
that Danton was a radical that sent hundreds to the guillotine.
The
assembled braves appointed a committee to negotiate with Blue to induce him to
forgo all roles displaying him in an unfavorable light. The Indians will
recompense him for any financial loss he might suffer by such action.
All of this
is an extraordinary commentary on civilization.
Natives of
Africa and India several months ago asked American producers to stop sending
them films showing white women in phases of character contrary to conception
established by missionaries, religious and commercial.
There's a puzzler
for the producer. If he makes villains and adventurcans [ ? ] and low
characters of Americans he presents them in unfavorable aspect to other races.
If he employs only foreign characters for the unfavorable parts he is unfair to
other races.
There are
villains among the Indians. There are villains among the Chinese. And there are
plenty of them among Americans. It would be a vainglorious thing to send to
other countries only such films as display Americans in virtuous, heroic roles.
The
photoplay is a great medium of education, a medium understood regardless of
barrier of speech or race or creed. Its chief responsibility then seems to be
to tell the truth. - Source 1921, Dec 12 New Castle Herald
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| 1921, Dec 18 The Ogden Standard Examiner |
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| 1921, Dec 12 New Castle Herald |
