Concerned that his movie about a former slave devoting his life to a white child’s emotional needs might be perceived as racist, Walt Disney hired known Communist Maurice Rapf to rewrite Song of the South. Rapf, the son of an MGM exec, was radicalized as a college student, and shortly after Song of the South was released, he was blacklisted. Today we’ll discuss Rapf’s life and career, and talk about how white leftists in Hollywood tried to subvert the industry’s racial status quo -- and how their mission to “make movies less bad” led to their own persecution.
This episode is sponsored by Parcast - Mythology (www.parcast.com/MYTHOLOGY).
150: Blaxploitation and the White Backlash (Six Degrees of Song of the South, Episode 5)
148: “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah,” Minstrels in Hollywood and The Oscars (Six Degrees of Song of the South, Episode 3)
147: Hattie McDaniel (Six Degrees of Song of the South, Episode 2)
146: Disney’s Most Controversial Film (Six Degrees of Song of the South, Episode 1)
Sneak Peek: Six Degrees of "Song of the South"
145: Ramon Novarro (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 19)
144: The Trials of Confidential Magazine: Maureen O'Hara (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 18)
143: The Trials of Confidential Magazine: Dorothy Dandridge (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 17)
142: Bugsy Siegel (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 16)
141: Marlene Dietrich, Claudette Colbert, and the “sewing circle” (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 15)
140: Lupe Velez (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 14)
139: Mary Astor's Diary (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 13)
138: Mae West (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 12)
137: Gina Lollobrigida (The Seduced, Episode 6)
136: Yvonne De Carlo
135: Linda Darnell (The Seduced, Episode 4)
134: Ann Dvorak (The Seduced, Episode 3)
133: The Bacchanal of 1920s Hollywood, via Frederica Sagor Maas (The Seduced Episode 2)
Rupert Hughes's Women (The Seduced, Episode 1)
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Cinema: A to B
I Finally Watched...
Star Wars Escape Pod
Pod Meets World
Pop Culture Happy Hour