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The Negro Sailor
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Wikipedia article
'The Negro Sailor' is a 1945 documentary short film made for the U.S. Navy"The Negro in the United States Navy During World War II" by L. D. Reddick, The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Apr., 1947), page 215. and shown by All-American News, a company producing newsreels and later feature films for the race film market. It was directed by Henry Levin.p. 265 Murray, Florence (editor) 'The Negro Handbook 1946-1947' Current Books, Incorporated, 1947 The film was inspired by the success of the film The Negro Soldier, and was one of only five films documenting the war time activities of African Americans in a positive light before 1950. Released after the surrender of Japan the film highlights the service of African Americans seaman.
Plot
At an African-American newspaper, Bill Johnson, one of the employees enlists in the US Navy. Frank Roberts, the sports editor for the paper convinces the newspaper's editor it would be a great idea for the paper to publish a column called "The Navy Team" where Frank would write about Frank's experience in the Navy.
The film follows Bill from Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois including a spell in the brig to a variety of technical training. Bill later serves on a ship escorting a destroyer with a crew of other African-Americans working under white officers. The film mentions several black war heroes of World War II including Navy Cross recipients William Pinckney for his actions at the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands, Doris Miller for his actions at Pearl Harbor, and Leonard Roy Harmon for his actions during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.
Production
'The Negro Sailor' was filmed at Columbia Studios and completed in July, 1945."'Negro Sailor' To Be Released," The Pittsburgh Courier, July 21, 1945. p. 13.
Release and Legacy
Caleb Peterson, Jr., the founder of the Interracial Film & Radio Guild, praised the Columbia Studios executives for including him in discussions in developing film."IFRG Member in Opinion on the 'Negro Sailor'", California Eagle, June 28, 1945, p. 12. However, the film was also seen as "an attempt to polish the notoriously racist reputation of the navy made worse by events such as the Port Chicago mutiny among African Americans."'Promises of Citizenship: Film Recruitment of African Americans in World War II' By Kathleen German, University Press of Mississippi, 2017, pages 90-91 And while this film and The Negro Soldier "acknowledged African Americans' contributions to America's military history, by overlooking the persistence of racial segregation in the armed forced, they implied that the black struggle for civil rights was complete."'African Americans and the Pacific War, 19411945: Race, Nationality, and the Fight for Freedom' by Chris Dixon, Cambridge University Press, 2018, page 9.
The film is included as a supplement to releases of Harry Levins films The Family Secret and Convicted. The film was also released on a 2010 DVD set of race films and was restored in 2016.
The film is stored in the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration."[https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1997/summer/usia-motion-pictures.html The USIA Motion Picture Collection and African American History: A Reference Review]" by Donald Roe, Federal Records and African American History, Summer 1997, Vol. 29, No. 2.'Film & Radio Propaganda in World War II' edited by K.R.M. Short, Taylor & Francis, 2021
Cast
*Joel Fluellen as Bill Johnson
*Spencer Williams Jr. as Frank Roberts
*Leigh Whipper as the Editor
*Monica Carter
*Joan Douglas
*Mildred Boyd
*Louise Franklin
See also
*The Negro Soldier
Notes
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