Racism at the Pictures

Demeaning the Nicholas Brothers

Version [2.1]

8/9/21

One of Leicester Square's cinemas has dedicated every one of its screens to some worthy from cinema history. There are portrait photographs, attractively back-lit; accompanied by explanatory captions. The honouring of the Nicolas Brothers attracted my attention, as it typifies a new and burgeoning type of racism that is as subtle as it is excused.

The Nicolas Brothers are little remembered; at least in mainstream culture. The two brothers, Fayard (1914–2006) and Harold (1921–2000), pioneered an acrobatic - and impressively energetic - style of dancing, and appeared in many famous movie musicals of the 1930s and 1940s. Unfortunately the accompanying caption is poorly researched, or glibly naive, or, more probably, intentionally misleading. I was not hoodwinked, as I've long been a devotee of vintage movie musicals.

We are told, for example, that the Nicholas Brothers were 'unsung'. This a very strange claim, given that the Nicholas Brothers appeared in the same two movies as Glenn Miller, namely Sun Valley Serenade (1941) and Orchestra Wives (1942), and, moreover, at the pinnacle of the bandleader's fame. The Nicholas Brothers were probably not, owing to the prejudices of the time, as well remunerated as they deserved; but they were certainly not 'unsung'. The claim to unsungness is made, I suspect, in order to establish the 'victims of prejudice' narrative - a narrative that mentioning Glenn Miller would subvert.

The Nicholas Brothers, we are also told, 'blew Fred Astaire away'. This is another strange claim, and for several reasons. Firstly we are told nothing about Fred Astaire. The writer just assumes that we already know about him, and unwittingly therefore, admits that Astaire's fame survives, a generation after his passing. Secondly there is no evidence that, owing to competition from the Nicholas Brothers, Astaire's stardom waned in any way. These two points would suggest that, if there were any blowing, then it was a very gentle puff, rather than a furious gale. Thirdly the respective dancing styles are entirely incommensurable - Fred Astaire was emotional and sensual; the Nicholas Brothers were powerful and athletic. A far more appropriate comparison would be Gene Kelly; but I'm not sure he was blown away either.

Perhaps the Nicholas Brothers blew away Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson? Only, you see, there is a problem here, because the Nicholas Brothers and Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson were in, well, one kind of group, the 'victim' group, the members of which are not allowed to blow each other away. Fred Astaire is instead blown away, because he was in, well . . . another kind of group - the 'oppressor' group. Two black dancers are therefore made to look taller, by tearing down the achievements of a white dancer. This tactic saddens me, because it demeans rather than extols the Nicholas Brothers, whose monumental achievements are quite capable of standing on their own.

Have I imagined this anti-white racism? Perhaps; but I have a test for instances of this type. If the races of the dancers were to be inverted, then the Guardian would shriek 'Racism!'; the dedication would be defaced; the manager responsible would be sacked; and the cinema would be vilified and boycotted. We know this, as we've seen the same sordid narrative played out so many times.

The racism described here is better-known with two other historical figures, about which Lynn McDonald has written so comprehensively^*. I refer to the elbows that are so regularly applied to Florence Nightingale, and the lauding of Mary Seacole as the 'true' heroine of the Crimean War, and the 'real' pioneer of nursing. Of course, we know why Mary Seacole must be lauded and Florence Nightingale disparaged: and it has nothing at all to do with nursing. Mary Seacole was a trader rather than nurse, but we are dealing, here, with nothing less than the re-writing of history; and if lies must replace truth, then so be it.

*Lynn McDonald, Mary Seacole: The Making of the Myth, Iguana Books (2014).

(c) cufwulf

cufwulf@aol.com