Film Review: The Dichotomy of Hattie McDaniel

HOUSTON, TX -- The history of Black Hollywood or Tinseltown for that matter couldn’t be written without one special lady. An actress who bore the weight of ‘Race’ on her shoulders as if she were a Greek titan, whether she wanted to or not. In ‘The Dichotomy of Hattie McDaniel,’ a wonderful telling of the history of the legendary Black actress, by Vincent Victoria Presents; whose courage to act in menial positions on the silver screen in a time not far removed from the slavery period, provided McDaniel with great success and fame. The film is the third in a series of four with a Black Hollywood theme directed by Vincent Victoria, a Midtown-Houston based theater showman who has proven himself by his works on stage, and he continues to make strides in his filmmaking with the clever use of computer generated imagery to give a sense of realism to his scenes.

‘Dichotomy’ focuses on the life of Hattie McDaniel, the first non-white actor to break the color-barrier and win an Academy Award for her role of Mammy in ‘Gone With The Wind.’ And despite the victory, and precedence, the push back from some in the Black community at the time, most notoriously by NAACP Executive Secretary Walter White, played by Dirk Richardson; were not impressed that McDaniel won the award portraying an enslaved maid servant to a spoiled southern belle.

The Dichotomy of Hattie McDaniel stars Wykesha King in the lead role. She also played the main character in Vincent Victoria’s play on the Black actress, and wowed the audience as Roger Furman’s La Grandessa in ‘On Midnight, Friday the 13th,’ at The Ensemble Theater in Midtown, last season. King’s ability to channel McDaniel was spot-on. The resemblance was uncanny, as Hattie readied herself on the early evening of the 1940 Academy Awards ceremony, reliving flashbacks about how she started out, to the rise of her greatest fame. It was delightful to see the friendship between McDaniel and Clark Gable, played by Carlos Sanchez, which had grown from working together in 1935. The friendship, considered taboo by Hollywood standards of the day, at times angered Gable when injustices were committed against Hattie like with Oscar night seating, but she countered with “At least I’m in the room.”

King illuminates the beauty of McDaniel, showing off her abilities in singing, acting, and glamor, in the golden age of Hollywood. The audience grows staunchly behind her cause in seeing Black Hollywood at the time content with underling roles, not bound for anything of greatness that Hattie achieved. McDaniel was a true pioneer, just as Jack Johnson set the stage for Joe Louis. Hattie was the one who took the arrows, so that those who went later could succeed to the fullest. Yes, the role McDaniel’s accepted, and there were hundreds of them, with many uncredited, they were demeaning, but they paid the bills, and they brought Hattie fame. Unfortunately, it was the age she lived in that ultimately decided her fate, as Wykesha King illustrates on her role in Dichotomy. And if it weren’t Hattie, it would have been somebody else, but many years later, seeing as that actor would not have had Clark Gable as a friend.

The supporting cast rounded out the film were impressive as well. Syneetra A. Williams, an English professor by trade, wonderfully played Butterfly McQueen, staying within the bounds of propriety and honoring the actress who was once frustrated with being typecast as a maid. Todd Greenfield, who portrays David O. Selznick, a two faced entity, who valued Hattie while in contract with the studio, but abandoned her on the films premiere, and on Oscar Night forcing her to sit in the nosebleed section. The actors who have to play the role of the White Judas on a Black stage or in a film have to be felt for, because their parts are necessary to tell the story, and should be admired for their bravery in taking on the roles. Vincent Victoria chose a great cast yielding to many wonderful performances. He rightly tackled the subject of Hattie’s dilemma, the aim for personal success, versus the stereotype of typecasting her race into servitude on the big screen, radio, and even radio.

Enough time has passed that Black actors are not subject to that standard anymore. Time heals wounds. And in looking at the plausibility of roles at the time, given the conditions, Hattie McDaniel did the best she could to be a success, as did the rest of Black Hollywood. And she rightfully said, “I’d rather play a maid, than be a maid.” She made the right choice, a decision that made history.

For tickets and donations: vincentvictoriapresents.com

Ruben can be reached at: ruben@montgomerycountynews.net