George Abbott | Why Bring That Up? / 1929 [Difficult to obtain]

lavender

by Douglas Messerli

 

George Abbott and Hector Turnbull (screenplay, based on a story by Octavus Roy Cohen), George Abbott (director) Why Bring That Up? / 1929 [Difficult to obtain]

 

Generally, even when I cannot obtain a copy of a film or it is a lost film, the synopsis of the work and other commentary has hinted at why the film might be perceived of being of LGBTQ interest. But no such luck with either the Wikipedia or the IMDb description of the renowned George Abbott’s blackface film of 1929, Why Bring That Up?, staring the “Two Black Crows” Charles Mack and George Moran.

     Obviously, as one commentator noted, with its racist attitudes it probably is not a film that will be readily brought out on DVD, although apparently both Vito Russo and Richard Barrios did view it. But I have not had any opportunity see this film, even though it is among the films I regularly look for on Turner Movie Classics.

      The plot is rather banal, the IMBd entry reading:

 

“George’s partner in vaudeville quits their act, claiming that Betty has broken his heart. George then teams up with Charlie, a stranded trouper, and Irving becomes their manager. Later, in New York, the “Two Black Crows” star in their own revue and save money to build their own theater on Broadway. Betty comes to the theater with her lover, who poses as a cousin and induces George to hire her. He showers her with jewels and money. She tries to persuade George to invest in oil stock her lover is selling, and though their act is a success, Charlie fires Betty. When Charlie and Betty’s lover quarrel, Charlie is injured.”

 

     Although the way it’s written with its vague pronoun, it almost sounds like Betty’s lover, who is posing as her cousin, might be the person whom George (Moran) hires, it is apparently the cousin who convinces George to hire Betty (Evelyn Brent), so no crossdressing is involved.

     Apparently the only gay material in this film—an incident mentioned by both Russo and Barrios relates to how the word lavender comes to be a code word for homosexual behavior. Russo characterizes the gay connection as being revealed “when two chorus boys are caught in mid-conversation. As the camera pans the wings of the theater on opening night, one is discovered telling the other, ‘And my new drapes are the most gorgeous shade of lavender.’”

 

Los Angeles, July 11, 2022

Reprinted from World Cinema Review (July 2022).