Harry Belafonte | Scott's Film Reviews-1,425 + Reviews posted so far!!!

Free to Be…You and Me-1974

Director Bill Davis

Starring Marlo Thomas, Alan Alda, Harry Belafonte

Scott’s Review #1,262

Reviewed June 3, 2022

Grade: A

I don’t typically review television specials or television series since, hence the title, my website isn’t about that.

But, because of the sheer relevance and groundbreaking nature of Free to Be…You and Me (1974) and that it is more of a ‘project’ than merely a television special I felt compelled to provide its deserved recognition and praise.

A record album and illustrated book first released in November 1972 featuring songs and stories sung or told by celebrities of the day also makes it meatier than a one-and-done hour-long slot on a random Monday night.

The running time is a mere forty-five minutes in length but a lot happens during this time and leaves any viewer with an open mind thinking about how everyone should see it.

To summarize, the emotions the experience elicits supersedes the limited amount of screen time.

The project was conceived, created, and executive-produced by actress Marlo Thomas who also serves as host. What a great human being she proves she is to bring something so valuable to the small screen.

The result is something so ahead of its time that the message feels powerful watching it for the first time nearly fifty years later in 2022.

You can’t say that about most television.

The basic concept is to celebrate and encourage gender neutrality, saluting values such as individuality, tolerance, and comfort with one’s identity. Strong messages.

These ideals began to emerge throughout the late 1960s when the sexual revolution transpired.

A major theme is that anyone regardless of being a boy or a girl can achieve anything and be whatever they want to be.

I adore early on when a scene from a hospital emerges, infant depictions of Thomas and Mel Brooks debating their genders. They say their goodbyes as they leave the hospital but the moment is long remembered.

Later, Thomas and Alan Alda sing about a boy named William who wants a doll. And why shouldn’t he? Just as Sally, Jennifer, or Mary should be allowed to play with a dump truck should they feel like it.

Surely, the United States, the project’s main region, has slowly become more progressive in the subsequent decades. A sad reminder is that some people still have a problem with gender neutrality or even gender equality.

We’re not out of the woods yet, folks.

But those people are to be dismissed and not embraced.

Guest performers include Alda, Cicely Tyson, Tom Smothers, and Harry Belafonte, while Roberta Flack, Michael Jackson, Rita Coolidge, and Kris Kristofferson help supply the tunes.

A shockingly young Jackson also appears in a skit.

The production features uplifting sketches and songs that urge young and old to welcome diversity and embrace individualism.

I ruminated throughout my viewing how similar in many ways it is to PBS’s Mister Rogers Neighborhood, using puppets to appeal to youngsters and teach treasured messages. The kindness of the characters provides protection and warmth, teaching worth and value.

Free to Be…You and Me (1974) deservedly became an Emmy-winning TV special that taught many children (and adults) how to celebrate and respect diversity.

I hope that someone somewhere gives Free to Be…You and Me a boost and it become shown in schools all across the world.

It’s a timeless masterpiece.

Carmen Jones-1954

Director Otto Preminger

Starring Dorothy Dandridge, Harry Belafonte

Scott’s Review #736

Reviewed April 3, 2018

Grade: B+

Quite taboo at the time of release (1954) because it featured an all-black cast with not a single white cast member, Carmen Jones is to be celebrated for their contribution to film history for this groundbreaking feat alone.

Directed by Otto Preminger (who ironically is Caucasian), the film features legendary actress Dorothy Dandridge in a Marilyn Monroe-style performance worthy of the talents of the stars.

The film is a musical with an inevitable tragedy at the conclusion.

The 1954 feature is based on a 1943 stage production of the same name, which in turn is based on the music of the famous 1875 Georges Bizet production of Carmen. These facets add to the richness of the film as it is layered with good history, and the well-known tragic elements make the conclusion unsurprising.

Brazen and beautiful, Carmen is a seductress who works in a parachute factory in North Carolina during World War II. After trading fists with a co-worker, Carmen is jailed and assigned handsome Corporal Joe (Harry Belafonte) to escort her to the authorities.

While Carmen is not shy about setting her sights on the young man, his fiancee, virginal Cindy Lou, fumes with anger and schemes to keep her man. This results in a triangle, of sorts, as Carmen and Joe eventually fall madly in love, leaving poor Cindy Lou by the wayside, but their love faces hurdles.

The rather lighthearted first portion of the film, with coquettish humor mixed in, is offset by a much darker path the film then takes. As Carmen and Joe finally profess their love and share a night of passion, she leaves him in the middle of the night, unable to endure prison time.

This results in Joe being imprisoned as the couple ultimately cannot stay away from one another despite repeated obstacles to their happiness. An additional character, a boxer named Husky, with designs on Carmen, is introduced, complicating matters.

In sad form, much like the opera Carmen, the final scene is both devastating and startling, as Joe treads down a dark and gloomy path of destruction. The character of Joe is nuanced- at first a “nice guy”, the character is an example of complexity, and what a man will do for love.

The viewer is left to wonder what will become of Joe and how he could simply throw his life away performing an act in the heat of passion.

In 1954, what a profound and wonderful role for a female, let alone a black female. Typically cast in roles such as maids, waitresses, or even less glamorous parts, how wonderful for Dandridge to capture a challenging role of this caliber.

As she sinks her teeth into the meaty and flirtatious Carmen, she is a vixen all the way. Her pizzazz, her flare, and her singing and dancing performances made Dandridge a star and forever known as a groundbreaking talent.

Enough cannot be said of the great importance of the casting of all-black actors in Carmen Jones. Monumental, of course, given the time of the film, the result is a film of importance to the black culture, showing that no longer did they need to only appear in “white films” as supporting players, but could carry a film on their own.

How profound and remarkable this was!

My only criticism of the film is undoubtedly a result of the progress made for both black actors and the way black characters are written- though there is still plenty more work to do.

At times it feels a shade on the dated side (in present times plenty of great roles for black actors) with a slightly grainy look to the filming.

Some of the acting from the supporting characters is also not the strongest, but liberties must be taken as Carmen Jones is a historical film.

Thanks to the genius and the funding of Preminger, who needed to produce the film independently due to lack of interest, the results are a film that has gone down in history as being worthy, edgy, and open-minded.

Wisely casting talented stars with great pipes, the film is a solid success.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress-Dorothy Dandridge, Best Scoring of a Musical Picture