Table Of Content

A P I E C E A P I E C E O F T H E O F T H E EITHNE QUINN A C T I O N A C T I O N RACE AND LABOR IN POST-CIVIL RIGHTS HOLLYWOOD A PIECE OF THE ACTION A P I E C E O F T H E A C T I O N RACE AND LABOR IN POST– CIVIL RIGHTS HOLLYWOOD EITHNE QUINN Columbia University Press(cid:2)New York Columbia University Press Publishers Since 1893 New York Chichester, West Sussex cup . columbia . edu Copyright © 2020 Columbia University Press All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Quinn, Eithne, 1971– author. Title: A piece of the action : race and labor in post– civil rights Hollywood / Eithne Quinn. Description: New York : Columbia University Press, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2019023881 (print) | LCCN 2019023882 (ebook) | ISBN 9780231164368 (cloth) | ISBN 9780231164375 (paperback) | ISBN 9780231551014 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: African Americans in motion pictures. | Race in motion pictures. | Race relations in motion pictures. | African Americans in the motion picture industry. | Motion pictures— United States— History— 20th century. Classification: LCC PN1995.9.N4 Q54 2019 (print) | LCC PN1995.9.N4 (ebook) | DDC 791.43/652996073— dc23 LC record available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2019023881 LC ebook record available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2019023882 Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid- free paper. Printed in the United States of America Cover image: Director Melvin Van Peebles on the set of Watermelon Man (1970). Courtesy of Columbia Pictures/Photofest. Cover design: Lisa Hamm CONTENTS Acknowledgments vii Introduction 1 1. “The Screen Speaks for Itself”: Institutional Discrimination and the Dawning of Hollywood Postracialism 25 2. Racializing the Hollywood Renaissance: Black and White Symbol Creators in a Time of Crisis 59 3. Challenging Jim Crow Crews: Federal Activism and Industry Reaction 93 4. “Getting the Man’s Foot out of Our Collective Asses”: Black Left Film Producers and the Rise of the Hustler Creative 125 5. Color- Blind Corporatism: The Black Film Wave and White Revival 167 Conclusion: Race, Creative Labor, and Reflexivity in Post– Civil Rights Hollywood 207 Notes 231 Index 267 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS M any people have helped me write this book, and I am so grateful for their support. Scholars, editors, and teachers have taken time to meet and correspond with me and to contribute rich ideas, make subtle refinements, suggest source materials, and invite me to present work, which generated further productive con- versations. They include Bridget Byrne, Steve Chibnall, Gary Cross, Tom Doherty, Melvin Donalson, Jeffrey Geiger, Paul Grainge, Herman Gray, Lee Grieveson, Martin Halliwell, Heather Hendershot, Dave Hesmondhalgh, Jan- Christopher Horak, Darnell Hunt, Mark Jancovich, Robin Kelley, Steph- anie Lewthwaite, Ed Linenthal, Peter Ling, Karen Lury, Dan Matlin, Sharon Monteith, Jonathan Munby, Steve Neale, Simon Newman, Anamik Saha, Bevan Sewell, Judith Smith, Cara Rodway, Will Turner, William Van Deburg, Craig Watkins, James West, John Williams, Howard Winant, and Janet Wolff. I am deeply grateful to Philip Leventhal at Columbia University Press for his early interest in the project and expert help in guiding it to completion. Thanks also to Monique Briones in editorial, Zachary Friedman in market- ing, Michael Haskell in production, and faculty board members. I am indebted to Annie Barva, whose copy editing of the manuscript was superbly deft and clarifying. For assisting me in accessing images used in the book, thanks to Minerva Diaz at the Dwyer Cultural Center, Espen Bale at the Brit- ish Film Institute, and superefficient Kristine Krueger at the Margaret Her- rick Library. Special thanks are owed to the anonymous reviewers of the book proposal and manuscript: I am grateful for their thoughtful suggestions and belief in the project. viii(cid:2)ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Part of chapter 2 was published in earlier form as “Sincere Fictions: The Production Cultures of Whiteness in Late 1960s Hollywood,” Velvet Light Trap 67 (Spring 2011): 3– 13, copyright © 2011 by the University of Texas Press; all rights reserved. Parts of chapters 3 and 5 were published in earlier form as “Closing Doors: Hollywood, Affirmative Action, and the Revitalization of Conservative Racial Politics,” Journal of American History 99, no. 2 (Sep- tember 2012): 466– 91; reprinted with permission of Oxford University Press. Part of chapter 4 was published in earlier form as “ ‘Tryin’ to Get Over’: Super Fly, Black Politics, and Post– Civil Rights Film Enterprise,” Cinema Journal 49, no. 2 (Winter 2010): 86– 105, copyright © 2010 by the University of Texas Press; all rights reserved. I am grateful to the journal editors and to the presses for permission to include revised versions here. I benefited enor- mously from a research fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust, which allowed me extended time and resources to conduct interviews and archi- val work. Heartfelt thanks to all the great interviewees, including Dick Anthony Williams, Michael Campus, Joel Freeman, Cliff Frazier, Jack Hill, Larry Cohen, Richard Heffner, and Sam Goldwyn Jr., and to the many archi- vists at U.S. research libraries who helped me find materials for the project. Many lovely colleagues in English and American studies at the Univer- sity of Manchester have helped make working life good and contributed to aspects of this project, including David Alderson, Naomi Baker, Anke Ber- nau, Dave Brown, Dani Caselli, Michelle Coghlan, Laura Doan, Andrew Fearnley, Douglas Field, Molly Geidel, Hal Gladfelder, Ben Harker, Maria Hyland, David Matthews, Monica Pearl, Ian Scott, Jackie Stacey, Anasta- sia Valassopoulos, and Natalie Zacek. Special thanks to my supportive department head and longtime friend Peter Knight. The most sustained intellectual support has come from Peter Krämer, who has read drafts of the whole book, pushed me to develop arguments, and offered great conversation along the way. I am fortunate to have a mentor and friend like Peter. Other close readers have helped develop the project. Brian Ward was a very astute reader of several early draft chapters, and gave me great reading suggestions; my colleague Molly Geidel has provided superb, full, provocative feedback at various stages; and Judy Smith emerged as a late, generous, incisive reader. Many thanks also to the meticulous film studies scholars Joshua Gulam and Pete Jones for research suggestions and proofing chapters. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS(cid:2)ix My friends have been a constant source of fun and warmth, including Anastasia Valassopoulos, Molly Geidel, Sue Attwood, Sam Hills, Sarah MacLachlan, Rachel Rich, David Yelland, and Bridget Byrne, whom I count on for laughs and advice. Special thanks to Jill Solomon, who has been a source of friendship and inspiration my whole adult life (as well as someone to stay with during numerous research visits to Los Angeles). Thanks to my lovely family, especially my mum, Noirin, and brothers, Eugene and Jere- miah Quinn, as well as to Trisha, Roisin, and Rory Quinn and to Kath Jones, Mary Curtis, and Monika Kalcsics. Thanks, in memory, to my wonderful dad, Victor Quinn. Special thanks to my partner, Steve Jones, who has cast an astute eye over the whole manuscript while remaining calm, funny, and loving, and to our beloved children, Sean and Des Jones.