An educated, upscale young black musician marries a woman from a lower socioeconomic class to get her out of the clutches of her stepfather, who beats and abuses her. However, once he "saves... Read allAn educated, upscale young black musician marries a woman from a lower socioeconomic class to get her out of the clutches of her stepfather, who beats and abuses her. However, once he "saves" her, he won't let his new wife meet his mother, as he knows she will be angry and disapp... Read allAn educated, upscale young black musician marries a woman from a lower socioeconomic class to get her out of the clutches of her stepfather, who beats and abuses her. However, once he "saves" her, he won't let his new wife meet his mother, as he knows she will be angry and disappointed with him for marrying someone "below his station".
- Awards
- 1 nomination
- Lido Club Gambler
- (uncredited)
- Louise's Maid
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis movie was considered lost until the original nitrate print was discovered decades later.
- Quotes
Title Card: One half the world doesn't know how the other half lives.
- Alternate versionsThe Library of Congress Video Collection has a restored version of this film with a new piano score composed and performed by Philip Carli. Its running time is 76 minutes. A small missing section is summarized by an intertitle. Other restoration credits: Simmon, Scott ....... restoration producer Fleming, Dina T. .... restoration production co-ordinator McConnell, Allan .... restoration magnetic recording laboratory head Winther, James ...... restoration videotape transfer and editor Chrisman, Paul ...... restoration music recordist DeAnna, Gene ........ restoration titles
- ConnectionsFeatured in American Experience: Midnight Ramble (1994)
Like Micheaux's films, "The Scar of Shame" is a melodrama, but its singular focus on "uplift" to the exclusion of even the mention of race is in stark contrast to the African-American director's work. Being produced a few years later (sources differ on whether this one is from 1927 or 1929) and evidently with more financing and resources than Micheaux's surviving silents, "The Scar of Shame" does feature superior production values. Improvements in lighting, or the luxury of retakes and censors not ripping the nitrate to shreds, though, are at the expense of sophisticated storytelling, intriguingly complex plotting, greater relevance and an ideology that challenges rather than muddles. For all the technical limitations, I'll take a Micheaux silent over the glitz and classist commentary on class, or "caste," as its titles often put it, of "The Scar of Shame" any day.
That's not to say this film doesn't have more than superficial appeal. Just as a historical record and a glimpse into the depiction of class distinctions in black communities from the 1920s is interesting. Moreover, once the picture picks up, the melodramatics are sometimes amusingly unpredictable until the aggravating conclusion. I hate these old-timey melodrama contrivances that always sacrifice the poor woman (and always a woman, usually of lower class, and often marked by some physical deformity) to make way for a supposedly-happy resolution for the upper-class couple. The same thing annoys me when it happens in, say, a Mary Pickford vehicle such as "Stella Maris" (1918). Micheaux's silents, by contrast, are also remarkable for how advanced they are in the representation of sex, including female protagonists and heroines who rescued the men. You won't find that here. The hero rushes to rescue the damsel-in-distress three times, including once from little more than saving her from accepting a job, I guess. And a woman's scar, which is easily concealed with scarves, is described at one point as completely marring her beauty.
Additionally, if you thought Micheaux was overly didactic, try the hero here practically talking directly to the camera from the get go about uplifting the poors with "the finer things in life," which seems to consist largely of playing piano, a bit of reading and not abusing women. All fine things, indeed, even if every time "finer things" are mentioned I was reminded of the Finer Things Club from "The Office" TV series. It doesn't help that the lead male character here is quite pompous. "Oh! Our people have much to learn!," he bemoans as the picture has long since moved past pictures of Frederick Douglass hanging on the walls to a close-up of a copy of a "True Romance" book, and as the picture's silence on race seems to do little more than support another, more illusory caste system. Talk about mixed messages.
- Cineanalyst
- Feb 28, 2021
Details
- Runtime1 hour 8 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1