Cinema trailblazer and icon Harry Belafonte is known for his prowess as a singer, actor, film producer and humanitarian. His film “Odds Against Tomorrow,” which he produced and had a starring role, was featured Saturday at NOIR CITY: CHICAGO at the Music
Cinema trailblazer and icon Harry Belafonte is known for his prowess as a singer, actor, film producer and humanitarian. His film "Odds Against Tomorrow," which he produced and had a starring role, was featured Saturday at NOIR CITY: CHICAGO at the Music Box, A Celebration of Classic Hollywood Film Noirs. Belafonte was a special guest at the screening of his film, a 1959 production about a bank heist foiled by the racism of two of its participants. He recently spoke with the Chicago Defender about how the film came about and the current work he says is the “biggest project” of his life.
Chicago Defender: How did you become involved with the NOIR CITY film event?
Harry Belafonte: I was in a place minding my own business when this person walked up to me and said, "You could do in my community a great service," and I said what community and what is this service? He told me about the NOIR festival in Chicago and asked if I would come…I love Chicago and any excuse to come there, I’ll take in a minute. Also, it was a NOIR film festival, which has to do with culture alike. And then the fact that it was my picture and a picture that has meant a lot to my life, there was no reason to say no.
CD: You produced one of the feature films shown, titled "Odds Against Tomorrow." How did that picture come about?
HB: I created a company called Harbel. I created it because I felt that in the Black community of culture, we were most barren in the display of ownership and in the display of control over choice, and we needed to create engines that would develop the capacity to take this problem in the Black community, to be challenged by it and develop a methodology that would help us become more independent of the Hollywood system, perhaps even with the help of the Hollywood system, if you could find such benevolence. It was the first Black producing company since the earlier years of the great Black film historian and creator Oscar Micheaux. My first selection was "Odds Against Tomorrow." I was very fortunate to get the kind of cast, the kind of director and the kind of resources that were put into making this film.
CD: You can say the film is kind of controversial, especially for the time period in which it was made. When this film premiered how would you describe its reception?
HB: Some people loved it obviously. A lot of people didn’t because they felt it wasn’t the way Black people should look on the screen. Having this race conflict on the screen around a caper plot was for them quite alien. (Being made) conscious about social inequities was a harsh pill for them to swallow because they were not only being entertained, they were also being brought to the table of conscience. Most go to the movies to escape from social truth; you go to the movies to live in the world of the abstract, and great films don’t do that. Great films are quite the contrary. They make you think, they stimulate you. So that’s what we did, and since no Black producer had existed up until that moment, and nobody was setting out to make a “theme” picture that was rooted in the Black experience, it was quite an unusual thing for the audience. Even the critics were stumbled over themselves trying to find out how to define this movie because they themselves could not honorably deal with the issue of race. Technically it’s one of the best movies of the day.
CD: What do you think about films that are being made today, mainstream and independent?
HB: I think there’s a lot of good stuff going on, especially in the world of independent filmmaking. Not many delve into the Black experience because we don’t have enough Black filmmakers making films about the Black experience. The ones who are most qualified to comment on the Black experience aren’t making them…The Black experience has thousands of stories to be told, and you never repeat yourself. And when you extend that to the Blackness of Brazil, the Caribbean and Africa, you have a universe to talk about. But we’re still preoccupied with making sure that white people are entertained.
CD: You are legendary in American culture. How do you feel about being so influential all over the world?
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