Much of the country right now is infused with passion for justice and social change after the on-screen killing of African-American citizen George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer. Among the many heightened thoughts this outrage put into my mind, I – being cinema and TV oriented – flashed on the depiction of police in films of the 30s, 40s and 50s. If you are a fan of film noir, you’re probably aware that the cops used to slap suspects around routinely if they wanted to, even just some person-of-interest whose home they were visiting for questioning. I’m sure the depiction was true-to-life. Before Miranda Rights, law enforcement was essentially unbridled. Police brutality, against any powerless common citizen suspected of anything, seems to have been taken for granted (though officials did make some effort to avoid censure – the stereotypical use of the “rubber hose,” for example, to beat information and “confessions” out of people in custody without leaving tell-tale scars). And as for people of color…fuggedaboutit! The black poulation barely existed cinematically before the 1960s; ever seen black extras in random crowd scenes in films made in the first half of the twentieth century?
Pictured above is an unfortunate John Payne in Kansas City Confidential (1952), suspected of robbery and being roughed up by an uncredited actor. Could be Brick Sullivan, Tom Greenway, Jack Shea, George Dockstader, or Tom Dillon, all of whom were active bit players in film and TV (or even Don House, whose career was pretty much limited to movies). Maybe I’ll take the time to do deeper research to find out who it is.
Maybe I will do that – after we have all taken some time to contribute whatever we each can to free ourselves from the pollution of racism, and the facilitation of racism, that still has a choke-hold on our society.
~ FW