Ford At Fox Collection: John Ford's Classic American Comedies DVD Set (Steamboat Around the Bend, Judge Priest, Doctor Bull, When Willie Comes Marching Home, Up the River, What Price Glory) - Perfect for Movie Collectors and Classic Film Enthusiasts

I skipped this when it came out, not realizing that it contained two of Lincoln Perry's performances, as Stepin Fetchit. Perry was one of the most brilliant comics of his time, and has been unfairly maligned because of a cultural misinterpretation of his great creation, Stepin Fetchit. Perry was thoughtful and articulate, but his Fetchit character, based on someone Perry judged to be the world's laziest man, was a comic exaggeration taken to surreal levels. Basically, Perry, billed as Stepin Fetchit, played the same character in every film. It's a knife-edge gag, however, because it can be taken as a demeaning stereotype of African-Americans or, as Perry intended, a lovable comic foil he could mine for surprising and clever comic bits. It made him an inveterate scene-stealer, acknowledged as such by some of Hollywood's leading actors, and it is remarkable to watch him interact with Will Rogers. Perry said he and Rogers would just get a sense of the script and then cut loose during the take. There are some cringe-inducing moments when that comedy teeters onto the wrong side of the knife (due mostly to the scripts), but Black audiences of the 30s understood the gag and rejected the idea of a stereotype. They could appreciate the comic genius of Perry's exaggerations; the more popular his movies, the more popular he became with live audiences on the Black theater circuit. It's nice to be able to see Perry's performances intact, especially in Judge Priest, one of his most extended roles. Interestingly, Perry was under studio contract, not a rogue comic hired for specific roles, and had mid-level billing (in the cast card, the leads were in large letters, the studio regulars in medium letters, and, lastly, the minor characters in small letters). However, he and Hattie McDaniel, in medium letters, were listed at the end of the cast card - the back of the bus, you might say. It helps a lot to read Mel Watkins biography of Perry, titled STEPIN FETCHIT, to put Perry's work into perspective.