The Beulah Show || a classic TV encore starring Hattie McDaniel
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... The Beulah Show || a
Sullivan Media Properties classic TV archive encore starring
Hattie McDaniel
The Beulah Show (
1952)
Rare episode of the forgotten 50's sitcom "The Beulah Show", The first sitcom to feature an
African American woman in the lead role.
Starring Hattie McDaniel, best known for her part in "
Gone With The Wind". Although the show ran for several seasons, only 7 episodes still exist, Making this the TV equivalent of a "Partially lost film".
Aired 12 August 1952.
Production Company:
Roland Reed Productions
Audio/
Visual:
Sound,
Black and White
Video source location: https://archive.org/details/The_Beulah_Show
It appalls me to think anyone today believes this was typical
American behavior in 1952. These upper class twits are bone idle and work shy. I'm sure they represent the way
Hollywood execs lived but as for the rest of us moving from the cities or the small towns to the suburbs, this bears NO resemblance to any sort of reality. Why
Beulah didn't go on strike, I'm sure I don't know. She surely could have. They were utterly helpless without her to baby them. They didn't even learn the lesson that they should lift a finger now and then around the house and show a bit of responsibility, just that they should give the gardener a raise. Wasn't THAT a nice lesson for their son!! I hope these useless idiots were the first up against the wall when the revolution came!
Hattie McDonald was a wonderful actress. I enjoy seeing anything she is in. While "The Beulah show" may now be considered racist sterotyping, I feel Hattie gave her character dignity and sweetness
.
....Wuz
Hazel Black..?...
Don't Worry Bout Hattie...Had A
Fine House In
L.A...Won A
Supreme Court Case To Live There...Had A Rolls With A
White Chauffeur
..!...Hattie's
Wish (She Died In 1952 Of
Breast Cancer) Was
To Be Buried At
Hollywood Memorial Park (Now
Hollywood Forever)...But
It Was A
Whites Only
Boneyard..But
The New Owner Has Put Up A Centograph There
Anyway..
It's scary how similar the programme and its racial views were to my upbringing in
South Africa in the
1980's. The whole issue of a white family with the black servants, the gardener (who we would have called the garden boy), Beulah bringing the food through to the dinner table etc... was almost like a flash back.
Does this show sort of reminds you of Hazel from
1961 ?
This was the first
American television series to feature a Black actress in the lead role. Like "
Amos and Andy" it started in
1950 and lasted one year longer than "Amos and Andy" until
1953. It is the only show that was really integrated. While the show may be considered racist for showing Beulah as a stereotypical maid in a white household, we should remember that this reflected a large part of society at the time. The show is funny and sweet once you get past the stereotypical premise.
I remember seeing the show in the afternoons on television. Since it went off the air in 1953, the year of my birth, I can only assume it was in reruns for a number of years afterwards.
I'm sorry to hear that most of episodes have been lost. They definitely have historical value as the only show to center around a black female character in the 1950's. There was not another television series with a black female character in the lead until "
Julia" in
1968.
"
Beaulah" was a spin-off character from the "
Fibber McGee and Molly" radio program which you can find elsewhere here. What most peop[le don't know is that, on radio, the voice of Beaulah was actually supplied by
Marlon Hurt---a white
GUY. (You know now why you hear the gasps of laughter from the radio audience when Beaulah first begins to speak, don'tcha? Marlon had a habit of standing with his back to the microphone (and the audience) until he had to deliver his first line. I give it three stars for its historical value as a
TV show.
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