RIP Harry Belafonte

[silverscreenselect]

Singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music in the 1950s. I saw him, Bil Withers, and Minnie Riperton perform at a fundraising concert for Andrew Young's Congressional campaign in 1972 and it was one of the best musical experiences of my life. He had a way of involving the audience in the lyrics of his calypso songs that few other performers ever managed.

Age 96.

https://variety.com/2023/music/news/har ... 235593910/

[jarnon]

I met Mr. Belafonte in 1970. (I went to the same high school as his kids.) I'm sorry I never heard him perform. What an awesome talent.

[silverscreenselect]

Belafonte made very few movies, some teamed up with Sidney Poitier, but two of his earlier films from 1959 are well worth checking out. In The World, the Flesh, and the Devil, Belafonte and Inger Stevens are apparently the only survivors of a nuclear war. They become close friends, but then Mel Ferrer shows up. The rivalry that arises has distinct racial overtones. In the same year, Belafonte made Odds Against Tomorrow, an excellent but relatively little known film noir. Belafonte and Robert Ryan are recruited to pull off a complicated robbery. Ryan's an out-and-out racist, so the animosity between them threatens the plan. The characterizations are a lot more complex than usual in this type of movie (it was directed by Robert Wise). Both films have surprisingly complex depictions of racial relations in that era.

My guess is that one or both of these movies will soon show up in rotation on TCM, which usually highlights recently deceased actors.

[franktangredi]

The Belafonte film most likely to show up is Carmen Jones. It's already in the rotation fairly often.

Belafonte made very few movies, some teamed up with Sidney Poitier, but two of his earlier films from 1959 are well worth checking out. In The World, the Flesh, and the Devil, Belafonte and Inger Stevens are apparently the only survivors of a nuclear war. They become close friends, but then Mel Ferrer shows up. The rivalry that arises has distinct racial overtones. In the same year, Belafonte made Odds Against Tomorrow, an excellent but relatively little known film noir. Belafonte and Robert Ryan are recruited to pull off a complicated robbery. Ryan's an out-and-out racist, so the animosity between them threatens the plan. The characterizations are a lot more complex than usual in this type of movie (it was directed by Robert Wise). Both films have surprisingly complex depictions of racial relations in that era.

My guess is that one or both of these movies will soon show up in rotation on TCM, which usually highlights recently deceased actors.