A few months ago, I was asked by Beth Ann Gallagher (@missbethg on Twitter) if I'd like to participate in the #lusoworldcinemablogathon she was hosting, spotlighting Lusophones in cinema, be it classic or modern. Stressing, Lusos are "hungry for representation," allowing the subject to broaden to films or actors outside of Portugal itself to include actors who may not be of 100% Lusophone heritage. Which brought me to … The Horne. Whose lineage stretches across a variation of races:
"I came from what was called one of the First Families of Brooklyn," Horne explained. They shunned discussing the slave ancestry that had spawned them all--"yet it was the rape of slave women by their masters which accounted for our white blood, which in turn, made us Negro 'society.'" (STORMY WEATHER: THE LIFE OF LENA HORNE)
… from her grandmother Cora Calhoun-Horne and her grandmother's sister Lena (yes, Lena, too), who both "had more white blood than black," a grandfather, Edwin Horne, Cora's husband, of a white Englishman and a Native-American mother, to Lena's own mother Edna Scottron-Horne, of a Native American mother and … a Portuguese "Negro" inventor, (for "The Mystery of Samuel R. Scottron" and Cyrus L. Scottron, including the difference between what the actual genealogy records show of Lena Horne's great-grandfather vs. what Miss Horne was led to believe about her family tree, see The Campbell House Museum).
"I came from what was called one of the First Families of Brooklyn," Horne explained. They shunned discussing the slave ancestry that had spawned them all--"yet it was the rape of slave women by their masters which accounted for our white blood, which in turn, made us Negro 'society.'" (STORMY WEATHER: THE LIFE OF LENA HORNE)
… from her grandmother Cora Calhoun-Horne and her grandmother's sister Lena (yes, Lena, too), who both "had more white blood than black," a grandfather, Edwin Horne, Cora's husband, of a white Englishman and a Native-American mother, to Lena's own mother Edna Scottron-Horne, of a Native American mother and … a Portuguese "Negro" inventor, (for "The Mystery of Samuel R. Scottron" and Cyrus L. Scottron, including the difference between what the actual genealogy records show of Lena Horne's great-grandfather vs. what Miss Horne was led to believe about her family tree, see The Campbell House Museum).
Let me start by saying, I'm not setting out to write a piece as a biography on Lena Horne. This isn't a bio blog. There's too many other places to go for that, including from the source herself in her autobio STORMY WEATHER: THE LIFE OF LENA HORNE.
By now, you know, when I do a piece, a CINEMA COFFEE piece, it has some sort of a connection to my Mom, no matter how big or small (in case you're new to my blog pieces: read IT NEVER ENDS).
This piece, this decision to write about The Horne was no different. I chose Miss Horne, not because of her popularity amongst Classic Film fans, but her connection and impact to not only today's audiences, but, to audiences across the board, past, present and future.
If you took a detour to my 1st blog piece in the link above, you'll see there were a lot of Classic Cinema actors/actresses I grew up knowing, unconsciously to either one of us, because of my Mom. Because she liked Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Dorothy Dandridge, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford … Lena Horne. It was actors like Liz and Lena I'd hear my Mom talk about whenever they'd appear on the telly and wonder, what's "so special" about her? I know what you're going to say, but let me explain what I mean by that. To know my Mom is to know for something to catch her eye, her attention, it had to be special. There had to be something to it. She was a self taught oil painter, a licensed beautician, a home decorator, and if something caught her attention to the point of notice, it had to be an … attraction to it.
Lena was such an attraction.
This piece, this decision to write about The Horne was no different. I chose Miss Horne, not because of her popularity amongst Classic Film fans, but her connection and impact to not only today's audiences, but, to audiences across the board, past, present and future.
If you took a detour to my 1st blog piece in the link above, you'll see there were a lot of Classic Cinema actors/actresses I grew up knowing, unconsciously to either one of us, because of my Mom. Because she liked Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Dorothy Dandridge, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford … Lena Horne. It was actors like Liz and Lena I'd hear my Mom talk about whenever they'd appear on the telly and wonder, what's "so special" about her? I know what you're going to say, but let me explain what I mean by that. To know my Mom is to know for something to catch her eye, her attention, it had to be special. There had to be something to it. She was a self taught oil painter, a licensed beautician, a home decorator, and if something caught her attention to the point of notice, it had to be an … attraction to it.
Lena was such an attraction.
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As Lena would tell of her background since the beginning, raised in a family of teachers, activists, a Harlem Renaissance Poet, a Dean of a Black college, a grandmother, Cora Calhoun, who was a college graduate, a mother who was an [struggling] actress in a touring troupe and a father described as "a street hustler," who "lived high on the hog, had fine clothes and fancy cars, never went to jail, and eventually owned a hotel and restaurant," you have to think that somewhere down the road of your life, it's going to lead somewhere, even if your grandmother nor own mother wanted you in show business. And yet, I'm not sure Miss Horne would've thought so to start out with:
"Why am I here? … My kid left, my father left, my husband left, Billy left--why am I still here?" To get to that road that lead somewhere seemed to be an ongoing uphill battle during the course of Lena's life. A qualified example of such a harsh upbringing, with instability in her position in life with not only her coloring in constant comparison to others, her unstable relationship with her father and mother, bouncing from home to home, leaving her afraid to create any bonds with anyone, for fear of knowing it was only going to be a matter of time before she was moved and placed with someone else, in someone else's care while her mother was away, that it mapped out the entire course of her personal life. The cause of why she admittedly would say in her later years, she never talked to anyone, she kept to herself for the most part, which may have led many to think she was "stuck-up," only to find when they did talk to her, nothing could be further from the truth. It was just an effect from her childhood that followed her through the course of her life. One she was aware of and tried to break past. |
"I was never able to enjoy this damned thing. It was always a hassle. A fight." |
Not to get any more biographical than that, I have to say The Horne, a native New Yorker, born June 30th, 1917, who learned to read before kindergarten (becoming an avid reader in real life) at two years old, became a "cover girl" for the NAACP branch Bulletin as one of the youngest members.
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You might say that's what started it all, although, whether The Horne liked it or not, the stage, I believe, chose her, more than she chose it, as she made her "acting" debut in 1921 during her mother's performance with (and as one of) the Lafayette Players, in MADAME X at the "America's Leading Colored Theatre."
"In a way she's not black. In a way she's universal." |
There's a lot to be said about such a comment ("In a way she's not black. In a way she's universal."). In such a connecting way, and yes, in such a universal way, Lena belongs to us all. Black, White, Indian … Lusophone. And every race and nationality in between. And yet, she was never able to really use that universal connection onscreen during her contract days at M-G-M, wanting to be an actress, only instead realizing she'd have to use all her training and focus on becoming a singer, to really only be used in A-List pictures as a "featured singing act," at times alone or accompanied with Hazel Scott or The Berry Brothers, precisely placed so that it could be easily cut out when shown in Southern states, PANAMA HATTIE (1942), BROADWAY RHYTHM (1944), I DOOD IT (1943), the list goes on.
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The closest she came to being seen as an actress outside of all Black Cast films (her film debut) THE DUKE IS TOPS (1938), CABIN IN THE SKY (1938) (with a bathtub scene still cut out of the picture for fear of being seen as too "racy," Miss Horne being a woman of color), and STORMY WEATHER (1943), color notwithstanding (and yet, still with reservations), IMO, is as Richard Widmark's love interest and leading lady in DEATH OF A GUNFIGHTER (1969), directed by "Alan Smithee" (in my Joel McCrea voice, "that's a different plot entirely."). Regardless of its rating and its critical reviews, it's a film I always include in cinema topic of discussion as a sincere recommendation.
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In DOAG, we get Miss Horne as "Claire Quintana," head of a brothel and girlfriend/fiancée of Richard Widmark, whom (no spoiler alert, I don't do spoilers, it's pretty clear of his intentions toward "Claire" during their first encounter onscreen) he intends to marry. But, this isn't the plot of the film, and never is the race difference mentioned, a subject, or thought of as anything "wrong." Something I found refreshing when I stumbled upon this film some years ago, pleasantly surprised that not only were two of my faves in a film together and no one told me about it, but they were also love interests and it wasn't a thing. Even at my age, coming into the world, films with interracial couples seem to always be a part of the storyline, the plot point of the matter, even when the story itself could've worked well, if not better, without it being ... "a thing" at all. Unless that is the actual basis of the film, be it fiction or non-fictional, or true story subject, in today's time, it's not something we should have to "get out of the way" at the beginning of the film, "mention it once" and keep going, it should be "it is what it is," like THE WORDS (2012), now, (as TCM would say) #LetsMovie. And still, I'm always waiting for it to show up in a film with an interracial couple. Which is where I found myself while watching DOAG with Widmark and The Horne. For me, it made the movie all the more better that, though I was holding my breath for it, just as the "I'm free, white, and 21" bit (read my CINEMA COFFEE piece on THE UNIVITED (1944)), it never happened. It wasn't what the film was about.
Another avenue Miss Horne seemed to be able to use her talents as actress/singer, though not without its challenges, even having to fund her own travel to entertain black troops when M-G-M pulled her off their tour for voicing outage over black soldiers having to sit in the back behind German POWs, was radio, including a 1944 Old Time Radio episode of SUSPENSE (listen here), on the telly, appearing on and with Frank Sinatra in THE FRANK SINATRA TIMEX SHOW: TO THE LADIES, several times on PERRY COMO'S KRAFT MUSIC HALL, THE JUDY GARLAND SHOW, THE DEAN MARTIN SHOW, and so many others that's too long to list, but also … Broadway. Specifically I speak of The Horne opposite another one of my all time faves who didn't get the representation to play something outside of the "Latin Lover" box (though I love him in those, too) the studio system placed him in, with rare occasions getting films like BORDER INCIDENT (1949), MYSTERY STREET (1950), A LIFE IN THE BALANCE (1955) or even (one of my all time faves) BATTLEGROUND (1949), Ricardo Montalbán, in the 1957 production of JAMAICA.
I mean, can you imagine where The Horne could've gone, where so many women and men of color could've gone with their careers in the Golden Age of Hollywood should race, segregation, and division, because of the color of your skin, was never a factor?
For me, since I was a kid, largely due to my Mom, The Horne has always been a woman I've thought of as … "an attraction." Someone everyone should get to know, be aware of, and take time to seek out (for my notes and photos from my original Theatrical Production, which featured Lena Horne in the show, see THE CABARET SHOW). Not just because (or even because of) her beauty …
“Anybody who was not madly in love with Lena Horne should report to his undertaker immediately and turn himself in.”
-Ossie Davis
... there are a lot of beautiful people out in the world whom we may never get to see in person, who aren't "famous," but because of her power to resonate with people of all colors and races, who had a very diverse and colorful makeup and background, including her Luso heritage, in her own personal battles to fledge forward, in spite of everything that seemingly is set against you, using it to work for you, though we may not see it at the time and place it's all happening.
"I had no talent, all I had was looks."
--Lena Horne
Not sure if anyone will learn anything from my ongoing chat of The Horne, but, I sure hope you can see her triumph. Her diversity. Her spirit. Her endurance. For the Luso World Cinema Blogathon (and #ForMyMom) ... raising a mug 'o Joe in salute to ... The Horne.
For my other CINEMA COFFEE blog pieces: It Never Ends For my Marlon Brando Series: Hello, I'm Marlon Brando Twitter: @DominiqueRevue Instagram: @DominiqueRevue Giphy Channel: @DominiqueRevue YouTube: Dominique Revue Productions Vimeo: Dominique Revue Productions |
For my other CINEMA COFFEE blog pieces:
#ForMyMom Cinema Coffee ... | COFFEE CINEMA: Talking Streetcar | CINEMA COFFEE: "Et tu, Brute?" | CINEMA COFFEE: "La Chocolaterie" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Milk? I loathe milk!" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Elderberry Wine ..." | CINEMA COFFEE: "The choice I never had ..." | CINEMA COFFEE: "The smell of Mimosa" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Mighty like a Rose" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Don't cry on the rolls" | CINEMA COFFEE: "You're the first Kansas I ever met" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Everybody calls me Gracie" | CINEMA COFFEE: "What the devil are Belinskis?!" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Hello friends and enemies." | CINEMA COFFEE: "Stop remindin' me of heaven." | CINEMA COFFEE: "Even Gatsby could happen" | CINEMA COFFEE: "I made a wish" | CINEMA COFFEE: Audie Murphy | CINEMA COFFEE: Put The Blame on Mame | CINEMA COFFEE: "Just Singleton." | CINEMA COFFEE: "Where I Come From, Nobody Knows" | Film Therapy: Coping through Cinema | CINEMA COFFEE: Socks fall down | CINEMA COFFEE: "The moon's reaching for me" | CINEMA COFFEE: The Horne: Luso World Cinema Blogathon | CINEMA COFFEE: Aunt Bettye Lightsy | CINEMA COFFEE: I never lose | CINEMA COFFEE: "I have a mother!" | CINEMA COFFEE: THE SIGN OF GEMINI | CINEMA COFFEE: Venus Rising | CINEMA COFFEE: Stan vs Geek | CINEMA COFFEE: "Positively the same dame"
#ForMyMom Cinema Coffee ... | COFFEE CINEMA: Talking Streetcar | CINEMA COFFEE: "Et tu, Brute?" | CINEMA COFFEE: "La Chocolaterie" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Milk? I loathe milk!" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Elderberry Wine ..." | CINEMA COFFEE: "The choice I never had ..." | CINEMA COFFEE: "The smell of Mimosa" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Mighty like a Rose" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Don't cry on the rolls" | CINEMA COFFEE: "You're the first Kansas I ever met" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Everybody calls me Gracie" | CINEMA COFFEE: "What the devil are Belinskis?!" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Hello friends and enemies." | CINEMA COFFEE: "Stop remindin' me of heaven." | CINEMA COFFEE: "Even Gatsby could happen" | CINEMA COFFEE: "I made a wish" | CINEMA COFFEE: Audie Murphy | CINEMA COFFEE: Put The Blame on Mame | CINEMA COFFEE: "Just Singleton." | CINEMA COFFEE: "Where I Come From, Nobody Knows" | Film Therapy: Coping through Cinema | CINEMA COFFEE: Socks fall down | CINEMA COFFEE: "The moon's reaching for me" | CINEMA COFFEE: The Horne: Luso World Cinema Blogathon | CINEMA COFFEE: Aunt Bettye Lightsy | CINEMA COFFEE: I never lose | CINEMA COFFEE: "I have a mother!" | CINEMA COFFEE: THE SIGN OF GEMINI | CINEMA COFFEE: Venus Rising | CINEMA COFFEE: Stan vs Geek | CINEMA COFFEE: "Positively the same dame"