Citation:

Crowther, Bosley. "'Casablanca' With Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman." New York Times 27 November 1942.

This is the original film review from the New York Times written on November 27, 1942 after the film’s release.  This review, unlike the myriad of reviews on the films, gives the unique perspective of an erudite audience of that specific time period.  The reviewer not only heralds the film as one of the greatest of all times, but remarks about its unique story and subtle tendencies.  He demonstrates how Warner uses the action-packed thrill of the setting to enhance the romantic overtone to the film.  Most importantly, the author describes how the film contained a strong political message.  He writes that the film “inject[ed] a cold point of tough resistance to evil forces afoot in Europe today”.  With this statement, it is apparent that the film was viewed as a propagandistic tool of the war effort.  Its antifascist undertone and subliminal support for aiding the European cause against the Nazis is clearly demonstrated and understood at the time.  This further shows how the film was viewed not only as a great romantic drama film, but also a powerful piece of propaganda that influenced its audiences.

Candy, Vincent. "Sweetback': Does It Exploit Injustice :' It's a Funny Old World'. " New York Times (1857-Current file) [New York, N.Y.] 9 May 1971,D1. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2004). ProQuest. University of Pennsylvania Library, Philadelphia, PA. 9 Apr. 2008 .

Candy describes a scene from the movie where a “jaunty black shoeshine man polishes the shoe of his white customer by riding it with the seat of his pants…the white man knows he’s beign made a fool of, and yet his shoes are being shined.” By mocking the white man and himself, Candy argues that the shoeshine main maintains a “franchise on his own sovereign independce.” The film Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song however, is about a black man not content with wearing a "darky grin" while engaging in subservient role-playing.

After describing the basic elements of the plot – Sweetback kills two cops and goes on a run to escape to the Mexican border - Candy describes this journey as intolerable not only due to Sweetback’s hardships along the way (including a run-in with some not-so-friendly Hells' Angels), but also due to the “visual style that substitutes film school technical complexities…for dramatic content.” The visual style of montages, wipes, and effects that would become a staple of the blaxploitation films to follow help disorient the viewer from fully immersing themselves into the scene.  However, Candy is so disoriented by it that it undermines the rest of the film for him.

While this is a scathing review of what is now seen as a revolutionary independent low-budget film, it is not without its merits. Ultimately, Candy is comparing Van Peebles, not his character “Sweetback”, to the shoeshine man, performing this dance that somehow liberates himself while playing off the negative stereotypes that have plagued his race in America for hundreds of years. Given the fact that this review was made immediately following the film, while America was still entrenched in racial tensions, his non-flattering assessment is both sensible and understandable. However, by reducing Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song to such simple and absolute terms, Candy is ignoring the more important historical context of this film, a context that can perhaps only be realized through the power of hindsight.