Cravenomena

Time and politics play funny tricks on our cultural memory.

In this world, it is possible to be among the best-known stars of one generation — only to be completely forgotten by the next. If you doubt that, consider the case of Mantan Moreland.

Chances are, you have never heard of Moreland — unless you’re one of the handful of obsessive film fans who remember him as “Birmingham Brown,” playing opposite of Sidney Toler and Roland Winters in the CHARLIE CHAN potboilers of the ’40s.

Few today realize that, back then, Moreland was among the most recognized and beloved comics in Hollywood. In a period of less than 15 years at the height of his fame, Moreland appeared in over a hundred films. During the course of his career, he also recorded many albums, appeared as Estragon in an all-black staging of Beckett’s WAITING FOR GODOT, guest-starred on television series (including LOVE AMERICAN STYLE, ADAM-12 and THE BILL COSBY SHOW), and performed on both the vaudeville and nightclub circuits.

That Moreland is essentially forgotten today is doubly ironic, because he “soitenly” came close to immortality in a very unexpected way. If Moe Howard and Larry Fine had gotten their way, Mantan Moreland would have joined the Three Stooges.

Moreland was born more than a hundred years ago in Monroe, Louisiana. At an early age, he was exposed to black vaudeville theaters and the so-called “Chitlin’ Circuit” minstrel acts which performed therein, and he was soon enchanted. His show biz initiation came when he was 12, when he ran away from his home to join the Rabbit’s Foot Minstrels (which at that time also featured blues greats Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith) on the road. It was on the vaudeville — and later, Broadway — stage that Moreland’s gift for verbal wordplay became apparent and practiced. Moreland’s first film appearance came in 1938 when heavyweight boxer Joe Louis personally petitioned to include Moreland in the cast of his upcoming film, SPIRIT OF YOUTH.

Although there was a shatterproof glass ceiling for black performers in Hollywood in those years, and roles were limited to domestic servants and natives, Moreland’s success was notable, and he was soon in demand for comic relief roles.

In addition to his CHARLIE CHAN films, some of Moreland’s best-known movies include KING OF THE ZOMBIES (1941) and REVENGE OF THE ZOMBIES (1943), nowadays, available as a DVD two-fer from Roan Group Archival Entertainment; Vincent Minnelli’s all-black MGM musical CABIN IN THE SKY (1943), which found Moreland co-starring with Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Lena Horne, Ethel Waters and Rex Ingram, among others; and the crime thriller, THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. RX (1942).

It was in the latter that Moreland first met and worked with Shemp Howard, elder brother of Moe and Curly from the Three Stooges. Shemp was still several years away from having to step into the Stooge lineup for his ailing younger brother, Curly, and was a successful character actor in Hollywood. After performing a humorous scene with Moreland in THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. RX, Shemp was impressed by his co-star’s comic timing and continued to keep an eye on Moreland’s act in ensuing years. When Shemp inherited the Third Stooge mantle in the late ’40s, he mentioned to Moe and Larry that — should anything happen to him — they should consider Moreland for the position.

Moreland’s career began to falter in the ’50s. The times, as a young guy named Dylan would soon say, were a’changin’, and the Civil Rights movement had begun to blossom. Although the advances brought about by this movement were essential, there were innocent casualties in the war against racism, and Moreland’s career was one such casualty. In the early ’50s, he — along with several other black actors — was targeted by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People as “a demeaning stereotype,” because he had always played servant roles. That Hollywood offered black actors only such roles seems to have been overlooked in the N.A.A.C.P.’s declaration. Nevertheless, this publicity hurt Moreland’s standing with black audiences and white producers, and, by 1955, his star had faded considerably.

It was that year that Shemp Howard, now a card-carrying Stooge for the past eight years or so, hopped into a New York taxi after attending a boxing match, lit a cigar, and keeled over dead from a massive heart attack. The surviving Stooges faced a familiar crossroads. If the act was to continue, they would again need a new Third Stooge. And when it came time for that decision, Larry and Moe remembered the recommendation of their fallen comrade.

Over the past decade, Moe had also followed Moreland’s career and was especially impressed by the intricate wordplay routines which peppered his act, routines similar in nature and superb execution to Abbott and Costello’s classic “Who’s on First” act. Larry and Moe approached Moreland about the position, and he was enthusiastic.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Columbia Pictures. The Stooges’ request to make Moreland one of them would have smashed Hollywood’s glass ceiling in a manner that wasn’t to occur for another two decades. The studio demanded a white man, and they finally settled on Joe Besser.

Besser was an established comic who had made his name on radio, guest-starring on Jack Benny’s show among others, and Columbia had already featured him in a few shorts. But he was not an easy fit with Moe and Larry.

“We really should’a made Mantan our next third Stooge,” said Moe in a ’70s interview with Michael H. Price. According to Moe, Besser was “a hired hand, a prissy little snot with a star ego, who made it plain that he considered our stuff a demotion.” Besser only lasted two years with the act, before being replaced by Curly Joe DeRita in 1958.

What would have the Three Stooges been like as Larry, Moe and Mantan? Thanks to studio racism, the world will never know.

Moreland continued working in show biz, appearing pretty much anywhere that would have him. He plied the now dying vaudeville circuit again during the ’60s, and released several albums such as THAT AIN’T MY FINGER which — in the wake of Redd Foxx’s success — found him “working blue” for the first time in his career. He appeared in only a few films during the ’60s and ’70s, although two of them are now regarded as cult classics — Jack Hill’s beloved black comedy, SPIDER BABY (1964) and Melvin Van Peebles’ scathing WATERMELON MAN (1970). But roles were few and far between for a once-successful man who was now, by no dint of his own, a pariah. In his latter years, a series of strokes stole his ability to perform, and he finally passed away in September, 1973, shortly after appearing in his last film role in the exploitation title, THE YOUNG NURSES (1973).

Hopefully, future audiences will have a chance to rediscover and re-evaluate the underrated comic talent of Mantan Moreland. Spike Lee — who named Savion Glover’s character “Mantan” in his 2000 satire of black media roles, BAMBOOZLED — commented a few years ago on Moreland and other black actors of his time in an interview with the Bergen, New Jersey RECORD:

“I’m going to be honest. Ten years back, I thought Stepin Fetchit was an Uncle Tom. But I’ve evolved on this issue. I’m getting older, I’m becoming more mature, I’ve come to understand that unlike us today, they didn’t have a choice. And these guys were good artists. Mantan Moreland, that guy was funny.”