Part 3, The Shadow and the Act, Section 2 Summary and Analysis

"The Shadow and the Act" (published 1949). This essay uses analysis of four Hollywood films, each with race relations as their narrative focus, as the basis for a discussion of the way film echoes the general, and ongoing, racial tension in America. It begins with a detailed plot summary of the filmic adaptation of William Faulkner's novel Intruder in the Dust, the story of a young racist white boy coming to respect the older black man who saves his life. The author clearly views the film as a "remarkable" step forward, and uses it as the touchstone for comparison with several other films. The first of these is The Birth of a Nation, a silent film directed by one of the greatest and most innovative film directors of all time...