Black performers have appeared in Hollywood films for as long as motion pictures have been produced. In the early years the employment of black actors was rare, and when featured roles came along where a black player was required, the film's producers frequently hired a white actor and let him (or her) portray the part daubed with burnt cork. This book is the record of progress of the black artist from those early films to the 1970s, when some of the artists became major stars and many films were devoted exclusively to black themes. This volume offers a cross-section of the forward movement of the black actor through three-quarters of a century of Hollywood films the author regards as best exemplifying this progress.