Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 64

Tempo 6 Section 5 Chicago Tribune, Thursday, September 18, 1997 CN Screens Folk art or racial stereotypes? VIDEO CHARTS Vintage films remain problematic frauds, deceptions and jealousies among characters with such colorful names as Florian Slappy and Permanent Williams. But, said Thomas Cripps, author of "Slow Fade to. Black: The Negro in American Film, 1900-1942," "What was burlesque in 1929 has become a piece of folk art in 1997. It's a benchmark to show how far we've come." These films, historians added, are also worthy of study as rare film records that rescue from obscurity then-celebrated black actors who were for the most part not allowed a shot at Hollywood studio films. To order "Birmingham Black Bottom" call 800-4971043.

(The "African-American Film Heritage" collection of vintage race films is available from Facets Multimedia, 312-281-9075.) ON VIDEO "Birmingham Black Bottom" Ralph Fiennesand Kristin Scott Thomas in the award-winning "The English Patient." Sept. 18-24 new releases By Donald Liebenson Special to the Tribune The controversy surrounding the re-emergence of "Amos and Andy" was rendered moot recently when CBS, which owns the 1950s TV comedy series, blocked its video distribution. Meanwhile, Shanachie. Home Video has released "Birmingham Black Bottom," a compilation of the first all-black-cast sound films that feature the man who would portray Andy Brown on TV, Spencer Williams. The four vintage shorts that comprise "Birmingham" are as problematic as "Amos and Andy" in their presentation of racial stereotypes.

But they are "found history," according to Henry Sampson, author of "Blacks in Black and White: A Source Book on Black Films." Originally released by Paramount, these musical comedies are to be distinguished from the so-called race films that were produced in the 1930s and '40s mostly by blacks for black audiences. They were exhibited to white audiences. The producer, Al Christie, was white, as was Octavus Roy Cohen, who wrote the "Darktown Birmingham" stories a longtime feature in the Saturday Evening Post upon which these shorts were based. "Music Hath Harms," "The Melancholy Dame," "Framing of the Shrew" and "Oft in the Silly Night" all contain the kind of broadly comic racial caricatures and exaggerated dialect that in the 1960s led the NAACP to campaign to have "Amos and Andy" pulled from syndication. The plots revolve around ON THE NET A site for sore Ts People of letters beware By Anne Mcllree Special to the Tribune The Web is an easy place for any group to proclaim its alliance to a variety of causes no matter how silly.

One such Web page belongs to The Society for the Removal of the Letter from the English Language. Seriously. The society's site consists of one page touting the cause and a second for comments. The site's designers center their cause on a legend of a man who wanted to learn English. He decided the language was being plagued by the letter P.

it seemed, was disguising itself as other letters for example, and on occasion, the letter V. Examples include "Stephen" and "phony." Haven't heard enough? Go to www.netrover.com3mta3 mainpage.html. Reviews by Michael Wilmington (release dates are subject to change) The English Patient Last year's multi-Oscar-winner adapted with I great feeling and detail by Anthony Minghella from Michael Ondaatje's complex novel is a throwback to the outwardly polished, inwardly seething David Lean romances of generations ago. As a hideously disfigured patient in a World War II Italian villa recalls an excruciating tragedy of love and war, the high-style photography and cast (Ralph Fiennes, Kristin Scott Thomas, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafbe) drench us In literate drama and emotion. (Buena Vista Home Video) Some Mother's Son This neglected but very powerful Irish film from writer-director Terry George portrays the tragic consequences of IRA prisoners' hunger strike with dramatic restraint and deep compassion.

As two of the strikers' mothers, Helen Mirren and Fionnula Flanagan are both superb. (Warner Home Video) Warriors of Virtue Suburban kid adventurer enters dream-world of evil villains and heroic kangaroos. A weird mix of Hollywood children's fantasy and Hong Kong action (from "Bride with White Hair" director Ronny Yu). Better shot than most movies of Its type and sometimes fun. (MGMUA Home Video) PO Also available this week )faf riiirLiuiiMiiiiniimri -iwrrrr mm Commandments (MCAUniversal Home Video) Selena PG (Warner Home Video) Fun no MPAA rating (Spectrum Entertainment) PlayStation's Final Fantasy VII may be the last word in RPG gaming Upcoming If you have ever enjoyed RPG gaming, you'll go bughouse nuts over Final Fantasy VU'(for ages 8 and up).

We'll be back in coming weeks with tons of info on what just may be the deepest most complex game ever. As 11-year-old Jonathan put it, "If the first few Final Fantasies were legendary, then this one is Holyl" Just go ahead and buy this thing. It gets our absolute strongest action sequences; it's everything you dreamed of and more. A few months back, there were rumors that Squaresoft was in trouble, since its relationship with Nintendo had ended. What no one knew was that Squaresoft was the one to break the chain, not the Big N.

And the reason it broke that chain was the company's belief, now proven, that the PlayStation could do more with RPGs than the N64. VIDEO GAMES "Final Fantasy VII" have a hard time convincing PlayStation RPG fans of that. This is the greatest RPG ever. It's huge, it's exciting, there are tons of weapons and characters and magical spells, unbelievable graphics, incredible Oct 14: Breakdown The Whole Wide World Oct 21: Twin Town The Sixth Man Oct 28: The Fifth Element Jingle All the Way Nov. 4: The Lost World: Jurassic Park Romy Michele's High School Reunion Compiled by Heather M.

Lajewskl By Chip and Jonathan Carter Tribune Media Services Are you looking for a fantasy? Hey, we've got one for you. And N64 fans, we've got something pretty fantastic for you as well: "Final Fantasy VII," for PlayStation: The release of this game might not be the most important event since the invention of the wheel, but you'd rviiTi idioiuii ninroi idioilii 0 V1ITOI IDIOUI MITSUBISHI MITSUBISHI FLOWER BUCKET I Hm 4 i Enjoy the Being the Bis Screen finest picture quality of any Company gives Mitsubishi the edge to make its regular TVs superior to the competition. This 27" model offers Mitsubishi's legendary, and patented Diamond Vision technology which improves picture quality and life expectancy. Some features include: integrated VCR remote, AV memory by input, which provides custom picture and sound settings for antenna and video inputs, stereo sound and much more. (HWD) 22 34 25 12 18 12 Model CS27205.

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