AllMovie

In the early days of cinema, characters were broadly sketched. Villains sported dark circles under their eyes and ingénues wore wide-eyed looks of innocence. Unfortunately, ethnic stereotypes prevailed just as strongly. Especially biased were the portrayals of people of color. The That's Black Entertainment series documents the role of African-Americans in film, from the emergence of race movies to the beginning of talkies. In That's Black Entertainment: Race Movies -- The Early History of Black Cinema, blacks in the infant years of the motion-picture industry are examined. The video also includes three short films starring black actors from the era.