Black Bart

[james_davis_nicoll]

Because Harvey Korman just died, I rented Blazing Saddles. One of the extras was the pilot episode of Black Bart, which I had never seen before.

It wasn't good in a not-good way peculiar to the mid-1970s. It was interesting how they tried to stick as close to the characters from the film while at the same time removing anything even vaguely edgy or amusing from the characters. It was as devoid of actual humour content as you might wish, although it was still funnier than Black Fly, and the laugh track just highlighted how inept the writing was.

I note that the alcoholic Kid is now the alcoholic "Reb" Jordan, although they didn't make much of him having fought for the south, which since Black Bart is established as a former slave you'd think would come up in conversation now and then. Reb is played by Steve Landesberg, whose early pre-Dietrich choices of roles were not always the best (He was also in When Things Were Rotten).

Comments

[connactic.livejournal.com]

I did not see the pilot, but since the show was a Mel Brooks joint, could the character's name actually have been "Rebbe" Jordan? This could have led to a running gag where people assumed that he fought for the south, rather than just being the kosherest gun west of the Pecos.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

It's pretty clear he's an ex-Confederate and that the producers of the show have tried to erase everything of Brooks that they could.

Still, there's no particular reason he couldn't be a CSAer and Jewish. I don't think that in 197* that sort of character would attract the same extremely negative reaction I would expect today if a show had a Jewish slave-owner or who fought to preserve slavery.

[connactic.livejournal.com]

hmm- I wonder who would be more annoyed- Jewish groups, or far-right groups like the KKK, who probably don't want any Jews in their CSA.


Or have we rewritten history to the point where the KKK is now an offshoot of the left, like Fascism?

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

You know who Judah Benjamin was, right?

[connactic.livejournal.com]

Actually, until yesterday, I did not really think about Jews in the CSA, but I did to a google search on "confedrate Jews" and found out about Benjamin and others before posting the above comment. Because, even though there really were Jewish Confederates, I bet that they aren't often brought up at Klan meetings or recruitment drives :)

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

Except perhaps as scapegoats.

I have a faint memory of a Time article circa 1970 about the induction of the KKK's first Jewish member but don't ask me who he was or how long he stayed in the organization.

[beamjockey.livejournal.com]

Judah Benjamin is mentioned prominently in the stellar alternate-history documentary C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America.