While Thousands Cheer
{{Infobox film
| director = Leo C. Popkin
| producer = Sara Francis
Harry M. Popkin
Clifford Sanforth
| writer = Joseph O'Donnell
| cinematography = Marcel Le Picard
Herman Schopp
| editing = Martin G. Cohn
| distributor = Million Dollar Productions
| country = USA
| language = English
}}
While Thousands Cheer is a lost American film released in 1940.{{cite news |title=Kenny Washington in All-Race Pix at Walker Sun |url=https://newspapers.library.in.gov/?a=d&d=INR19401102-01.1.12&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |access-date=27 October 2020 |work=Indianapolis Recorder |date=2 November 1940 |page=12 |via=newspapers.library.in.gov}} Leo C. Popkin directed.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/555587/while-thousands-cheer#credits|title=While Thousands Cheer (1940) - Full Credits - TCM.com|website=Turner Classic Movies}} It was the only football-themed film with an African American lead character for decades.{{Cite book|last1=Zhang|first1=James J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W0-QDwAAQBAJ&q=%22while+thousands+cheer%22+1940+film&pg=PA2072|title=Globalized Sport Management in Diverse Cultural Contexts|last2=Pitts|first2=Brenda G.|date=April 5, 2019|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9780429559372|via=Google Books}} It starred Kenny Washington, a football star from UCLA who went on to become the first African American in the NFL after initially being refused an opportunity to play in the league due to segregation.{{Cite web|url=https://slate.com/culture/2021/12/kenny-washington-nfl-color-barrier-rams-jackie-robinson-football-history.html|title=The NFL Had a Ban on Black Players. Why Don't We Remember the Man Who Broke It?|first=Joshua|last=Neuman|date=December 20, 2021|website=Slate Magazine}}
Plot
The film is a football melodrama. The plot was said to be based on true stories about gambling and corruption in football at a specific Black college.{{cite news|last1=Jones|first1=Lucius "Melancholy"|date=23 September 1940|title=Kenny Washington, UCLA All-American, Proves Great Actor In 'Million Dollar' Film Hit, "While Thousands Cheer"|page=5|work=Atlanta Daily World|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/490626511|access-date=27 October 2020|id={{ProQuest|490626511}}}} The story follows a star football player and his brother as they get involved with, and later break up, a gambling ring's attempting to "fix" a college game.{{cite book|last1=Sampson|first1=Henry T.|url=https://archive.org/details/blacksinblackwhi0000samp/page/434/mode/2up|title=Blacks in Black and White: A Source Book on Black Films|date=1995|publisher=Scarecrow press|isbn=0-8108-2605-4|pages=435–436}}
Cast
The film featured a mostly African American cast, including UCLA football star Kenny Washington, who was denied entry to the segregated NFL for several years.{{Cite web|title=Lobby card from the Hollywood film While Thousands Cheer | Picture This|url=http://picturethis.museumca.org/pictures/lobby-card-hollywood-film-iwhile-thousands-cheeri|website=picturethis.museumca.org}}{{cite news|last1=Bowen|first1=Fred|date=12 February 2018|title=Kenny Washington paved way for black players in pro football|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/kenny-washington-paved-way-for-black-players-in-nfl/2014/02/19/063ad55e-98c2-11e3-80ac-63a8ba7f7942_story.html|access-date=27 October 2020}} The film was Washington's first movie role.{{cite news|date=26 October 1940|title=Kenny Washington, Former UCLA Football Star, Makes Harlem Film Debut, Thursday|page=4|work=The New York Age|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61950793/while-thousands-cheer/|access-date=27 October 2020}} Jeni Le Gon played the leading actress.
- Kenny Washington as Kenny Harrington
- Mantan Moreland as Nash
- Pete Webster as Downey
- Jeni Le Gon as Myra
- Reginald Fenderson as Phil Harrington
- Lawrence Criner as Green
- Monte Hawley as Johnson
- Florence O'Brien as Daisy
- Ida Belle Kauffin as Rose
- Bud Harris as Coach Harding
- Earl Hall as Jerry Stevens
- John Thomas as Jack Saunders/Spike
- Reginald Anderson as Umpire
- Jack Spears as Referee
- Alfred Grant as Radio announcer
- Edward Thompson (actor) as Ransom
Production
The film was produced by Clifford Sanforth and Million Dollar Pictures. The premiere date was moved back due to requests from theatre managers that the film be released around the same time as other football films, to "get the minds of the public on football" and increase attendance at the theatres.{{cite news|last1=Levette|first1=Harry|date=15 June 1940|title=Its Football Kenny Again|page=20|work=The Chicago Defender (National Edition)|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/492559701|access-date=27 October 2020|id={{ProQuest|492559701}}}}
Reception
The film was praised in a review by the Hollywood Daily Variety.{{cite news |title=Hollywood Variety Praises "While Thousands Cheer" |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/567511432 |access-date=27 October 2020 |work=New Journal and Guide |date=November 30, 1940 |page=19|id={{ProQuest|567511432}} }} The Cleveland Call and Post called it "one of the most exciting, interest holding pictures ever filmed to entertain the young and old, male and female, of all races."{{cite news |title=Kenny Washington in Dynamic Action Film |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/184157885 |access-date=27 October 2020 |work=Cleveland Call and Post |date=3 January 1948 |page=7B|id={{ProQuest|184157885}} }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://collections.museumca.org/?q=list/taxonomy/term/17624&page= Items related to While Thousands Cheer] in the collection of the Oakland Museum of California
Category:American football films
Category:American sports drama films
Category:Lost American drama films
Category:Lost sports drama films
Category:1940s sports drama films