# Holiday Inn's controversial scene has been removed by AMC **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 14, 2009, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-inns-controversial-scene-has-been-removed-by-amc/521190 "2009-12-14T05:06:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sticks_and_scones/32/16951_2.png) [@Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sticks_and_Scones)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-inns-controversial-scene-has-been-removed-by-amc/521190/1 "2009-12-14T05:06:18Z")
I’m referring to the scene where Jim and Linda perform in blackface in order to elude discovery by Ted. Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Amazingrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8edcca/32.png) [@Amazingrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazingrace)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-inns-controversial-scene-has-been-removed-by-amc/521190/2 "2009-12-14T05:12:43Z")
It was **definitely** there last year. I remember it clearly, because my mom purchased a bunch of movies for us to watch on Christmas–including Holiday Inn, which I had never seen before. My jaw dropped when I saw that scene. A couple of days later, flipping channels, what did I hear but, “Abraham!” I was very surprised to see that they still showed that scene on TV. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-inns-controversial-scene-has-been-removed-by-amc/521190/3 "2009-12-14T05:13:37Z")
It has been removed in a number of versions. Don’t blame AMC. > **[Holiday Inn (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holiday_Inn_(film))** > > Holiday Inn is a 1942 American musical film starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, with Marjorie Reynolds, Virginia Dale, and Walter Abel. It was directed by Mark Sandrich with music by Irving Berlin. The composer wrote twelve songs specifically for the film, the best known being "White Christmas". The film features a complete reuse of the song "Easter Parade", written by Berlin for the 1933 Broadway revue As Thousands Cheer and used as a highlight of the 1948 film Easter Parade, starring Ast ---
**Author:** ![Amazingrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8edcca/32.png) [@Amazingrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazingrace)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-inns-controversial-scene-has-been-removed-by-amc/521190/4 "2009-12-14T05:31:35Z")
After looking at that link, maybe I caught the TCM version last year. Oops. ---
**Author:** ![Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sticks_and_scones/32/16951_2.png) [@Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sticks_and_Scones)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-inns-controversial-scene-has-been-removed-by-amc/521190/5 "2009-12-14T05:34:31Z")
> [@Amazingrace](#): > > After looking at that link, maybe I caught the TCM version last year. Oops. Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-inns-controversial-scene-has-been-removed-by-amc/521190/6 "2009-12-14T05:45:03Z")
Now I’m thinking I better buy the DVD! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-inns-controversial-scene-has-been-removed-by-amc/521190/7 "2009-12-14T11:39:44Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > It has been removed in a number of versions. Don’t blame AMC. > > [Holiday Inn (film) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holiday_Inn_(film)) > **[Holiday Inn (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holiday_Inn_(film))** > > Holiday Inn is a 1942 American Christmas musical and comedy-drama film starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, with Marjorie Reynolds, Virginia Dale, and Walter Abel. It was directed by Mark Sandrich with music by Irving Berlin. The composer wrote twelve songs specifically for the film, the best known being "White Christmas". The film features a complete reuse of the song "Easter Parade", written by Berlin for the 1933 Broadway revue As Thousands Cheer and used as a highlight of the 1948 film E... Fixed the link. You didn’t close the parentheses around the word “film” inside the tag. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-inns-controversial-scene-has-been-removed-by-amc/521190/8 "2009-12-14T12:30:29Z")
We recently bought the original Popeye cartoons, which came with a disclaimer (I’m paraphrasing), something like, “These cartoons contain stereotypes which were wrong then and are wrong now. However, to pretend they didn’t exist would be to deny the history of mistreatment, and fail to learn from the past.” Their wording was much better, but that was the gist. I thought that was the right way to handle it. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-inns-controversial-scene-has-been-removed-by-amc/521190/9 "2009-12-14T14:21:52Z")
Changing artifacts of the past that don’t reflect popular current thinking seems wrong to me. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-inns-controversial-scene-has-been-removed-by-amc/521190/10 "2009-12-14T14:28:52Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > We recently bought the original Popeye cartoons, which came with a disclaimer (I’m paraphrasing), something like, “These cartoons contain stereotypes which were wrong then and are wrong now. However, to pretend they didn’t exist would be to deny the history of mistreatment, and fail to learn from the past.” Their wording was much better, but that was the gist. I thought that was the right way to handle it. Disney has been doing the same thing with their release of a lot of the classic cartoon shorts. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-inns-controversial-scene-has-been-removed-by-amc/521190/11 "2009-12-14T14:32:17Z")
> [@Eutychus](#): > > Disney has been doing the same thing with their release of a lot of the classic cartoon shorts. Except _[Song of the South](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_the_South)_: > [@](#): > > The film has never been released in its entirety on home video in the USA because of content which Disney executives believe would be construed by some as racially insensitive towards blacks… ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-inns-controversial-scene-has-been-removed-by-amc/521190/12 "2009-12-14T14:37:15Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Except _[Song of the South](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_the_South)_: Which is why I included the caveat “shorts.” ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-inns-controversial-scene-has-been-removed-by-amc/521190/13 "2009-12-14T14:39:35Z")
> [@Eutychus](#): > > Which is why I included the caveat “shorts.” OK, but Disney has released parts (animated parts) of the movie, which kinda makes it into shorts. Don’t know if they include the disclaimer, but if they edit it carefully, they may not have to. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-inns-controversial-scene-has-been-removed-by-amc/521190/14 "2009-12-14T15:00:44Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > OK, but Disney has released parts (animated parts) of the movie, which kinda makes it into shorts. Don’t know if they include the disclaimer, but if they edit it carefully, they may not have to. Well, no, it doesn’t really. So, let me make it a bit clearer. Disney has been doing the same thing with their release of a lot of the classic cartoon shorts \*which they have not done with the feature films \*(i.e. Song of the South, Fantasia, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-inns-controversial-scene-has-been-removed-by-amc/521190/15 "2009-12-14T15:09:58Z")
> [@](#): > > You didn’t close the parentheses around the word “film” inside the tag. Probably not his fault. This happened to me when I simply copied the URL from the box and pasted it – and i made sure that I copied the entire URL. Some systems seem to want to “correct” things. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-inns-controversial-scene-has-been-removed-by-amc/521190/16 "2009-12-14T15:14:00Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Now I’m thinking I better buy the DVD! I bought the DVD for the first time a month ago and the black face scene wasn’t in there. I had never seen the movie before so I didn’t know anything was missing. I don’t understand why people feel the urge to cover up the past I think it’s important to see where we came from other wise a lot of things that happened in that context don’t make sense. I also worry about classic westerns disappearing due to their insensitivity to the Indians since some of them can’t be edited to make sense with out it. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-inns-controversial-scene-has-been-removed-by-amc/521190/17 "2009-12-14T16:15:09Z")
I can see why they do it, as long as you can buy the unedited DVD I don’t see a problem with it. It’s the same old thing. I recall a “Leave It To Beaver” episode where June fretts about the book “Tom Sawyer,” because he among other things, “cusses.” Ward handles this nicely by explaining to Beaver and Wally that cussing and doing things he did were just “part of being a boy, in Tom’s day.” He says “There was nothing mean or malicious about it and that times change.” Then Ward says that since times have changed, while it’s OK to enjoy the book the boys shouldn’t try to go around doing what Tom did or acting like he did. Wally and Beaver agree and say “If you did that today you’d be called a delinquent.” Which is ironic since now it’s “cool” to have gone to jail and be a delinquent. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-inns-controversial-scene-has-been-removed-by-amc/521190/18 "2009-12-14T16:26:34Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > We recently bought the original Popeye cartoons, which came with a disclaimer (I’m paraphrasing), something like, “These cartoons contain stereotypes which were wrong then and are wrong now. However, to pretend they didn’t exist would be to deny the history of mistreatment, and fail to learn from the past.” Their wording was much better, but that was the gist. I thought that was the right way to handle it. This disclaimer appears on many of Warner Bros.'s cartoon collections- the first couple they did featured a statement from Whoopi Goldberg instead. The exact wording is: > [@](#): > > The cartoons you are about to see are products of their time. They may depict some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that were commonplace in American society. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. While the following does not represent the Warner Bros. view of today’s society, these cartoons are being presented as they were originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. I agree in that this is the best way to deal with things like that. ---
**Author:** ![D.Fenestrator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aca169/32.png) [@D.Fenestrator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.Fenestrator)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-inns-controversial-scene-has-been-removed-by-amc/521190/19 "2009-12-14T16:53:22Z")
I hadn’t seen _Holiday Inn_ in decades, and bought it on DVD a couple of years ago. I’d forgotten all about the blackface scene, and found it very uncomfortable to watch. That said, it does advance the plot a bit, and I think a disclaimer would serve better than cutting the scene altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-inns-controversial-scene-has-been-removed-by-amc/521190/20 "2009-12-14T17:07:24Z")
I just watched this movie on AMC last night. They showed the scene where Bing is painting her face in black… and then cut to \*after \*the show! It didn’t occur to me at the time that a scene was removed, but it makes sense…TRM [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-inns-controversial-scene-has-been-removed-by-amc/521190.md?page=2)