I just noticed something in this fine film for the first time and wonder if anybody knows anything about this. Why is Delmar all covered in dust/flour/dirt when he and the gang walk out of the radio station the first time they sang “Man of Constant Sorrow”. As they are coming out, Pappy O’Daniel is coming in and Delmar says something to the effect that there is a man in there that will pay you to sing in the can. Pappy states that he’s not there to sing “you dumb cracker”. If you look at Delmar you see he’s covered in something…his face is whited out. What is the deal?
I’m going to have to watch the video and check that out, I’ve never noticed before.
I hadn’t noticed that, but for what it’s worth, Pappy O’Daniels makes his money selling cornflour, and he’s the sponsor of the show. My WAG is that there was a gag in which Jimmy James-- uh, err, the blind radio guy, inadvertently spreads the stuff around, which consequently ended up being deleted.
I’m about 90% sure it’s digital grading (the color of the scene was changed) not a substance on his face. I’m honestly not sure what purpose it serves, but it looks pretty odd. I’ve wondered at that for some time.
A lot of the movie is actually graded to bring up the yellows and bring down the reds. Maybe he got sunburned and when they edited out the red, there was nothing left but white. 
On the DVD is a short documentary about how the color in this movie was extensively manipulated digitally. What you are seeing is caused by that manipulation, I expect.
This makes sense to me. I wondered if something wasn’t left on the cutting room floor.
As far as the coloring goes…I’m not so sure if that’s the case. His companions in the same scene do not have that “caked” look.