Prof. Allyson Nadia Field's New Book: "Acts of Love: Black Performance and the Kiss That Changed Film History"
Source: https://cms.uchicago.edu/prof-allyson-nadia-fields-new-book-acts-love-black-performance-and-kiss-changed-film-history Parent: https://cms.uchicago.edu/
Feb 18, 2:19 pm
In 1898, vaudeville actors Saint Suttle and Gertie Brown joyously embraced in a short silent film titled Something Good--Negro Kiss. The first known film to portray African American affection, it was lost for over a century until its rediscovery inspired contemporary audiences with a powerful and enduring depiction of Black love. More than a missing piece in an untold history of Black cinematic performance, Something Good--and the magnetism of Suttle and Brown--attests to the power of Black performance on stage and screen from the nineteenth century to today.
In Acts of Love, Allyson Nadia Field tells the story of Something Good and recovers the forgotten yet fascinating lives of its performers and their world. Drawing a vivid picture from sparse historical records, Acts of Love examines popular culture's negotiation of blackness to reconsider the intersections of minstrelsy, vaudeville, and cinema in ragtime America. This book not only presents the story of Something Good, its performers, and the drama of its rediscovery; it shows how the rediscovery of this short early film changes our understanding of American film history.
Monday, 3/2: Allyson Nadia Field discusses her new book with Adrienne Brown at the Seminary Co-op Bookstore. See more and register here.
Read a review here.
ISBN:
9780520392939
Author:
Publisher:
University of California Press
Binding:
Paperback
Publication Date:
February 17, 2026