ART IMITATES QUARANTINE LIFE

I was channel surfing and stopped when I saw an elderly Black man teaching a boy how to fish. I love old movies, and immediately checked the network’s website to find out the title. At first I thought it was either “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, or “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. My search revealed it was the 1950 film, “Stars In My Crown”. 
As I watched and listened to the dialogue I realized that the film couldn’t be more relevant as the world experiences a pandemic. There truly is nothing new under the Sun. The film tackles religion, racism, community, partisanship, greed, selfishness, faith, love, science, opportunism, and an epidemic. Referred to as “the slow fever”, it creates fear in the town, as well as conflict between those who have differing views of its severity and how to deal with it, as well as how to safely carry out their own duties and activities.

Starring as Uncle Famous Prill, the character that sparked my curiosity, is Puerto Rican actor, Juano Hernandez, whose success in film was said to have paved the way for actors of color like Sidney Poitier. I’m always interested in the extras and uncredited actors of color that I see in old television shows and films. I can always count on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) to at least have a blurb about them. I’m glad there’s a more substantial entry for Hernandez. 
There were three other actors of color in the film. One portrayed a maid, and the other two, attired in Native American costumes, were participants in a carnival show. Even though only one of the three had a speaking part, as usual, I’m curious about who they were, too.
I think I have another favorite movie, primarily because of the dignity the script writer, director, and producer afforded Famous Prill, a land owning, former slave, and considering when the film was made, the unexpected ending.