I hereby nominate the above rendition of “Ol’ Man River” as performed by Frank Sinatra as the single most wince-inducing racist musical number ever filmed–and that’s saying a lot given the unfortunate preponderance of blackface minstral numbers on view throughout 1930s and 40s movie musicals. This is the climax to the Jerome Kern 1946 sort-of biopic ‘Til The Clouds Roll By’ and whoever made the decision to give one of the greatest songs ever written for a black artist–Jules Bledsoe introduced the song in the original 1927 Broadway production of ‘Show Boat’ though it was made famous by Paul Robeson–about a subject central to the black American experience to a white Italian-American singer to perform must be commeded for their audacity (if for nothing else). And it’s not just the choice of the white singer. It’s the choice of the white set. And the white costumes for the orchestra. And the white women and men of the chorus in white. And the white suit that Sinatra wears…with a white tie! I mean, were they jioking? And if so, isn’t it the kind of joke one whispers to their friend and quickly never mentions again? Did Sinatra even think this a good idea, or was he forced into it due to some MGM contract issue? The song contrasts the struggles and hardships of blacks with the endless, uncaring flow of the Mississippi. It is sung from the point of view of a black stevedore on a riverboat. In this version, it’s a song about a white playboy standing on a very expensive all-white set with a very large rchestra singing to a a camera on a very large boom (certainly manned by an all-white camera crew).  White has never been as white as this–both in design and thoughtlessness. On that note, have a lousy weekend.