Watermelon Man

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source: Watermelon Man

Continuing to review African-Americans in film in chronological order for Black History Month, we're still in 1970 when director Melvin Van Peebles makes his first major studio feature having previously done a critically acclaimed independent one called Story of a Three Day Pass. He casts comedian Godfrey Cambridge as Jeff Gerber who we initially meet as an obnoxious white insurance man-along with wife Althea (Estelle Parsons) and their two kids of different genders-who likes to run when leaving for his job in order to beat the bus. By the way, the light-skinned makeup on Cambridge is about as convincingly white on him as it was on Eddie Murphy in the "White Like Me" short film he did on "Saturday Night Live", that is, not much. Anyway, when the change comes, well, that's when all hell breaks loose! Now, knowing what I know about ironic humor concerning stereotypes, I found the whole thing just a little over-the-top and, you know what? I also found the whole thing hilarious! I mean, how can you not laugh at the attempts Godfrey keeps making to turn himself "back" like drinking lots of milk or putting his face in plaster. Plus, there's many funny sudden turns from now-"brothers" like the bus driver played by D'Urville Martin who claims to be Hispanic or Mantan Moreland as the counterman at his regular eatery who, when asked to look at his skin, says, "I don't need to look at your skin, I can see my own!" And wait till you see how Three Stooges regular supporting player Emil Sitka reacts when he gets attacked by Jeff over some new sunlamps! Not to mention Jeff's bed scenes with a flirtatious secretary named Erica (Kay Kimberly). I think I've said enough so all I'll say now is that Van Peebles provides much funny stuff from Herman Raucher's script in addition to his own contributions with his occasionally distorted score. So on that note, Watermelon Man comes highly recommended. P.S. It's quite interesting seeing who's also in this movie besides those I've already mentioned like singer/songwriter Paul Williams-here credited with the middle initial H-as an employment clerk or a young girl named Erin Moran-later to portray the teen Joanie Cunningham on "Happy Days"-as daughter Janice Gerber.

A pretty weak comedy where Godfrey Cambridge unconvincingly plays a suburban racist white man who turns black one morning for no discernible reason. He initially wonders if he was over-using his new sun tanning lamp. He takes long milk baths to try and restore his light skin tone, all in vain. He then discovers how tough life can be in 1970 with a dark skin, as practically everyone in his life from his wife and kids to his co-workers and strangers treats him much differently. Though the potential for some really humorous situations was a natural given such a wild plot, I didn't really find this nonsense funny at all. And never once did I buy Cambridge as a Caucasian during the early segments of the story either. The movie does make its point, however. ** out of ****

If this guy was my husband, father, fellow bus rider, colleague, boss, employee, insurance salesman,etc. I would have murdered him the first time I met him. No need to spend enough time around him that I would discover he's a racist. This movie is ''funny" in the same way as getting lectured by mouthy leftyst Mike Stivik was ''funny" every Monday night at 8. Another reviewer compared Melvin Van Peebles RIP to Spike Lee. That's quite astute. Both are hack directors with absolutely no feel for realism yet are highly regarded. I might suggest Van Peebles has more of a sense of humour; whereas, Lee takes himself seriously. I bet most people couldn't get past the first 15 minutes of this terrible movie.

I just rented this DVD and loved it. At first, Godfrey Cambridge was a bit shrill for my taste but I got over it. His comic timing and acting was awesome. The humor was as sharp and cutting as a blade. Like in Sweet Sweetback..., Melvin Van Peebles doesn't go for the obvious commentary on race relations; I loved the scene at the end when the wife admits that she's "liberal to a point." People of color have hit this invisible and unexpected brick wall at one point or another with some liberals. Some of the production value and jagged editing notwithstanding, I was riveted by this film. It's sad how, over 30 years later, how timely it still is in a lot of ways. While I would love us all to get along, I appreciate the honesty and realness the film depicts of what happens when getting along is made impossible when one group dehumanizes another. Melvin Van Peebles does not shy away from showing this, nor does he apologize for or explain it. The film made me re-appreciate him as a real auteur, an adroit storyteller. Damn Van Peebles is good!

"Watermelon Man" might throw off quite a few people with its style of cinema. It's a work of the grandfather of American independent film, Melvin Van Peebles, and with that should come a certain measure of respect. Van Peebles may not have produced dozens of films, but he certainly turned the industry on its head 30 years ago. This is an interesting arrangement on the business side- hot off the European success of "The Story Of A Three Day Pass", Warner Brothers takes on filmmaker Van Peebles for a feature film. The story of Van Peebles versus the company in filming is a conte in itself, but the film remains poignant and striking in its cinematography and theme. Aggressive editing of both film and musical inserts highlight the subtle comedy and pure desperation of the story of a bigot who wakes up Black and watches the world turn against him. It's something of a manic ride, but Cambridge gives it all the human character it can stand. His antagonist-*-protagonist role gives you 360 degrees of frustration and forced humility. Van Peebles presses the more unreal moments into a sub-psychedelic form. Printed messages, color fills, choppy eye-effecting shots and that insistent score remind you that this absurdity is all too real. But ongoing themes such as "He stole something.. we don't know what yet," are darkly hilarious as is Cambridge's sharp wit. "Watermelon Man" is serious film that will still make you laugh at times. This is not the kick-in-the-establishment-a** that "Sweetback" is, but it's an important step on the way. Alongside films such as "Cotton Comes To Harlem" (also with the superb Cambridge) and "Putney Swope," this is an important part of the early end of the Black film explosion. Look for cameos by songwriter-actor Paul Williams as an employer and Melvin Van Peebles himself as a painter. Black cast staple (and director of "Dolemite") D'Urville Martin is also on hand as a bus driver in some of the film's funniest scenes.

The truth is, "Watermelon Man" really isn't a good movie, but the star's performance makes it fun at times, even if he is a bit hyperactive and exhausting. Van Peebles may have been trying some breakthrough stuff and messing with the direction here and there, and I give him credit for trying, but in the end his direction really is not good and is very distractive at times. The color flashes, the use of music (though sometimes this works), the silent movie-type device and more, he's trying and while he definitely does something different, it's just, well, not good. This film could have been a good fifteen or twenty minutes shorter, or at the very least some scenes could have been shorter and additional scenes to help the story could have been inserted. Now of course, the whole thing with this film is to show how bad racism is, which only goes one way of course. But as time has passed, some things have shown not to work. Peebles tries to justify the black rioting (there seems to be a new black riot every day in the movie on TV) and the liberal wife makes excuses for it. I can't speak for the 1970 crowd, but that would not fly with most of today's crowd. Today's audience would very easily pick up that the racism is only one way, and a little too enthusiastic. A black man in a suit and tie is running down the street one morning, and almost instantly a huge crowd gathers around him to accuse him of stealing. C'mon. And one thing that is shown in the film has proved to be all too true - when the liberal wife is confronted with an actual black man in her own home after Jeff turns black, she isn't so liberal anymore. Jeff even challenges her on it - where she answers she is still liberal, but only to a degree. This is the truth where countless (most? all?) liberals are concerned - they love to be supportive, but they suffer from "but not in my backyard" disease. The film is a good viewing for one time only, just to see where Peebles' head was at, and to discuss all the flaws. And of course, for Godfrey's performance. And I should say it's always good to see Mantan Moreland in anything, he's just great! But if Peebles was so concerned with racism, and the past injustices of Hollywood's typecasting of blacks, why did he put Moreland in a demeaning role of counterman in a diner (white boss of course), where he plays just another "yassuh, no suh" black guy? Even in Peebles' film, Mantan, even at old age, having very much paid his dues, couldn't catch a break.

Watermelon Man (1970) was Melvin Van Peebles' Hollywood directorial debut. Godfrey Cambridge stars as a bigoted white middle class family man named Jeff Gerber who's luck and perfect white sterile life is about to change. One day, he wakes up as a black man. This comes as a shock not only to him but his wife. His children (untouched by racism) don't even seem to care. But the neighbors and his "friends" don't like it one bit and ostracize him from the community. As we go through the picture we witness Jeff's change in attitude and ethics. He loses his family and friends and eventually his high paying job. Jeff learns to accept his change and uses his knowledge to help those in his new community. Melvin Van Peebles took a lot of flak from his Studio company for not making a "happy ending". Mr. Van Peebles felt that their was no reason and that his movie ended on an up note. I feel the same way as well. How else could have you ended this movie? There was no other way. My only gripe with this movie was the goofy make-up job they did on Mr. Cambridge. They slathered him in peach colored body paint. Other than that nit pick, I loved this movie. Melvin Van Peebles is another one of your most underrated directors that you'll ever come across. His body of work has been sadly neglected by the viewing public. Highly recommended.

Cambridge is a capable actor. It's too bad he spends the entire time running around like a psychotic version of Charlie Chaplin. The film starts out well enough -- establishes setting of successful family man until, one day, he wakes up and... blargh! He's black! After that it bogs down into a long, drawn out part where he's hiding in the house trying to turn himself white again. The woman who plays the wife does a good job. The script is often witty and intelligent. The film falls short due to the endless overacting and the meandering in the plot. This is not helped much by the awkward ending. Cambridge's "white" version speaks badly of Mao Zi Dong and the Red Guard but the ending is implicitly communist. One good thing this film has going for it besides Cambridge's (sadly unrestrained) performance is that, surprisingly, it doesn't get irritating and preachy and doesn't demonize whites. Then again, it was 1970. Nowadays it would be some "angry black man" going around trying to villify "da white peepool" while the lame-brained American audience of 2012 nod their heads in self-gratifying agreement. After all, evoking the plight of the black man is an important part of America's imbecile post-1960s religion. But I digress. Good movie, recommended to those with an interest in the subject, but could've been better.