And Beautiful
Fri 5/29 • 10:15PM PDT
Billy Wilder Theater
Year: 1969
Country: U.S.
Language: English
Runtime: 60 min.
Digital. Color.
With original commercials
Hosted by comedian Redd Foxx, …& Beautiful was the first syndicated television special produced for African American audiences to be sponsored by a Black-owned company (Johnson Products, makers of Afro Sheen). Directed by trailblazer Mark Warren, the first African American to win an Emmy Award in a directing category (for his work on Laugh-In), the groundbreaking music-variety special offered viewers a rare primetime showcase foregrounding Black excellence and pride. Dynamically stylized with Afrocentric and psychedelic designs and costuming, the vibrant production represents an invaluable late-’60s audiovisual time capsule documenting the joy, liberation and empowerment of the Black Is Beautiful movement.—Mark Quigley
DCP. Syndicated. Production: Western Video Production. Executive Producer: Richard Gottlieb. Producer: Mark Warren. Director: Mark Warren. Writer: Cal Wilson. With: Redd Foxx, Della Reese, Donald McKayle Dancers.
Preservation funding provided by the John H. Mitchell Television Preservation Endowment. Preserved by the UCLA Film & Television Archive from an original 2 in. videotape. Engineering services by CBS Media Exchange.