While looking through a film blog titled "Invisible Women:Black Cinema At Large" I came across a link to this particular film that someone had kindly provided. I actully read about this film way back in high school (in an African-American film history book, I think) the book showed a number of huge still pics from the film. I even tried hunting it down briefly, to no avail and I don't ever remember seeing it on cable or anything. It was scripted by a film critic/novelist named James Agee and is mainly notable for presenting the life of a young black child that was condsidered very non-stereotypical and much more realistic for a 1940's film.
Check it out at this link:
http://www.archive.org/details/the_quiet_oneI had pretty much given up on ever seeing it period years ago, so this is one heck of a find for me, being an amateur film historian and all :)
Thanks for the link! THE QUIET ONE is historically fascinating on so many levels: as an outgrowth of the photo essay LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS MEN, as moved from the dustbowl into the city, human dignity of the socially marginal a bridging theme; as a socially conscious documentary with healing at its core which resonates with Huston's LET THERE BE LIGHT, a key film for Agee by his favorite director; as the 'unstereotyped' view of African American life you mentioned, to which I'd add that part of the urban reality documented is of a far more racially integrated society than fiction films of the day with their all-black parallel worlds would lead you to believe existed: here working class white people share the street scene; a street scene captured by the great photographer of city life Helen Levitt, a disciple of Cartier-Bresson. She's another reason to be grateful for this film, one which I expected to be full of good liberal sentiments but hopelessly out of date and kind of sanctimonious, but which turned out to be really good art, as well as plain, unvarnished truth. PS: Is the Agee-Levitt film study of East Harlem IN THE STREET available on line?
You're welcome--it's always a surprise what you can find online, especially when you're not even searchng for it in the first place! I tried searching for IN THE STREET at www.archive.org. but I didn't find anything with that title, even though I believe that site would be about the only place you'd find a film like that online.
Also, for anyone interested in finding some African films, I rented out this 2 DVD-set of films titled TASUMA (2004) and SIA--TALE OF THE PYTHON (2001). They are both Burkina Faso (Western African) based films, and both are very good strong dramas. Both are notable for being the first African films I've seen made after the millenium began. The first movie is about an older war veteran who's been trying for years to get his pension to no avail, and what happens when he purchases a whole supply of goods/services on credit in anticipation of finally getting it, only to be let down when his check still dosen't arrive, due to a bureaucratic snafu holding it up. By then,he's forced to take matters into his own hands for the survival of the village itself.
The second tale, SIA, is a re-telling of an old folk legend. A group of priests who never show their faces beneath their genuinely-creepy looking brown robes come to the king of a particular tribe to ask for a sacrifice to offer the python god (the tribe's nature god). Unfortunately, the person picked turns out to be the fiancee of the king's general, who, naturally, isn't going gently into that good night without putting up one hell of a fight. Her refusal and subsequent fleeing in fear of her life sets off major turmoil/rebellion within certain factions of the king's army. Both films are very good, particuluarly SIA, with its beautiful cinematography and marvelous period costumes and worth seeing on a nice,slow day.
Continuing in the African film vein, the Detroit Film Theatre is setting off its tribute to the late pioneering Senegalese director Ousmane Sembene Feb. 21-24. Four of his movies---XALA, CEDDO,BLACK GIRL/BOROM SARRET, and MOOLAADE will be shown. Here's the schedule:
http://www.dia.org/dft/schedule.asp