This sound version of the 1916 silent film short “A Natural Born Gambler” features commentary about the film and its African American star Bert Williams. Bert Williams (November 12, 1874 – March 4, 1922) was a Bahamian-American entertainer, one of the pre-eminent entertainers of the Vaudeville era and one of the most popular comedians for all audiences of his time.He was by far the best-selling black recording artist before 1920. In 1918, the New York Dramatic Mirror called Williams “one of the great comedians of the world.”
Somewhat shockingly for a modern audience, Williams used blackface in the film, as a way to bring in and entertain the mainstream white audience, allowing the film to gain success. Blackface allowed even blacks to be hyper-racialized and be seen as more entertaining to whites, which was one of the few ways many black actors such as Williams were able to gain success. Bert Williams uses heavy facial expression as well as pantomime, which were very iconic of his acting style, and were a part of his identity as an entertainer. This gives the film another form of Williams’ own authenticity.
This was the first of only two films that starred the Broadway comic and singer. The film was Williams’ first two-reel comedy, and was a film that was expected not to disappoint audiences and was highly anticipated. It was produced by the Biograph Company and released by The General Film Company. Williams directed and G. W. Bitzer, also known as Billy Bitzer, who was usually D. W. Griffith’s cameraman, was the cinematographer. This is a still-surviving film, featuring Williams in his famous blackface routine. It is an authentic comedic film for its time (1916) in which Williams is still humorous without heavily relying on the popular physical style of slapstick comedy. Special and strategic advertising along with the name Williams had created for himself made it possible for the film to get exposure throughout the country. Most of this exposure came from newspaper prints.
Film exhibitors were excited to have pre-release sales of the film, as Williams was very popular through film and as a comedian. Much of Williams’ reputation stemmed from his background of being a great comedian; he began entertaining as a member of the theatrical group the Ziegfeld Follies, where he thrived as a star and brought much of this comedic influence as well as his experience on Broadway with him in through film. It was said that Williams was one of the few comedians at this time who had the ability to be as successful and humorous within his films as he was on stage. Much of this experience he took with him throughout his film career seen through the comedic success of A Natural Born Gambler. All of this called for great success when the film was released on July 24, 1916. With the achievement of the film post-release, exhibitors remained happy about the film as they were able to profit from it throughout the rest of that summer.
Within the film there are several stereotypes of blacks, such as stealing, mischief, cheating, and greed.
Williams was a key figure in the development of African-American entertainment. In an age when racial inequality and stereotyping were commonplace, he became the first black American to take a lead role on the Broadway stage, and did much to push back racial barriers during his three-decade-long career. Fellow vaudevillian W. C. Fields, who appeared in productions with Williams, described him as “the funniest man I ever saw—and the saddest man I ever knew.”
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
