THOMAS TAKES ON…RACE (2016)

Monday, August 31, 2021

By Anthony E. Thomas

The early adult life of Jesse Owens (1913-1980) seems like an All-American story, told to inspire people that anything is possible. As I was growing up in Detroit, Michigan, my mother talked about Jesse Owens' accomplishments as a track star. Staring at black and white photos of him, I grew curious about his talents as an athlete. He was the pride of black Americans of my grandparent's generation, continued as so in my parent's generation, and then remembered in distinguished history in my generation. When I joined the U.S. Army as a skinny teenager, I had a talent for running and was one of the top 4 runners in my Basic Training company. I was among the top 3 fastest runners in my units as an enlisted soldier and commissioned officer until I sustained a stress fracture in 2011. Running was a joyous activity, but I was nothing close to Jesse Owens.

In February 2016, while stationed in Washington state, I went to a movie theater in the typical Pacific Northwest winter rain to see the movie Race, directed by Stephan Hopkins (b.1958). The cast consisted of Canadian actor Stephan James (b.1993) as Jesse Owens, American actor Jason Sudeikis (b.1975) as Owens' coach Larry Synder, Dutch actress Carcise Van Houten (b.1976) as German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, German actor Barnaby Metshurat (b.1974) as Dr. Joseph Goebbels, Canadian actress Shanice Banton (b.1992) as Minnie Ruth Solomon, British actor Jeremy Irons (b.1948) as Avery Brundage, and American actor William Hurt (b.1950) as Jeremiah Mahoney. 

Racism is a factor in the film. Jesse Owens appears to be diplomatic when faced with racist schoolmates at The Ohio State University, a university I was accepted to in 2000, but being from Michigan, I attended a Michigan university. In an early scene, Jesse and his friend Dave Albritton (1913-1994), played by Eli Goree (b.1994), are intimidated from taking showers in the male locker room until the white athletes have showered. Dave says, "I should kick that cracker (explicative); that is what I should do." Jesse calmly tells him, "Sounds like a great idea. Get us thrown outta here before our bags are unpacked. Dave, this is our shot. Don't blow it." Jesse has a non-confrontational attitude, which 30 years later during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, Jesse Owens criticized Civil Rights leaders for social disruption. He later changed his emissary-like approach to racial injustices.

Jesse Owens meets his OSU track coach, Larry Snyder (1896-1982), an Olympic grade runner poised to compete in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. He was injured in a plane crash before the games and was unable to compete. Snyder mentions Coach Charles Riley (1878-1960), whose relationship with Jesse is not clarified in the film. Charles Riley was Jesse Owens's junior high school track coach who helped Jesse rise as an athletic star. Riley also welcomed Jesse into his family, and they maintained a lifelong relationship. He was instrumental in Jesse's recruitment to various universities. Once Jesse opted to attend OSU, he wrote recommendation letters to Larry Snyder along with his secondary school track and field records. Impressed with Jesse's abilities, Snyder offers to train him for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. Meanwhile, in New York City, protests waged against the United States' participation in the 1936 Olympics because of the Nazi persecution of Jews. .

Avery Brundage and the 1936 Olympics

In 1933 Jewish athletes began a boycott movement. Avery Brundage (1887-1975), President of the American Olympic Committee (AOC), said: "The very foundation of the modern Olympic revival will be undermined if individual countries are allowed to restrict participation by reason of class, creed, or race." 

Brundage walks into a hotel after working through an angry crowd of protesters. Then he is seen entering a ballroom where American Olympic Committee members have been waiting for his arrival. Straight away, the dialogue is on the U.S. partaking in the controversial games. One of the characters says, "They're [the Nazis] putting up two women, Mayer and Bergmann, both Jewish," as tokens to deceive the world of Nazi Germany's racist policies. These two women are Helen Mayer (1910-1953), a German fencer who won a gold medal at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Gretel Bergmann (1914-2017), a German track and field star and high jumper. Jeremiah Mahoney (1878-1970), a member of the Amateur Athlete Union (AAU) and AOC, advocates boycotting the Olympics on moral principles. A tall man in a dark suit says the purpose of the AAU, AOC, or the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is not to dictate Germany's government policies. The film does not identify him, but according to the cast credits, the character is Charles Sherrill (1867-1936), a critical member of the International Olympic Committee from 1922 to 1936 and played by English actor Tim McInnery (b.1956). Sherrill voices the AAU has agreed to have U.S. athletes included in the summer games and has received word the Nazis will not discriminate against American Jewish and black athletes. The gist of the debate is that sports should stay out of politics. So, the committee agrees to send Avery Brundage to Berlin to inspect the German sports facilities in 1934. 

Brundage arrives in Berlin, greeted and escorted by a Wehrmacht (German Army) officer to the German sports center. On the way, the film shows Nazi SA (Sturmabteilung) members posting anti-Semitic signs on Jewish businesses and the forced evictions of Jews from their apartments. Next, he meets the acclaimed German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl (1902-2003) and the Nazi Minister of Propaganda and Enlightenment Dr. Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945) for lunch. Brundage boldly tells the Nazi official the Germans must "clean up their act" or risk countries, including the United States boycotting, thus bringing bad publicity to Germany. Brundage instructs the Nazis to remove their propaganda posters, control the hate speech in the press, cease talking about "rounding up undesirables," and demands they promise not to exclude Jews and blacks from the games. Goebbels is projected as eerie, coldly staring at Brundage. Without any fuss, Goebbels agrees to all Brundage's demands. In reality, Brundage publicly announced the Jewish athletes would be fairly treated, and the Games should go on as planned.

After breaking four world records during a competition at the University of Michigan in 1935, Jesse discloses to his mistress he was born J.C. (James Cleveland), but his elementary school teacher misunderstood him saying Jesse. His mistress was Quincella Nickerson (1909-2008), the daughter of William Nickerson, Jr (1879-1945), the founder and President of Golden State Insurance Company, the largest black-owned insurance company in the western United States in the early 20th century. In this part of the film, Larry Snyder shares his marital issues to relate to Jesse's relationship problems. Remorseful of his affair, Jesse returns to his hometown to marry his girlfriend and the mother of his daughter, Minnie Ruth Solomon (1915-2001). Their wedding was on July 05, 1935.

The American Olympic Committee voted 58-56 in favor of the U.S. attending the Olympics in Germany, which Larry Snyder celebrates. Ohio State Representative Davis visits Jesse's family home. The character is Harry E. Davis (1882-1955), who was elected to the Ohio State Representative in 1920 and served four terms according to *Case Western Reserve University's Kelvin Smith Library. American actor Glynn Turman (b.1947) plays Representative Davis. Davis mentions a Mr. White, Walter White (1893-1955), the President of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1929-1955. Davis articulated it was hypocritical for America as a racist country to criticize Nazi Germany's racial policies, and Davis tries to convince Jesse to opt-out of the Olympics. In the further debate over the 1936 Olympics, Jesse is challenged to go or not go. His closest competitor, Eulace Peacock (1914-1996), was a Temple University track and field star, played by Canadian actor Shamier Anderson (b.1991), tells Jesse to go to Germany and "stick it up Hitler's (explicative)!" Jesse decides to travel to Berlin and compete in the Olympics before the Nazi leadership.

1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany

Jesse Owens and the American Olympians are greeted with fanfare in Berlin. He and his fellow black Olympian, Dave Albritton are surprised to find they will be rooming with their white colleagues. Leading up to the official first day of the games, the athletes train. Larry Snyder runs into SA members while trying to find the Dassler Shoe Factory; which is managed by Adolf “Adi” Dassler (1900-1978), the founder of Adidas Sportswear Company. After acquiring the shoes for Jesse, the next scene is shot in one take of Jesse entering the Olympic Stadium. In my personal opinion this is the best scene. Jesse walks outside to the shouts from the crowd roaring through the air. The camera slowly spins around from behind him to his front, closing up on his face, then the camera moves away from him to show the vast stadium filled with people. The camera moves skyward where the blimp Hindenburg flies over him with the Nazi swastika flag displayed on its underside hull. The camera then moves back to Jesse as the crowd chants, "Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!” The Germans face Nazi Germany's leader, the Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), as he enters the stadium. The Germans extend their right arms giving the Nazi salute.

The camera then closes in on Jesse as the chants die out, and he prepares for his first competition. He then walks to the track to begin the race. Artistically done, the scene indulges viewers in sensing what it was like to behold the thrill of the Germans at the games. The first event is the 100-meter race held on August 03, 1936, where he wins the gold medal with a time of 10.30 seconds and another gold medal in the 200-meter race with a time of 20.70 seconds. He won his third gold medal in the long jump at 8.06 meters after defeating German long jumper and European champion Carl 'Luz' Long (1913-1943), who helped Jesse mark his jump take-off point to prevent Jesse from fouling out. In good sportsmanship, Luz Long and Jesse Owens formed a bond that lasted until Long was killed in Italy while serving in the German Army during World War 2. German actor David Cross (b. 1990) played Luz.

Hitler was to congratulate every gold medalist; however, he was conveniently unavailable when Avery Brundage escorted Jesse to meet Hitler. Brundage realized it is bigotry and leans into Goebbels' ear, "You let the Chancellor [Hitler] know he congratulates all of the gold medalists or none of them." This quote was communicated to Hitler by the International Olympic Committee President Henri de Baillet-Latour. Hitler chose not to congratulate any of them. The real Jesse Owens never shook hands with Hitler but was given a slight Nazi salute by Hitler and was reported by sportswriter and novelist Paul Gallico (1897-1976). As seen in the movie, besides Goebbels, Hitler is seated with the Head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler (1900-1945), and Chief of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) Hermann Goering (1893-1946).

Goebbels threatens Brundage with scandal if he allows the two Jewish athletes on the American Olympic Team to compete. The Jews Goebbels refers to were Marty Glickman (1917-2001) and Sam Stoller (1915-1985). The American Olympic Team Track and Field trainer Dean Cromwell (1879-1962) selected Jesse Owens and Frank Wykoff (1909-1980), who trained under Cromwell at the University of Southern California, as replacements on the relay team. Ralph Metcalfe (1910-1978) and Foy Draper (1911-1943) were the other two runners. Interestingly, black athletes were allowed to compete while white Jews in Nazi Germany were not. The American Olympic officials complied with Goebbels to exclude their Jewish runners from competing; Jesse, as a replacement, won his fourth gold medal on August 9, 1936. The U.S. 400-meter relay team set a world record of 39.8 seconds that held until 1956.

Leni Riefenstahl and Joseph Goebbels

The German actress and filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl was favored by Adolf Hitler and gained his respect after she filmed Triumph of the Will or Triumph des Willen in 1935. It was accredited as the most fantastic Nazi propaganda film at the time and was featured internationally. Joseph Goebbels was jealous of Riefenstahl's success and envied her relationship with Hitler. Goebbels was very protective of his closeness and high position and was careful about those who entered Hitler's inner circle for fear of losing influence. Riefenstahl was more concerned about making art through her films, so Hitler's inner circle was less important to her. Since the Olympics was to showcase before the international community the Aryan German supremacy, Goebbels took a personal interest in the best non-Jewish German athletes. It was Riefenstahl who brought the games to life before the world, which Goebbels learned to appreciate. Leni Riefenstahl was not an official member of the Nazi Party but faced criticism for her connection to Hitler. She never faced any severe reprisals. The film shows her speaking fluent English, which she was. She visited the U.S. in 1933 to appear in the U.S.-German co-production of the German-language SOS Eisberg and the English-language S.O.S. Iceberg, both produced by Universal Studios. This movie was Riefenstahl's only English language role in the film. She was later interviewed in English on Hitler's government before returning to Germany.

Conclusion

The movie Race is a film worth seeing. It shows the darkness of racism but more so the spirit of sportsmanship. There are artistic values as well. One example is Larry Snyder, who was unable to compete in the 1924 Olympics, comes close to touching an Olympic gold medal when Jesse wins the 100-meter race. He reaches out, but before he can feel Jesse's medal, he is interrupted by Avery Brundage, who takes Jesse to meet Hitler. After the 400-meter relay, Snyder finally gets his chance to hold an Olympic gold medal. It suggests the opportunity eluding him until Jesse claims all his victories. After hard work and patience, holding an Olympic gold medal became a reality through Jesse. Also, when the two Jewish athletes Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller, were removed from the relay meet and the camera closes in on Jesse. Jesse looks down to the ground and then looks back up as he witnesses bigotry towards another group of people that would benefit him to win a fourth gold medal. The American Olympic Committee argued that politics would not be part of sports, but it was inevitable when negotiating with the Nazis. I think this film was a bit underrated, but the historical accuracy fairs high. The actors, director, and producers took great care in making this film for its authenticity. 

 The 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin were the last before World War 2 started with the German invasion of Poland in September 1939. It is perhaps the most historically talked about Olympics. It dazzled the world as a black American showed up to Hitler and the Nazi ideas of German eugenics, to be the best over the Germans and capture the admiration of the German people. The Germans chanted Jesse's name after he won his races. He was a sports hero to those who would hold so much hate towards people deemed as sub-human. Jesse criticized President Franklin D. Roosevelt for snubbing him and not inviting the black Olympians to the White House. In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower named Jesse Ambassador of Sport, and in 1976 President Gerald R. Ford presented Jesse with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1990 Jesse was posthumously awarded a Congressional Gold Medal for being an Olympic hero and an American hero every day of his life. Jesse Owens continues to be an inspiration as Race, a movie title with a double meaning, has shown quite well.