Free Film Screening: Carib Gold Starring Ethel Waters and Cicely Tyso

Before Cicely Tyson would star in the classic films Roots and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, she’d kick off her career as an actress in the rarely viewed 1957 film debut Carib Gold. Although the movie had previously been lost for decades, the limited release motion picture will be screened at Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum this month!

In the movie, a hard-working shrimp boat crew runs from trouble after discovering a sunken treasure. Led by by legendary jazz singer Ethel Waters and heavyweight boxer Coley Wallace, the cast also features a debut from another future silver screen and Broadway star- Geoffrey Holder. Appearing in a small role as a voo doo dancer, Holder would go on to perform in Josephine Baker’s  musical review in 1954 and win two Tony Awards in 1975 for his direction and costume design of Broadway’s original The Wiz.

The maritime-themed film was had its segregated debut in nearby theaters on Duval Street in Key West, Florida where the majority of the movie was shot. The Strand theater hosted the whites, while the Monroe theater hosted the blacks. Although there was no national release date for the maritime-themed film it was approved for release in New York in 1957 and articles from the Los Angeles Mirror News indicate that it ran in Los Angeles until June 1958.

For more information on the film:
IMDB
Wikipedia

To see for yourself, come down to the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum (4130 Overland Avenue, Culver City, CA 90230) on July 28, at 4 p.m. For more information: (310) 202-1647 or visit http://www.claytonmuseum.org/.