Jon Mirsalis on Piano. During the 1920s, many independent film corporationssought to improve the image of black Americans in the motion pictures.These films, produced by both black and white companies, varied inquality and The Scar of Shame is one of the best remaining examples ofthe genre: a melodrama couched in the manners and mores of Victorianethics and jazz-age cynicism. The story concerns the plight of alower-class mulatto woman, Louise, who is brutalized by a drunkardfather. When she is rescued by and marries an upper-class musician, shesoon encounters social prejudices and violence, leading to episodes ofhigh emotional tragedy. Aside from the Delsartean style of acting, thefilm's richness lies in its on-location views of black Philadelphia'smiddle-class homes, speakeasies, dances, and nightclub antics, as wellas the slang and fashions of the Roaring Twenties. Finally, The Scar ofShame is a plea for blacks to strive for "the finer things inlife," attainable through better environment: refinement was thepanacea for racial pains.-Albert Johnson