Up to now decade or so, there have been a handful of documentary iterations which have retraced the wealthy historical past of Black Hollywood backwards and forwards and again once more.
Whether or not celebratory or academic, our urge for food for these cultural explorations appears insatiable. That’s, largely, as a result of the enduring impression of Black creativity in leisure can by no means be overstated (not less than for many who really respect it). So we eagerly devour these expansive, usually sprawling choices, even once they really feel acquainted.
Movies like Elvis Mitchell’s 2022 documentary “Is That Black Enough for You?!?” meticulously recalled the evolution — and revolution — of Black cinema’s landmark eras, whereas 2024’s “Hollywood Black” regarded again on the struggles and triumphs of Black movie pioneers, each in entrance of and behind the digital camera. And let’s not neglect 2020’s “They’ve Gotta Have Us” docuseries, which reexamined an analogous cinema legacy with perception from a few of our greatest movie stars, although with a extra scattered focus.
The latter could also be what prompted Apple TV+ to rehash the topic as soon as extra in “Number One on the Call Sheet,” a two-part documentary exploring the trailblazing roles of main Black actors and actresses. It premiered on the streamer on Friday.
That, or just understanding that assembling a roster of over two dozen Black A-listers to relish of their display screen careers would generate sufficient buzz to breathe new life right into a well-worn matter, particularly when it’s backed by a number of trade giants. Co-producers for “Black Leading Men in Hollywood” are Jamie Foxx and Kevin Hart, whereas govt producers for “Black Leading Women in Hollywood” embrace Angela Bassett, Whoopi Goldberg, Viola Davis and Halle Berry. All of them additionally contribute interviews.
Judging by the joy sparked by the mere announcement of the documentary’s star-studded lineup earlier than the trailer even dropped, the streamer was spot on. That power solely grew throughout the double function’s glittering Hollywood premiere earlier this month.
Past the optics, although, “Number One on the Call Sheet” does enterprise to say one thing compelling in regards to the progress of Black Hollywood by its many eras, and it does cowl many — the Blaxploitation period, the strong golden age of Black ’90s motion pictures, the 2000s run of Black rom-coms, the trendy Black superhero takeover. The movies, directed by Reginald Hudlin and Shola Lynch, go deep on the groundbreaking figures and moments that propelled Black prominence in movie ahead, even whereas dealing with racial setbacks.
Nevertheless, “Number One on the Call Sheet” shines brightest when it strikes past its nostalgic tour of Black excellence in Hollywood and shifts to a extra important reflection of the trade’s ongoing points. It’s uncommon to listen to Black A-listers of this caliber come collectively to share their collective history-making testimonies. Nonetheless, even rarer is the chance to take heed to their candid insights in regards to the distinctive pressures and tasks of being a part of such an elite group of movie stars.
That stated, the two-part documentary in the end takes the shape you’d count on: a celebration of the innovators, a spotlight reel of grand achievements, and a mirrored image on how far Black Hollywood has come whereas leaving room to briefly query its future.
This strategy would’ve been completely effective if “Number One on the Call Sheet” had been possibly known as one thing else. The phrase has traditionally referred to “movie stars at the top of the food chain in Hollywood” who’ve achieved each creative and monetary success, in response to director Hudlin. Nevertheless, I can’t assist however marvel how the twin documentaries might have shifted their focus if they’d taken extra cues from their title — which is a topic not almost explored sufficient in a good format like this, particularly in dialog with Black actors.
That’s most likely as a result of Black actors and actresses don’t at all times come to thoughts first when the phrase “number one on the call sheet” is talked about — aside from just a few choose icons.
“A whole lot of the dominant culture arrives as No. 1 on the call sheet,” Alfre Woodard factors out in Half 2. “But we [Black women] seldom do.”
Comparable statements are scattered all through each movies however not often expounded upon. It’s as if we’re listening to bits and items of a bigger dialog that by no means totally materializes.
To be honest, Half 1 of “Number One on the Call Sheet” tackles this concept early on by asking a few of its featured male actors — which vary from Denzel Washington, Will Smith and Morgan Freeman to Michael B. Jordan, Daniel Kaluuya and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson — to loosely outline the phrase.
Most connect an completed feeling to the expression as a result of, to them, it signifies extra than simply seeing their identify on the high of a film name sheet — extra than simply being known as “number one.”
“It’s a magic moment for most actors,” Idris Elba explains within the movie. In the meantime, Ice Dice likened the accomplishment to “hitting the lottery.”
Others, like Washington, are much less moved by the vainness of the title in comparison with realities actors face, like pay inequity — which continues to be a problem, even on the trade’s mountaintop. Taraji P. Henson (who’s additionally featured within the doc) tearfully pointed this out throughout “The Color Purple” musical press run in 2023.
“I wasn’t number one on the payroll,” Washington informed Hudlin within the doc, referring to his top-billed position in 1981’s “Carbon Copy,” which was additionally his function debut, “so being number one on the call sheet didn’t mean [much].”
Nonetheless, even for many who don’t totally embrace the label, it’s clear it nonetheless signifies one thing extraordinary in any actor’s profession.
“It means you made it,” Foxx concludes within the movie.
However what does “making it” as a Black actor imply past a private achievement?
“Number One on the Call Sheet” seeks this reply by wanting on the careers of its topics, primarily mentioning the success tales that influenced the subsequent era of Black expertise.
It nods to legends like Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte, who used their star energy to champion racial justice and set up a precedent for future Black artists. The documentary additionally honors Oscar winners Hattie McDaniel and Halle Berry, every of who made historical past with their groundbreaking Academy Award wins, thus altering the panorama for Black actresses (although that’s debatable).
Eddie Murphy will get props as nicely for redefining Black film stardom throughout his ’80s and ’90s blockbuster reign, a path Will Smith eagerly adopted as he constructed his personal legacy with international domination in thoughts. Even Goldberg is credited for her groundbreaking 1984 one-woman present (“The Spook Show”), which taught Black actresses that they didn’t have to attend for Hollywood to supply them roles — they may create their very own.
The documentary is wealthy with these historic threads and mentions of extra impactful actors like Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Nia Lengthy, Taye Diggs, Vivica A. Fox and Marlon Wayans. In a variety of methods, I respect the chronological construction, utilizing Black leads as markers of progress, reminding us that the efforts of early Black performers weren’t in useless — at the same time as our present administration declares conflict on variety, fairness and inclusion, with Hollywood buckling underneath political stress.
However once more, many of those notable highlights have little to do with being “number one” in Hollywood and extra to do with simply being Black within the movie area — an area that was by no means designed for Black expertise to actually thrive anyway, high of the meals chain be damned.
That theme may have been extra obvious if “Number One on the Call Sheet” had spent much less time being a visible historical past e-book for Black cinema and extra time unpacking the obstacles nonetheless confronted by Black leads on the pinnacle of their careers — to not say these points go completely ignored within the doc.
“There’s a whole different set of circumstances when it comes to white actors and actresses and what they deal with,” Foxx acknowledges in Half 1. “With us, since it’s not that many [stars], this business can overcomplicate it.”
There may be one sobering revelation in Half 2 the place it lastly does the doc’s title some justice by revisiting Berry’s bittersweet Oscars win for Finest Actress. To this present day, she stays the one Black lady ever to take residence the award, and the documentary doesn’t draw back from that obtrusive injustice.
“I don’t know what the problem is, but that doesn’t sound right to me. Does it sound right to you?” Henson asks frankly. The subsequent scene cuts to Berry, who displays: “It’s forced me to ask myself, ‘Did it matter? Did it change anything for women of color, for my sisters, for our journey?’”
Berry’s questions are poignantly distinction with the 2021 Oscars, the place each Viola Davis and Andra Day had been each up for Finest Actress — the second time two Black girls competed within the class in nearly 50 years — for his or her shifting performances in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” respectively, solely to lose to Frances McDormand for “Nomadland.”
A number of situations prefer it are replayed by archived footage, with earlier Finest Actress nominees like Dorothy Dandridge (1955), Diana Ross and Cicely Tyson (1973), Diahann Carroll (1975), Whoopi Goldberg (1986), Angela Bassett (1994), Gabourey Sidibe (2010), and others all dropping within the class.
It’s in these moments that the documentary engages with the discourse its title suggests, providing the form of nuance the topic so desperately requires when discussing the imbalance inside Hollywood. If solely these situations had been extra outstanding.
This makes it all of the extra irritating when each elements of the documentary reserve their last moments to supply this much-needed introspection.
“There’s a responsibility that goes along with being number one on the call sheet,” Don Cheadle vents on the finish of Half 1. “It’s not just about being the first person, the one who has the most lines and leads. You’re kind of setting the tone.”
In Half 2, Ruth Negga tacks onto that, saying: “When you see ‘number one’ and you see your name, you’re always aware, as a woman and as a woman of color, it’s not just about you and you know that. Especially when you know how few people who look like you that that’s applied to in the past.”
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“The gratitude that one feels… that can be intense,” she provides, welling up with tears. “Because you feel that there’s a generational thing happening here and that you’re a part of something bigger than you. And that’s at once beautiful, but also, like, quite terrifying.”
“Number One on the Call Sheet” has its moments of catharsis and that shouldn’t be discounted. However the documentary shouldn’t make them so arduous to search out.
“Number One on the Call Sheet” is streaming on Apple TV+.
