Slow Poke

Lincoln Perry, aka Stepin Fetchit, does his trademark lazy, mumbling character in between performances by talented performers, including tap dancer Bunny Briggs.

I have seen Fetchit in a score of movies from the 1930s, and have always been annoyed by his presence. Despite my familiarity with popular entertainment of the era, his success -- and he made millions of dollars -- remains a mystery to me. He seems to have had a similar sense of befuddlement, as one piece recounts that his stage act consisted of putting a recording of the act on the phonograph, then sitting in a chair onstage and reading the newspaper while it played.