MovieChat Forums > The Women (1939) Discussion > Hattie McDaniel

Hattie McDaniel

posted 14 years ago by HarlowMGM
11 replies | jump to latest

IMDb now claims Hattie McDaniel has an unbilled part in THE WOMEN as a "maid". I have seen this film countless times but have never seen Hattie in it and have never read a suggestion anywhere else that she was in the movie. Hattie was by 1939 fairly well established a featured player (her last unbilled bits were in 1938 and she had been regularly billed for years in most films). It seems unlikely she would have accepted an unbilled cameo given she was almost certainly signed for the major role of Mammy in GWTW by the time THE WOMEN went into production. Not only that, Hattie of course is a standout presence even in her bits so how could we have overlooked her all these years? I think this is just some well-meaning fan (or not) supplying incorrect information to IMDb, correct?

[–] thetheeyecreature 14 years ago

Ah! Okay, there's Hattie McDaniel. She's the maid on the train as Mary and Peggy are on their way to Reno.

"The truth 24 times a second."

[–] heatherdollrecord 14 years ago

She is not in this movie. The maid on the train was one of the contenders for Mammy in GWTW. You can see the maid from the train in the extra footage of GWTW during the casting of Scarlett. So, no Hattie McDaniel is not in the movie, you are right.

[–] HarlowMGM 14 years ago

That's Hattie Noel http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0633877/ and that's who I figured they were confusing Hattie McDaniel with, although the two Hatties don't look alike other than being large black women. IMDb already had Ms. Noel correctly identified as "Maid on Train". I've emailed IMDb to get them to consider removing this credit for Hattie McDaniel as it is bogus.

[–] pelscc2000 13 years ago

The maid is played by Butterfly McQueen.

[–] HarlowMGM 13 years ago

There are four black women in THE WOMEN:

Hattie Noel is the maid on the train which apparently was the one somebody thought was Hattie McDaniel.

Theresa Harris has a tiny part as a dog watcher.

Florence O'Brien is the restroom attendant.

Butterfly McQueen is Lulu and actually not a maid but a cosmetic counter assistant, whether she is a saleswoman or in the store's housekeeping department is not determined. Joan Crawford makes arrangements for Lulu to cook dinner for her and her lover but she is not actually Joan's maid and this appears to be a one-time thing

[–] jfd0210 12 years ago

Thanks for that information.
Definately not Hattie McDaniel!
Theresa Harris is always selcome in any role. Would have been so interesting to hear her take on the "Golden Era" of Hollywood!

[–] libby2130 12 years ago

butterfly mcqueen is in this movie and she was also played prissy in gone with the wind and uttered the famous words 'I don't know nuthin bout birthn no babies"

[–] HarlowMGM 12 years ago

Oh yes, I consider it such a tragedy that so many unsung players from the golden era like Theresa Harris died in the 1980's right before the advent of TNT and Turner Classic Movies came along and gave millions a chance to see their work again and with frequency, leading these small part players to have probably a larger fan following than they did back in the golden era when people were so completely bewitched by the stars only the greatest supporting actors got that much notice back then. It would have been wonderful to have her and others like her be able to attend those film fan conventions, be interviewed for TCM snippets, etc. really get attention for the first time in their careers.

[–] mercycroft 12 years ago

Thanks for your post. I lecture on African American Actresses and am always thrilled to introduce my mostly white audiences to Theresa Harris, Louise Beavers, Nina Mae McKinney and the other work of Hattie McDaniel. Much more attention needs to be paid to these women.

[–] chrishanson70 12 years ago

What about the African American woman passing out cocktails during the color fashion show sequence?

[–] TrangPak2 11 years ago

Theresa Harris was so beautiful and my older sister is actually her double! :-)