For instance, the 1926 film Silk Bouquet (also known as The Dragon Horse) starred the Asian-American actress Anna May Wong and was marketed to Chinese-American audiences.

[3] As happened later with the early black sitcoms on television, race movies were most often financed by white-owned companies, such as Leo Popkin, and scripted and directed by whites.

[6] The race films vanished during the early 1950s after African-American participation in World War II contributed to the starring of black actors in lead roles in several Hollywood major productions.

Many of these focused on the serious problems of integration and racism, such as Pinky with Ethel Waters; Home of the Brave with James Edwards; and Intruder in the Dust with Juano Hernandez, all in 1949; and No Way Out (1950), which was the debut of the notable actor Sidney Poitier.

[citation needed] In the South, to comply with laws on racial segregation, race movies were screened at designated black theaters.

Many race films, particularly those produced by white studios, expressed middle-class urban values, especially education and industriousness.

Race films typically avoided explicit depictions of poverty, ghettos, social decay, and crime.

They are historically significant due to their ability to showcase the talents of actors who otherwise were relegated to stereotypical supporting roles in mainstream studio films.

Hattie McDaniel and Clarence Muse are two of the most striking examples of talented performers who generally were given minor roles in mainstream film.

A few stars from race films were able to cross over to relative stardom in mainstream works – for example, Paul Robeson and Evelyn Preer.