Why Was Joan Crawford in Blackface?

In all of cinema history, there can be no stranger musical number than Joan Crawford's "Two-Faced Woman" from the 1953 MGM tuner Torch Song. Here are a few of my favorite interview subjects, film experts Richard Barrios, Jeanine Basinger and Molly Haskell trying to comprehend this altogether unsettling and wrong moment on film when blackface (or euphemistically called "tropical makeup") and Joan Crawford collided. Let's not forget that blackface was still employed (although sparingly) in 1950's Hollywood, so it's not as if this was a completely left-field choice in historical context. I'd like to hear your thoughts in the comments section, though I will delete any ugly, venomous or historically inaccurate comments, which have no place on my channel. Peter Fitzgerald Watch more about Joan Crawford's career at:    • Joan Crawford At Warner Bros. Part 1   PLEASE ”LIKE” & SUBSCRIBE Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, parody, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.