Mantan the Funnyman: The Life and Times of Mantan Moreland Review

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(More customer reviews)Being a Mantan Moreland fan for years, collecting his films and reading what little I could find out about his personal and professional life, I was blown away by this book. I respect what the reviewer before me says that it's probably not an ideal read for someone that never heard of Mantan, but for those of use who have researched the man, it fills in a lot of blanks.
In my search for Mantan Moreland all-black cast films, I met via email and telephone an older man who sold obscure films, and had worked at a New York movie theater as a teenager. There, he got to meet Mantan Moreland a few times when Mantan did promo appearances. He described Moreland as "... a very private individual. He was very reserved in person, unlike his screen persona." This reserve is what must frustrate an author, as it limits the number of interviewers who know the person, or well-known exploits of the person. This certainly has hampered Price in his research, although finding Mantan Moreland's daughter was a real coup.
Mr. Price has also explored Mantan's work as it affected him and others. While this could be viewed as somewhat self-indulgent, it also gives a unique context unlike the usual ploy of comparing a person with their times. Rather, it compares a person with the impact he has had on others.
If you are famiiar with Mantan Moreland,and want to know more about him, this is a great book to have.


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Mantan Moreland would become Louisiana s richest gift to the funnyman traditions of Old Hollywood.He would happily wield his charm and charisma as second banana in a slew of films of the 1930s and40s. Moreland found his place in the spotlight, if not quite the sun, during the waxed-and-waning years of the Great God A mighty Depression as These United States lurched back toward prosperity via warfare.Thus situated, Moreland stood his ground for more than a decade before he found himself maneuvered toward a lower station in an upheaval of Cultural Correction.Mantan Moreland was one of Old Hollywood s most energetic comedians all due respect to the enshrined houses of Marx, Fields, Keaton and Chaplin. And Moreland s story, related in the most direct terms short of his own account, shows him to have been the most resilient, defiant and resurgent of that lot, as well. That is, within the limits imposed by the spirit of the times, a forgetful mass audience, and the disloyal marketplace itself.Hopefully Mantan the Funnyman will help Mantan Moreland find his well-deserved place in the sun.

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