Third period: from the 1950s to late 1960s
The portrayal of disabled people in films degenerates at this time. This backwards move was given impetus by the McCarthy 'witchhunts' in the USA, when many filmmakers were subpoenaed to attend the House Un-American Activities Committee to identify their friends as disloyal to the USA. Nearly all left-wing filmmakers and actors were denounced as Communists and barred from working. People responsible for the films with social comment that came out at the end of the War were blacklisted, and the Studios in Hollywood went into self-censorship mode. This meant going back to a range of movies influenced by the previous stereotypes. A rash of films about civilian disabled people overcoming their impairment were made, eg:
- Bad Day at Black Rock (USA 1954 Dir John Sturges), was a Western, in which Spencer Tracey played the mysterious one-armed John Macreedy. Alone and unaided, he depicts the stereotype of 'super-crip', as he uncovers what happened to Japanese Americans during World War 2 in the town.
- In the UK, Kenneth Moore played Douglas Bader in the unabashed 'triumph over tragedy' 'bio-pic', Reach for the Sky (UK 1956 Dir Lewis Gilbert).
- Sunrise at Campobello (USA 1960 Dir Vincent J. Donehue) follows F.D. Roosevelt from contracting polio, to walking ten steps, to making a speech to launch his political career. The reality was that Roosevelt conducted his Presidency from his wheelchair, although he concealed this from the American people.
- The Miracle Worker (USA 1962 Dir Arthur Penn), about deaf-blind Helen Keller learning to communicate with the help of Annie Sullivan, also shows a disabled person 'triumphing over tragedy'.
Dr No
The trouble with this stereotype is that it makes disabled people feel they can only be accepted if they prove they are better than non-disabled people, and it encourages non-disabled people in their view that disabled people are of little value unless they behave like 'super-crips'.
1962 saw the beginning of a bad habit of featuring disabled baddies in the extremely popular James Bond films. This has continued in every Bond movie since.
- Dr No (UK 1962 Dir Terence Young) featured the maniacal Dr No with his two false hands.
Other films followed Bond's example.
- Dr Strangelove (USA 1963 Dir Stanley Kubrick) featured Peter Sellers as the mad, wheelchair-using, ex-Nazi scientist advising the President as the world moves toward nuclear destruction.
Hollywood also recycled some of the best-known classic stories featuring characters with impairments during this period:
- Peter Pan (USA 1953 Dir Hamilton Luske/Clyde Geronimi/Wilfred Jackson), featuring disabled Captain Hook, was remade as a Disney cartoon.
- Treasure Island (USA 1954 Dir Ewald André Dupont), with Long John Silver and Blind Pew, was remade for the sixth and seventh times.
In Britain, Hammer Horror movies pumped out a steady stream of films featuring disabled anti-heroes.
