I'm sure when this film was made in 1934, it was considered a breakthrough and sympathetic. But viewing it through my 21st century perspective, sympathetic to whom. The story of an African American, women (colored then), devoted to a single parented, white women that had taken her in and her "white" looking "black" daughter (if you add two drops of chocolate syrup to a glass of milk, is it chocolate milk? Ah, the myth of white purity). Delilah Johnson (Louis Beavers) is devoted to the white women so much to the point of infantine behavior. With every phrase of this film I hear racism and condescension. The preposition is Claudette Colbert is doing Louis Beavers a favor by giving the homeless single mother a place to stay. For this Beavers's character (and characters Beavers's depicts throughout her acting career) subjugates her humanity. Beavers's character fauns over Colbert's character to the point of, "enough already"! Delilah gives Beatrice Pullman (Colbert) her family's, passed-down-for-generations secret pancake recipe after just telling her she would take it to her grave. The nexus for the series of events to follow is the delicious pancake recipe held by Delilah Johnson and her descendants. Beatrice Pullman is portrayed as the financial wizard in taking the idea to commercial success (something a black women was incapable of doing, see Madam C.J. Walker). A fortune is made on Delilah's recipe and when Delilah is asked to sign for 20% of the proceeds that her recipe created she states that money is not important to her, but, she would like enough money set aside so she can have a grand funeral, "I loves me a good funeral." Peola, Delilah's "high yalla" daughter is in constant torment, because Jessie, Beatrice's daughter of the same age as Peola makes her aware that she has a percentage of black "blood." Peola is portrayed to have a high level of intellect which will aide her to deal with her curse of having partial black blood coursing though her veins. As a young woman, Peola is sent to a "high tone" (Negro) college "down south, no doubt to be surrounded by other not-quite white tormented souls to be trained to pass in American's Negro class. I can go on about the insulting, racist precepts this movie is all about. I guess at the time this movie was made, this was Hollywood's attempt to offer an explanation about something about racial tolerance in America. To the films credit, an Asia man appears in the pancake restaurant in a non-stereotypical character, in the briefest of speaking roles. Very radical for sure in 1934 (of course this was pre WWII)! Was it to say that if you are a black person that appears "white" looking, you should hate your African genetics and accept your burden? Or if you are a white person, that you are vindicate from the physical, social, cultural, economic and human brutality that has been heaped on people of African decent by white supremacy as long as you rescue the "Negros" from their ignorance? I guess the ultimate message of this movie was to not deny who you are. Typical of white America to preach to people of African decent!