Erased: An Actor of Color's Journey Through the Heyday of Hollywood (HC) (2024)

Maximus Wyld had his heyday in 1940s-50s Hollywood. Of mixed race Black, Chinese and Native American descent, he was "the actor with a thousand faces", essentially interpreting ethnic roles: Indian chief, Mexican revolutionary, oriental dandy... A veritable reinterpretation of the myth of American cinema through the prism of minorities, Erased reveals the political and social dimension of Hollywood productions. Maximus Ohanzee Wildhorse, renamed " Maximus Wyld" by Hollywood, was a talented, prized, admired comedian. His filmography is an anthology of cinema: Vertigo, the Maltese Falcon, Sunset Boulevard, the Prisoner of the Desert, Rebecca... Copper faced and with unprecedented beauty and animal presence, he paved the way for colored stars in a segregationist climate. After him, Sydney Poitier, Harry Belafonte and Yul Brynner, were able to reach the rank of stars. His charisma ignited white cinema and shamelessly swayed its racial hegemony. Maximus Wyld was a pioneer. However, no credits mention his name. On celluloid there is no imprint of his face. Maximus the precursor rests in the graveyard of Hollywood amnesia. What event pushed him into limbo? What occult and superior force has stored his career in a cinematic Bermuda Triangle?