Even though these films confirmed society's belief of the Negro as the bottom of the social hierarchy, musicals gave African Americans an opportunity to add to the limited role of "blackness" labeled by whites. In Hollywood musicals, African Americans were prominently used for the amusement of whites. Including all black cast musicals, Hollywood's musicals were intended for white audiences. Contrasting the "separate cinema", where race films were shown to black audiences throughout the South. These films developed a narrative that demonstrated the strengths of African-American performers. These race films also provided African Americans with the opportunity to play lead roles rather than the limited Hollywood roles of servants, maids, or clowns. The existence of the musical genre in both Hollywood and race films generated a segregated society. This segregation allowed society to witness the discrepancies between both sources of entertainment, Hollywood and independent race filmmakers. Mystery/ Thriller "Mystery/ Thriller films allowed both black- and white- owned race film production companies the opportunity to showcase a wide range of black characters in roles such as doctors, attorneys, judges, bankers, and policemen, depictions that went against the grain of the limited roles mainstream Hollywood films afforded black characters". Black characters were able to transform their mediocre roles as a "spooked servant" into central elements of the film. For instance, in the 1940s Stepin Fetchit and Mantan Moreland played unforgettable roles in the Charlie Chan mysteries, and their characters even become more popular than Charlie Chan himself. Contemporary mystery/thriller films cast African American like Eddie Murphy, Morgan Freeman, and Denzel Washington in leading roles. Western During the early 1900s Western movies became the most popular genre in Hollywood. Herbert Jeffrey noticed the interest and appeal of the white singing cowboys on screen and the lack of African Americans that were cast in that role. Even though, about one third of all cowboys that settled in the West were in fact African Americans. These cowboys escaped slavery and were often offered save houses with various Indian tribes. Consequently, after Herbert Jeffrey's hard work, the first black cowboy, Jeff Kincaid, made his first appearance on film in Harlem on the Prairie (1937). Despite the segregation laws set in place, Harlem on the Prairie was nationally distributed to both black and white theatres across the country. The success of the film inspired many similar films and bettered the view of African Americans to society. For instance,