It was regarded as a rebellious, unorthodox, bizarre, and outrageously exaggerated film, affronting respectable 1950""s sensibilities, with controversial themes including racism, betrayal of friends, sexual ambiguity, frameups, drugs, and police corruption of power.Outside the Cross Roads restaurant, as the jaunty tune "A Tisket, A Tasket" plays on the soundtrack, he man, wearing a new but ill-fitting suit of clothes, approaches and asks a truck driver (of an "Oklahoma City Transport Company" diesel) for a "lift.The conflict and affronteries continue - one of King""s white-uniformed officers evicts Willie by pushing him off the boat onto his own deck.He performed with his band of acrobatic, ex-carnival "little people" (costumed in Black Fox clothing).Poelzig, who is black and feline himself, describes the age-old myth of the Black Cat which Werdegast believes is "the living embodiment of Evil":Werdegast: It is perhaps the narcotic.