Musser Charles - Oscar Micheaux & [and] his circle: African-American filmmaking and race cinema of the silent era

OSCAR MICHEAUX AND HIS CIRCLE

Oscar Micheaux (18841951)

African-American Filmmaking and
Race Cinema of the Silent Era

Pearl Bowser, Jane Gaines, and Charles Musser
EDITORS AND CURATORS

This book is a publication of

INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA

iupress.indiana.edu

First paperback edition 2016
2001 by Pearl Bowser, Jane Gaines, and Charles Musser, Eds.
All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.

MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The Library of Congress has cataloged the original edition as follows:

Oscar Micheaux and his circle: African-American filmmaking and race cinema of the silent era / edited by Pearl Bowser, Jane Gaines, and Charles Musser.

p. cm.

Chiefly papers presented at a conference held Jan. 1995, Yale University.

Includes filmographies, bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-253-33994-4 ISBN 0-253-21484-X (pbk.)

1. Micheaux, Oscar, 18841951Criticism and interpretationCongresses. 2. African Americans in motion picturesCongresses. I. Bowser, Pearl, date II. Gaines, Jane, date III. Musser, Charles.

PN1998.3.M494 O83 2001

791.43'0233'092dc21

2001001386

ISBN 978-0-253-02135-9 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-253-02155-7 (eb.)

2 3 4 5 21 20 19 18 17 16

for Spike Lee

In memory of
Toni Cade Bambara

PEARL BOWSER, JANE GAINES, AND CHARLES MUSSER

CLYDE R. TAYLOR

ARTHUR JAFA

SISTER FRANCESCA THOMPSON

CHARLENE REGESTER

MICHELE WALLACE

JANE GAINES

PEARL BOWSER AND LOUISE SPENCE

CHARLES MUSSER

JAYNA BROWN

COREY K. CREEKMUR

PHYLLIS R. KLOTMAN

CHARLES MUSSER

PEARL BOWSER

PEARL BOWSER AND CHARLES MUSSER

GLORIA J. GIBSON

J. RONALD GREEN

COMPILED BY CHARLES MUSSER, COREY K. CREEKMUR, PEARL BOWSER, J. RONALD GREEN, CHARLENE REGESTER, AND LOUISE SPENCE

COMPILED BY CHARLES MUSSER

COMPILED BY PHYLLIS R. KLOTMAN

COMPILED BY KRISTEN BARNES, JANE GAINES, FRED NEUMANN, AND HANK OKAZAKI

Happy Though Married. Screen Snapshots Corporation. 1920. 35mm. 10 minutes. Produced by Jack Cohn and Louis Lewyn. Includes footage of director Oscar Micheaux. Print courtesy of the British Film Institute.

Within Our Gates. Micheaux Film Corporation. 1920. 35mm. 5,935 ft. (originally 8 reels). Produced, written, and directed by Oscar Micheaux. Evelyn Preer (Sylvia Landry), William Starks (Jasper Landry), Mattie Edwards (Jasper Landrys wife), Grant Edwards (Emil Landry) E. G. Tatum (Efrem, Girdlestones faithful servant), Jack Chenault (Larry Prichard), S. T. Jacks (Reverend Wilson Jacobs), Grant Gorman (Armand Girdlestone), Flo Clements (Alma Prichard), Jimmie Cook, Charles D. Lucas (Dr. Vivian), Ralph Johnson (Philip Girdlestone), James D. Ruffin (Conrad Drebert), Bernice Ladd (Mrs. Geraldine Stratton), Mrs. Evelyn (Mrs. Elena Warwick), William Smith (Philip Gentry, detective), LaFont Harris (Emil as a young adult). Filmed at the Capitol City Studios, Chicago, and in the Chicago area in 1919. Print courtesy of the Library of Congress.

A Pictorial View of Idlewild. Chicago Daily News Film Service. 1927. 35mm. 2,234 ft. (3 reels). Filmed at the black summer resort of Idlewild, Michigan. Re-edited and copyrighted by Benjamin C. Wilson and Edward Reed, 1979. Print courtesy of Library of Congress.

The Symbol of the Unconquered. Micheaux Film Corporation. 1920. 35mm. 3,852 ft. (originally 8 reels). Produced, written, and directed by Oscar Micheaux. With Iris Hall (Evon Mason), Walker Thompson (Hugh Van Allen), Lawrence Chenault (Jefferson Driscoll), Edward E. King (Tom Cutschawl), Jim Burris, Mattie V. Wilkes (Driscolls mother), E. G. Tatum, Leigh Lee Whipper (Tugi Boj, Indian fakir), George Catlin (Dick Mason), James Burroughs, Edward Fraction (Peter Kaden), Lena L. Loach (Christina). Filmed in the New York City area. Fall 1920. Print courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art.

[Zora Neale Hurston.] 19271929. 16mm. 400 ft. (Selected 100foot rolls). a) [Logging, April 1928]; b) [Children dancing and girl rocking on porch, January/February 1929]; c) Childrens games and baptism, August 1929]; and d) [Kossula, last of the Takkoi slaves, February 1928]. Field footage taken by Zora Neale Hurston at the Everglades Cypress Lumber Company near Loughman, Florida. Funded by Mrs. Rufus Osgood Mason. Print courtesy of the Library of Congress.

The Flying Ace. Norman Film Manufacturing Company. 1926. 35mm. 5,005 ft. (6 reels). Produced, written, and directed by David Norman. With J. Lawrence Criner (Captain William Stokes), George Colvin (Thomas Sawtelle, stationmaster at Mayport), Kathryn Boyd (Ruth Sawtelle, his daughter), Harold Platts (Finley Tucker, local aviator), Steve Reynolds (Peg, Stokess mechanic), Boise DeLegge (Blair Kimball, paymaster of the MN&O Railroad), Lyons Daniels (Jed Splivens, local constable), Sam Jordan (Dr. Maynard, the local dentist), Dr. R. L. Brown (Howard Mac Andrews, general manager of the MN&O Railroad). Produced at the Norman Studios, Arlington, Fla. Print courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Body and Soul. Micheaux Film Corporation. 1925. 35mm. 7,700 ft. (originally 9 reels). Produced, written, and directed by Oscar Micheaux. With Paul Robeson (Rgt. Rev. Isiaah T. Jenkins, Sylvester), Mercedes Gilbert (Martha Jane), Lawrence Chenault (Yellow Curly Hinds), Julia Theresa Russell (Isabelle), Marshall Rodgers (saloon owner), Chester A. Alexander (Deacon Simpkins), Walter Cornick (Brother Amos), Madame Robinson (Sister Lucy), Lillian Johnson (Sister Caline), and Tom Fletcher. Filmed in the New YorkNew Jersey area in late 1924. Print courtesy of the George Eastman House.

Hell-Bound Train. ca. 1930. 16mm. ca. 20 minutes. Produced by James E. Gist, Jr., with commentary and additional contributions by Eloise King Patrick Gist. Print courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Ten Nights in a Barroom. Colored Players Film Corporation. 1926. 35mm. 4,559 ft. (originally 8 reels.) Written and directed by Roy Calnek; presented by David Starkman and Louis Groner. With Charles S. Gilpin (Joe Morgan), Lawrence Chenault (Simon Slade), Harry Henderson (Willie Hammond, the judges son), Arline Mickey (Mehitable Cartwright), Myra Burwell (Jannie Morgan, Joes wife), William A Clayton, Jr. (Harvey Green), William R. Johnson (Judge Hammond), Edward Moore (Sample Swichel), William F. Milton (Alfred Romaine), Reginald Hoffer (William Carr), Ethel Smith, Sam Sadler, and Boxana Mickelby. Based on William W. Pratts play