PIONEERS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN CINEMA: An Important New DVD Set

Sometimes the importance of a DVD set is so enormous, it is difficult to fully explain the depth of its significance. Such is the new Kino Lorber five-disc set “Pioneers of African American Cinema.”

Covering the work of black performers and filmmakers from the silent era into the post war period, “Pioneers of African American Cinema” explores areas of filmmaking that cinema history often overlooks. While there has been some respect given to such early films as Spencer Williams’ “The Blood of Jesus” (1941) or the pioneering work of producer Oscar Micheaux, this set also offers a variety of little known gems that stand out for historical, sociocultural, and aesthetic reasons.

On disc one, the short films of the Ebony film company open the set with comedies made between 1915 and 1918. This production company, out of Chicago, was white-owned and used black casts for films to be shown to both the white and black communities. There was at least one African American on the board of directors, and his intention was to show that black people could make good comedies without resorting to stereotypes.

“Two Knights of Vaudeville” (1915) is a fascinating short where two men bring a lady to a vaudeville show when they find some tickets. Their reaction to a contortionist and a juggler is funny, but it also allows us to see actual stage acts from 100 years ago. Inspired to put on their own show, the three of them create a makeshift vaudeville performance for their community. The acts go wrong, much to the amusement of the audience, who eventually respond by throwing things at the stage. “Mercy the Mummy Mumbled” (1918) is interesting as having a horror element (a mad scientist trying to locate an Egyptian mummy) and the predictable “scare comedy” limited only to the most comical character in the movie. It is this character who is talked into replacing the mummy by his slick friend who wants to get a meeting with the scientist’s daughter, with whom he is smitten. “A Reckless Rover” (1918), about a lazy black man working in a Chinese laundry, features an opium smoking sequence that is outrageously hilarious. Turns out he was inadvertently smoking rat poison (the Chinese lettering confused him).

The disc continues with some of Oscar Micheaux’s early films. The feature film “Within Our Gates” (1919), the earliest surviving film directed by a black filmmaker, is nicely restored from the best existing sources. The only surviving print of “Symbol of the Unconquered: A Story of the KKK” (1920) follows, along with the existing fragment from “By Right of Birth” (1921). The first disc closes with the noted feature “Body and Soul” (1925) starring Paul Robeson, and some footage of Oscar Micheaux. These feature films and the existing footage, show how a black filmmaker’s work was progressing creatively within a system that gave him comparatively little attention.

Disc 2 opens with the one reel of footage that exists from Richard E. Norman’s “Regeneration” (1923). And even this excerpt is riddled with decomposition. Its inclusion reminds us of the importance of film preservation. The Norman studios, located in Jacksonville, Florida, produced films with all black casts during the 1920s

The only complete surviving Norman production, “The Flying Ace” is included here, having been restored by the Library of Congress. This drama about a World War One fighter pilot coming home and asked to solve a robbery and capture the thieves, is important on several levels, mostly historically. This set allows us to see a silent film with a black cast that is acted with polish and nuance, and not a lot of the comical stereotyping found elsewhere.

Disc 2 also offers the features “Ten Nights in a Bar Room” (1926) and “The Scar of Shame” (1929). But some of the most fascinating footage here are some home movies presenting the actual African American experience during the 1920s, from the wealthy and well dressed to the hard working poor. Jones filmed these movies from 1924-1928 to show schools, businesses, and regular life events in various black areas of Oklahoma. The historical significance of this footage is beyond description.

Disc 3 begins with “Eleven PM,” the only one of two features directed by African American filmmaker Richard D. Maurice. He had a clever visual style, and it would be interesting to see what his development might have been if he’d made more films.

“Hell Bound Train” was created by evangelists James and Eloyce Gist, showing the devil engineering a train that has different sinners in each car. The film was in fragmented formed and painstakingly restored by S. Torriano Berry. It is one of the most surreal and fascinating films in this entire collection. The fact that the Gists’ two other features – “Verdict Not Guilty” and “Heaven-Bound Travelers,” are also included on this disc, really gives us a clear perspective of their work. A Bonus on this disc features S. Torriano Berry discussing the works of James and Eloyce Gist.

“Darktown Revue” (1931) is the first Oscar Micheaux sound film, and features musical and comedy acts from vaudeville, including Tim Moore (later of TV’s “Amos ‘n Andy”) and his partner Andrew Tribble. (“I saw a cat talking polish to me – it was a polecat!”). Micheaux followed up this sound short with his sound feature “The Exile,” also included on this disc. The historical importance of these being the first African American sound films can not be overstated.

Disc 3 concludes with “Hot Biskits” (1931), a short directed by Spencer Williams who later became famous as Andy on the “Amos N Andy” TV series. Williams was a filmmaker of talent and vision, and it is evident in this short. The fluidity of the action, the framing of the image, and the director’s shot composition are all evident. Williams made films that were true to the African American experience, and included serious drama and silly comedy. “Hot Biskits” was completely unknown until recently, when it was discovered, restored, and has now been included here. It is one of the rarest films in the set and the earliest known film directed by Williams.

By the time we get to Disc 4, we are getting into the period where Oscar Micheaux was making race films rather than movies about race. These were popular dramas, comedies, westerns in the same manner as any Hollywood B production. “The Girl From Chicago” is a mystery about a woman getting involved with racketeers who is saved by a government agent. A producer offers a woman a movie role to seduce her in “Ten Minutes To Live.” “Birthright” confronts racism from the perspective of a scholar.

But the best of these is “Veiled Aristocrats,” a drama dealing with light skinned black people passing as white in order to enjoy that lifestyle. When a man returns home to the south after being away 20 years, during which he worked as a lawyer and passed for white, his mother asks that he bring his light skinned sister with him where she can also pass for white, as she is romantically involved with a dark skinned black man with whom her mother disapproves. She reluctantly agrees, is put up in a nice house with black servants who do not realize she isn’t white. She is pursued by a white man until finally she decides to no longer live a lie. She returns home to the man she truly loves.

Disc 5 opens with “The Bronze Buckaroo,” a vintage B western that is quite similar to productions featuring the likes of Gene Autry or Roy Rogers around the same time. Herb Jeffries is the cowboy hero. Disc 5 also features Spencer Williams’ inspiring classic “The Blood of Jesus,” which is considered his best work as an actor and as a director. It is quite impressive what he manages to do on such a low budget. But that doesn’t discount Williams work on the later musical “Dirty Gertie from Harlem USA,” which is competent and entertaining. This disc is rounded out with footage of Zora Neale Hurston and an interview with the Moses Sisters.

This set was produced by Kino Lorber’s Bret Wood, who has an impressive track record with producing classic films for the company, with the assistance of executive producer Paul D. Miller (DJ Spooky), a film historian who has studied African American cinema. Curators Charles Musser (Yale University) and Jacqueline Najuma Stewart (University of Chicago) were further assistance.

It is certainly a writer’s challenge to find words to describe how important a five-disc set like this is to further study of film history, American popular culture, African American History, and general media study. Filmmakers like Oscar Micheaux and Spencer Williams; actors like Williams, Lorenzo Tucker, Herb Jeffries, Francine Everett, Cathryn Caviness, Laurence Criner, and other performers, some of whom made few films, others who worked for years (Jeffries lived to be 100 years old). “Pioneers of African American Cinema” is not just the most important DVD release of this year, it is among the most important of any year.

A must for any library, research center, film buff, or historian.