Lincoln Motion Picture Company staff, c.1921. From left Clarence A. Brooks (secretary), actress Beulah Hall Jones, Noble Johnson (president), Dudley Brooks (assistant secretary) and Dr. James Smith (treasurer)
The Lincoln Motion Picture Company was an American film production company founded in 1916 by Noble Johnson and George Perry Johnson.[1] Noble Johnson was president of the company, and the secretary was actor Clarence A. Brooks. Dr. James T. Smith was treasurer, and Dudley A. Brooks was the assistant secretary.[2] The company is known as the first producer of race movies.[3][4][5] Established in Omaha, Nebraska, the company relocated to Los Angeles the following year. It remained in operation until 1921, closing shortly after announcing a final project, The Heart of a Negro.[6] The point of the creation of Lincoln's was to eliminate the stereotypical roles of "slapstick comedy" in Hollywood at the time for Black actors and actresses. The "best advertised and most widely known Race Corporation in the world" is the famous slogan for the company.[7]
In the first two decades of the 20th century, African American audiences were ignored by film studios. Because African American audiences were ignored, there was a high demand for films geared to catering to black audiences. Thus bringing about the need for black motion picture production companies.
The Lincoln Motion Picture Company is considered the first all-Black movie production company,[8] building a reputation for making films that showcased African American talent in the film industry. The company made and distributed only five films. The first film that was created and produced by the Lincoln Motion Picture Company was The Realization of a Negro's Ambition (1916).[7] This was the first film that would portray and show the Black middle class. These films were limited to African American audiences in churches, schools, and "Colored Only" theaters, despite the Johnson brothers wanting a wider audience. Unfortunately, production expenses and low sales halted future films to be made and distributed. Noble left his position as president to become an actor at Universal Pictures, with Dr. James T. Smith taking over the position. Speculation tells that the films that starred Johnson were released by the company at this time were commercially more successful than the white owned Universal Studios.[7] The Lincoln Motion Picture Company lasted until 1921.[2]
Although the Lincoln Motion Picture Company did not last long, it was influential in the African American community. This company inspired the movement of more ethnic movie companies.
Unreleased future projects
The Lincoln Motion Picture Company had future plans to release a film titled The Heart of a Negro. The film never saw the light of day due to the company's closure. Today, the cancelled film is considered lost media. The company closed after briefly relocating to Los Angeles, canceling the film due to the studio's general failure to operate. The Lincoln Motion Picture group faced many problems over the course of its' five-year run; some notable issues include a lack of funding, the complete absence of a multi-ethnic audience, production expense, minimal sales, and segregation making it almost impossible to show the film in a general theater as the film was panned in "Whites Only" screenings if not outright banned entirely.[8]
↑Sampson, Henry T. Blacks in Black and White: A Source Book on Black Films (1997), p. 27
↑Flamming, Douglas. Bound for Freedom: Black Los Angeles in Jim Crow America, University of California Press, p. 89 (2005) – ISBN0-520-23919-9
12Sampson, Henry T. Blacks in Black and White: A Source Book on Black Films, page 39
123McClure, Michelle (2000). Black Camera - A Micro Journal of Black Film Studies. United States: Black Film Center/Archive, Indiana University. pp.1–8.
Berry, S. Torriano. The 50 Most Influential Black Films: A Celebration of African-American Talent, Determination, Citadel Press, (2001) – ISBN0-8065-2133-3
Bowser, Pearl. Oscar Micheaux and His Circle: African-American Filmmaking and Race Cinema of the Silent Era, Indiana University Press, (2001) – ISBN0-253-33994-4
Cripps, Thomas. Slow Fade to Black: The Negro in American Film, 1900-1942, Oxford University Press, (1977) - ASINB019NE3UPK
Jones, George William. Black Cinema Treasures: Lost and Found, University of North Texas Press, (1991) – ISBN0-929398-26-2
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