Within Our Gates is a 1920 American silent race drama film produced, written and directed by Oscar Micheaux. The film portrays the contemporary racial situation in the United States during the early twentieth century, the years of Jim Crow, the revival of the Ku Klux Klan, the Great Migration of blacks to cities of the North and Midwest, and the emergence of the "New Negro".
Oscar Devereaux Micheaux (; was an American author, film director and independent producer of more than 44 films. Although the short-lived Lincoln Motion Picture Company was the first movie company owned and controlled by black filmmakers, Micheaux is regarded as the first major African-American feature filmmaker, a prominent producer of race films, and has been described as "the most successful African-American filmmaker of the first half of the 20th century". He produced both silent films and sound films.
Robert Earl Jones, sometimes credited as Earl Jones, was an American actor. One of the first prominent black film stars, Jones was a living link with the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, having worked with Langston Hughes early in his career.
Lying Lips is a 1939 American melodrama race film written and directed by Oscar Micheaux who co-produced the film with aviator Hubert Fauntlenroy Julian, starring Edna Mae Harris, and Robert Earl Jones. Lying Lips was the thirty-seventh film of Micheaux. The film was shot at the Biograph Studios in New York City.
The race film or race movie was a genre of film produced in the United States between about 1915 and the early 1950s, consisting of films produced for black audiences, and featuring black casts. Approximately five hundred race films were produced. Of these, fewer than one hundred remain. Because race films were produced outside the Hollywood studio system, they were largely forgotten by mainstream film historians until they resurfaced in the 1980s on the BET cable network. In their day, race films were very popular among African-American theatergoers. Their influence continues to be felt in cinema and television marketed to African-Americans.
That's Black Entertainment is a 1989 documentary film starring African-American performers and featuring clips from black films from 1929–1957, narrated and directed by William Greaves. The clips are from the Black Cinema Collection of the Southwest Film/Video Archives at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. It is 60 minutes long and was distributed by Video Communications of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Murder Anonymous is a 1955 British crime short film directed by Ken Hughes and featuring Edgar Lustgarten, Peter Arne and Jill Bennett.
The Gunsaulus Mystery is a 1921 American silent race film directed, produced, and written by Oscar Micheaux. The film was inspired by events and figures in the 1913–1915 trial of Leo Frank for the murder of Mary Phagan. The film is now believed to be lost. Micheaux remade the film 1935 as Murder in Harlem.
Swing! is a 1938 American race film directed, produced and written by Oscar Micheaux.
Veiled Aristocrats is a 1932 American pre-Code race film written, directed, produced and distributed by Oscar Micheaux. The film deals with the theme of "passing" by mixed-race African Americans to avoid racial discrimination. It is a remake of The House Behind the Cedars (1927), based on a novel by the same name published in 1900 by Charles W. Chesnutt. Micheaux may have borrowed the new title from a 1923 novel by Gertrude Sanborn.
Blind Faith is a 1998 American made-for-television drama film directed by Ernest R. Dickerson. The movie stars Charles S. Dutton, Courtney B. Vance, Kadeem Hardison, Garland Whitt and Lonette McKee. It premiered in January 1998 on Showtime. The film's screenplay was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, while Dutton received two nominations for awards, and Vance garnered one nomination. Set in the 1950s, during a murder trial, the film deals with themes of racism and homophobia.
Take My Life is a 1947 British crime film directed by Ronald Neame and starring Hugh Williams, Greta Gynt and Marius Goring. It was adapted from Winston Graham's 1947 novel of the same name.
The Symbol of the Unconquered is a 1920 silent "race film" drama produced, written and directed by Oscar Micheaux. Premiering only a few years after The Birth of a Nation, the film was advertised for its negative depiction of the Ku Klux Klan. It is Micheaux's fourth feature-length film and, along with Within Our Gates, is among his early surviving works.
The Spider's Web is a 1926 American film directed by Oscar Micheaux which stars Evelyn Preer. It was remade in 1932 as The Girl from Chicago.
Clarence Ahart Brooks (1896–1969) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous films including in starring roles. With Noble Johnson and James Thomas Smith he formed Lincoln Motion Picture Company in 1916. He starred in the 1921 film By Right of Birth.
Lionel John Monagas was an American actor originally from Caracas, Venezuela. A member of the original Lafayette Players company of Harlem, he appeared in theatrical and film productions.
Alfred N. Sack was an American businessperson, newspaper publisher and the proprietor of film distribution, production, and the theater-owning business Sack Amusements in the United States.. He collaborated with Spencer Williams to make films with Black casts. Sack Amusement Enterprises was the leading distributor of this type of film between 1920 and 1950.
The Midnight Ace is a 1928 American crime film. Abe DeComathiere, Mabel Kelly and Oscar Roy Dugas starred. The film was directed by John H. Wade for Swan Micheaux's Dunbar Film Company. Swan Micheaux was Oscar Micheaux's brother. Swan had worked for Oscar before a falling out over his management of finances. Swan left and formed the Dunbar film company but it only made this film.
Thirty Years Later, is a 1928 American black and white silent drama film directed and produced by Oscar Micheaux for Micheaux Films. Thirty Years Later film was based on Henry Francis Downing' The Racial Tangle. The film stars William Edmonson and Mabel Kelly in the lead roles, whereas A.B. DeComathiere, Ardelle Dabney and Gertrude Snelson made supportive roles. The film revolves on the love affair between George Eldridge Van Paul, the son of a white father and a black mother, and Hester Morgan, a black girl.
Dorothy Van Engle was an American actress who performed throughout the 1930s. She starred in Oscar Micheaux films, including Murder in Harlem and Swing!. Beautiful and sophisticated, she wore fashionable "updos" in her films.
