The Afro-American (Baltimore), October 1, 1938
GOD’S STEPCHILDREN*
As writer, director, and producer.
Sc: Based on Micheaux’s and Alice B. Russell’s unpublished story “Naomi, Negress”
Ph: Lester Lang. Ed: Patricia Rooney, Leonard Weiss. Sound: Ed Fenton, Nelson H. Minnerly, E. A. Schabbehor, George Wicke. Music: Leon Gross. (Produced by A. Burton Russell for Micheaux Productions)
Cast: Alice B. Russell (Mrs. James Saunders), Trixie Smith (visitor), Jacqueline Lewis (Naomi, as a child), Charles Thompson (Jimmie, as a child), Ethel Moses (Mrs. Cush-inberry, the teacher/Eva, her daughter), Carman Newsome (Jimmie, as an adult), Gloria Press (Naomi, as an adult), Alex Lovejoy (Cowper, a gambler), Columbus Jackson (hustler), Laura Bowman (Aunt Carrie), Sam Patterson (banker), Charles Moore (Superintendent of Schools), Cherokee Thornton (Clyde Wade), Consuelo Harris (muscle dancer), Tyler Twins (tap dancers), Sammy Gardiner (tap dancer), Leon Gross and his Orchestra.
“For viewers inclined to dislike Micheaux’s style, disagree with his ideology, or distrust his loyalty and character, this film might cinch the case; yet for viewers who celebrate or can get beyond his unorthodox, insouciant, and improvisatory style; who support his ideology (or find it at least reasonable); and who respect his integrity and his character, this film may be his best. It is certainly one of his most fascinating.”
J. Ronald Green, With a Crooked Stick—The Films of Oscar Micheaux
BIRTHRIGHT*
As writer, director, and producer.
Sc: Based on the T. S. Stribling novel.
Ph: Robert Marshall. Sound: George Wickmer, Wickmer Noiseless Recording. (Produced by A. Burton Russell for Micheaux Productions)
Cast: Carman Newsome (Peter Siner), Alex Lovejoy (Tump Pack), Trixie Smith (Caroline Siner), Ethel Moses (Cissie Dildine), Hazel Diaz (Ida May), C. R. Chase (Henry Hooker), Herbert E. Jelly (Sheriff Dawson Bobbs), Alice B. Russell (Nan Berry), Harlan Knight (Tomwit), Ida Forsyne (Old Rose), George E. Lessey (Captain Renfrew), Harry Moses (Dr. Jallup), Robert Alderdice (Sam Awkright), John Ward, Columbus Jackson, Tom Dillon, Allen Lee, Leon Gross and his Orchestra.
“A very unusual film of colored life. Some patrons who have seen it have praised it for its frankness, while others have said that it is too daring a subject that should not be brought to the screen.”
Philadelphia Afro-American, March 11, 1939
1939
LYING LIPS*
As writer, director, and producer.
Sc: Based on Micheaux’s unpublished story “The Story of Elsie Bellwood.” Ph: Lester Lang. Ed: Leonard Weiss. Dialogue Dir: John Kollin.
Night Club Sequences: Charlie Davis. Musical Dir: Jack Shilkret. Recording: Nelson H. Minnerly.
(Alfred N. Sack Presents for Sack Amusement Enterprises)
Cast: Edna Mae Harris (Elsie Bellwood), Carman Newsome (Benjamen Hadnott), Robert Earl Jones (Detective Wanzer), Frances Williams (Elizabeth Landry Green), Cherokee Thornton (John Landry), Slim Thompson (Clyde Landry), Gladys Williams (Aunt Josephine), Juano Hernandez (Rev. Henry Bryson), Henry ‘Gong’ Gines (Ned Green), Don DeLeo (Farina), Charles LaTorre (Garotti), Robert Paquin (District Attorney), George Reynolds (Lt. Donovan), Amanda Randolph (Jail Matron), Teddy Hale (Young Boy), Frank Costello, J. Lewis Johnson.
“It’s about a beautiful girl who is led astray because she wants beautiful things…You see, I am trying to build up the morals of my race.”
Colonel Hubert Fauntleroy Julian, Time magazine, January 28, 1940
1940
THE NOTORIOUS ELINOR LEE*
As writer, director, and producer.
Associate Producer: Hubert Julian. Ph: Lester Lang. Ed: Leonard Weiss. Recording: Nelson Minnerly. Dialogue Dir: John Kollin. Music: Jack Shilkret. Songs: Sally Gooding, Ellen May Waters.
(Alfred N. Sack Presents for Sack Amusement Enterprises)
Cast: Gladys Williams (Elinor Lee), Robert Earl Jones (Benny Blue), Carman Newsome (Norman Haywood), Edna Mae Harris (Fredi Welsh), Vera Burrelle (Sherry Johnson), Eddie Lemons (Brownlee), Columbus Jackson (Cracker Johnson), Laura Bowman (Benny’s Mother), Madeline Donagan (Mary), Amanda Randolph (Mary’s Mother), Robert Paquin (Reporter), O. W. Polk (Blakely), Charles LaTorre (Farbacher), Don DeLeo (Feretti), Abe Simon (Hererra), Sandy McDonald (Bradley), Harry Kadison (Max Wagner), Lew Hearn (Joe Grim), Jack Effrat (Chief Reporter), Harry Ballou (Announcer), Sam Taub (Commentator), Lew Goldberg (Referee), Juano Hernandez (John Arthur), “Rubberneck” Holmes and Ralph Brown (dancers), Frances Williams, Kenn Freeman, Sally Gooding, Ellen May Waters, with Fred Palmer and his Orchestra.
“Benny Blue’s win is not just a ‘class act,’ it is a successful class action by the best elements of the black community, and it results in class advancement on a broad front. The still-long-overdue need for African-American economic progress on a broad front is, of course, what Martin Luther King, Jr. was forcing upon the national agenda when he was assassinated a quarter-century later; Micheaux’s portrayal of economic rights as inseparable from the praxis of civil rights was right on target.”
J. Ronald Green, With a Crooked Stick—The Films of Oscar Micheaux
1947
THE BETRAYAL
As writer, director, and producer.
Sc: Based on Micheaux’s novel The Wind from Nowhere. Ph: Marvin Spoor.
Cast: Leroy Collins (Martin Eden), Myra Stanton (Deborah Stewart), Verlie Cowan (Linda Lee), Harris Gaines (Dr. Lee), Yvonne Machen (Terry Lee), Alice B. Russell (Mary Lee), William Byrd (Jack Stewart), Frances De Young (Hattie Bowles), Arthur McCool (Joe Bowles), Vernon Duncan (Duval), David Jones (Crook), Edward Fraction (Nelson Boudreaux), Lou Vernon (Ned Washington), Vernetties Moore (Eunice), Jesse Johnson (Preble), Barbara Lee (Jessie Brooks), Gladys Williams (Mrs. Dewey), Richard Lawrence, David Jones, Curley Ellison, Sue McBride.
“There before her at last stood grandpa Boudreaux, the first time she’d ever seen him—and she was shocked! For he was a—colored man! She realized in that moment then, that she was not a white girl—and never had been; that she was colored too, colored—just like him!”
Newspaper advertisement for The Betrayal at the Bill Robinson Theatre, Forty-third and Central, Los Angeles Sentinel, November 24, 1949
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Any book about Oscar Micheaux or race cinema or the history of African-Americans in Hollywood must begin, somewhat defensively, with an explanation of the skin-color terminology of the past. This issue is especially relevant to Micheaux, as in his films he belittles clear-cut identification (or categorizations) of race. He himself used a variety of terms, sometimes even wielding the n-word in his scripts and being attacked for it. One hundred years ago, when Micheaux was entering manhood, “black people” (a common phrase today) didn’t call themselves “black people.” Some people of African or slave descent called themselves “Ethiopians” or “Abyssinians.” Already there was a vigorous debate over whether the best progressive term was “colored” or “Negro,” or “negro” with a small n, which Micheaux favored in his earliest novels. (I have tried to preserve his spellings as well as his varying terminology.)
A single passage from the autobiography of famed bandleader Cab Calloway, roughly Micheaux’s contemporary, illustrates the problem and contradictions. “Our people were colored or Negro, never black,” mused the fair-skinned Calloway in Of Minnie the Moocher and Me (coauthored with Bryant Rollins and published by Crowell in 1976). “To call somebody black was an insult; and, of course, to call me black, light-skinned as I was, was a triple insult…
“Even black people have given me a hard way to go sometimes. They’ve called me dirty yeller and poor white. That went on for years in the thirties and forties. Some people were bothered bcause they couldn’t classify me easily; they thought I was Cuban or Puerto Rican. It’s a horrible thing when people want to classify you or resort to name calling, but I’ve come through it because I’ve always known…hell, I’m a nigger and proud of it.”
&nbs
p; All these terms crop up in my book. I have done my best to keep true to Micheaux’s vernacular, or the language of the times in context, and I apologize in advance to anyone who prefers contemporary expressions. To some extent, this is a continuing debate, and even “African-American” is questioned nowadays by people without clear or direct African ancestry.
Also, any book about Oscar Micheaux must begin by paying tribute to the authors and scholars who have gone before. This book stands on their shoulders. Alphabetically the list would begin with “Bowser, Pearl,” whose research, many articles, public appearances, interviews, several books, and documentary film have led the reappraisal of Micheaux’s life and work; she was honored with the Jean Mitry Award for her role in the rediscovery of Micheaux by the world’s silent film community at the annual Le Giornate del Cinema Muto in Sacile, Italy, in 2001. This book couldn’t have been written without the benefit of Bowser’s oral history interviews with Elton Fax, Shingzie Howard, Carlton Moss, and Edna Mae Harris. I was privileged to meet her, hear her speak about Micheaux, and gain her trust and encouragement. Others, especially the members of the Oscar Micheaux Society, whose published works I have cited, have dug into many facets of Micheaux’s life, and spread appreciation of his work.
In previous accounts of his career, Micheaux’s silent film work has attracted the most attention, and two earlier biographies had understandable limitations. When Micheaux died in 1951, he left no archives of his papers, not having access to the privilege extended to most important Hollywood directors (whose professional files were generally compiled and preserved by the studio system from which Micheaux was barred). Anyone who knew Micheaux well and who wasn’t quite out of their teens at the time of his death would now be in their late seventies. I’ve never done fewer primary-source interviews for a book. But the first one—with Leroy Collins—was substantive: Micheaux had been on my list of possible subjects for a long while when, out of the blue, Martin J. Keenan—a Micheaux champion who lives in Great Bend, Kansas—called and urged me to get off my duff and get down to Chicago to talk to Leroy Collins, the star of The Betrayal, Micheaux’s last motion picture. That is what I did, and publishing that interview was my first step toward this project. (Collins was an invaluable resource throughout the job.) Still, Keenan wouldn’t leave me alone; he talked my ear off (by phone, e-mail, and letter), insisting that I proceed with a full-fledged biography.
When I wasn’t traveling to places where Micheaux lived, I spent my time reading other people’s articles and books; communicating with archivists and librarians in cities where Micheaux had lived or worked; searching out land deeds, court records, and government documents; and reading on microfilm the muzzy print of the black press of Micheaux’s era. Many people warned me, “A biography of Micheaux is impossible. He was too much of a liar. Too secretive. There aren’t enough records.” That challenge intrigued me. I did my best to double-check and honor the earlier research. I focused on gaps and did my utmost to contribute some modest discoveries. I made guesses here and there (it is surely impossible to reconstruct accurately the actual sequence of production and release, much less a precise filmography, for Micheaux). Of course, I always have my own ideas, my own preoccupations, and point of view. In the end I lined up everything chronologically and tried to understand the “life” and tell the “story.” I hope it winds up as Micheaux would have liked, with a strong plot, a meritorious theme, at least one true woman, and a strong-jawed hero overdue for acclaim.
Thank you Matthew Bernstein, Pearl Bowser, Leroy Collins, J. Ronald Green, Karen P. Neuforth, Jacqueline Najuna Stewart, Betti Carol VanEpps-Taylor, and Dana F. White for reading the work-in-progress and making sharp criticisms and worthwhile suggestions. Of course, no one but myself is to blame for any errors of fact or interpretation.
SOURCES
INTERVIEWS: Leroy Collins, Jesse Johnson, Myra Stanton Miller, Haskell Wexler.
CORRESPONDENCE, ADVICE, AND ENCOURAGEMENT: Robin Bachin, Ed Barnettt, John Baxter, Stephen J. Bourne, Pearl Bowser, Martha Boyle, R. L. Burns, William Cahill, Earl Calloway, Thomas Cripps, James Curtis, Duane DeJoie, Scott Eyman, Paul Fellows, Kathryn Frye, Jane Gaines, Charles Hensey, Stephen Goldfarb, J. Ronald Green, Richard Grupenhoff, James V. Hatch, Charles Higham, Val Holley, Martha Hunter, Helen Imburgia, Martin J. Keenan, Richard Koszarski, Jerren Lamb, Julius Lester, Anne Martin, Fern McBride, Joseph McBride, Grace McLain, Joe Mosbrook, Charles Musser, Karen P. Neuforth, Richard Papousek, James Robert Parish, Richard Porton, Marty Rubin, Nat Segaloff, Anthony Slide, Jacqueline Najuma Stewart, Peter “Hopper” Stone, Michael Tapper, Sister Francesca Thompson, David Thomson, Lawrence Toppman, Richard Vacca, Dana F. White, Allen Woll.
ESPECIALLY: Matthew Bernstein, who stayed loyal and responsive to my every query; and Alice Veren, who coaxed me to visit South Dakota and the Micheaux Film Festival.
RESEARCH ASSISTANCE: Brigitte Burkett, Richmond, Va.; Alfred Patton Davidson, York, Penn.; Bill Fagelson, Austin, Tx. and New York; Sherry Foresman, Des Moines, Ia.; Will Gartside, Madison, Wis.; Elizabeth A. Lane, Atchison, Kans.; Mary Troath, London, U.K.; Sam West, Lumberton, N.C.
ESPECIALLY: Regula Ehrlich, who “covered” New Jersey, helping to fill in my portrait of Alice B. Russell—every bit as elusive as Micheaux—and offering her insights as well as research.
SCRIPTS AND SCREENINGS: Pearl Bowser; The Micheaux Film Festival, Gregory, South Dakota; Motion Picture Commission Scripts and Censorship Files, New York State Archives, Albany, New York; Scott McGee, Turner Broadcasting System; Lying Lips courtesy of the Kenn Freeman papers, Schomburg Center for Reseach in Black Culture, New York Public Library.
ARCHIVES AND ORGANIZATIONS: Alabama: Yvonne Crumpler, Birmingham Public Library; California: Octavio Olvera, George P. Johnson Negro Film Collection, Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA); Alva Moore Stevenson, UCLA Oral History Program; Denise Meyer, Contra Costa Public Library; Delaware: Sandi Pisarski, Delaware Division of Corporations, Dover; Renee Gimski, Wilmington Public Library; Washington D.C.: Jean Currie Church, Chief Librarian, and Joellen ElBashir, Curator of Manuscripts, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University; George Diez, Archives, Department of Education; Robert Ellis, Judicial Records, Old Military and Civil Records, National Archives and Records Administation (NARA); Richard Fusick and George R. Shaner, Old Military and Civil Records, Textual Archives Services Division, NARA; Maryellen Holley, Executive Director, Washington Press Club Foundation; Washingtonian Division, Washington, D.C., Public Library; Georgia: William A. Montgomery, Georgia Local and Family History Department, Atlanta-Fulton Public Library, Ga.; Illinois: John Reinhardt, Supervisor, Inventory Control Section, Illinois State Archives; Pat Nunley, Illinois Regional Archives Depository, Special Collections, Morris Library, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; Jan Miller, Carbondale Public Library; Martha Briggs and JoEllen Dickie, The Newberry Library, Chicago; Earl Calloway, The Chicago Defender; Yvette Richards, Archives, Clerk of the Circuit Court Klain, Museum of Broadcasting, N.Y.C.; Richard Gelbke, Archives Specialist, NARA, Northeast Region, N.Y.C.; Mary Welsh, New Rochelle Public Library; Glen Island Care Center (formerly Woodland Nursing Home), New Rochelle; George T. Davis Funeral Home, New Rochelle; Greenwood Union Cemetery, Rye; North Carolina: Sheila Bumgarner, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Library, Charlotte; Robert Johnson, the Charlotte Post; Lois D. Peterson, Clerk of Superior Court, Charlotte; Pat Taylor, Medical Records Department, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte; Lawrence Toppman, the Charlotte Observer; Marylyn L. Williams, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department; Robeson County Public Library, Lumberton; Jane B. Hersch, Maxton Historical Society, Maxton; Information Services, State Library of North Carolina; Ohio: Anne Salsich, Western Reserve Historical Society Library and Archives, Cleveland; Evelyn M. Ward, Cleveland Public Library; John Ransom, Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center, Fremont; Gail D. Lash, Registrar, and Jacqueline Brown, Archives, Wilberforce University, Wilberfo
rce; Pennsylvania: John J. Slonaker, Pennsylvania State Archives; Patrick Connelly, Archives Specialist, NARA, Philadelphia; South Carolina: Marianne Cawley, Charleston County Public Library, Charleston; Susan Thoms, Spartanburg County Public Libraries, Spartanburg; South Dakota: Marvene Riis, South Dakota State Historical Society Archives, Pierre; Clerk of Courts, Tripp and Todd counties; Kristi Kafka, South Dakota Oral History Center, Institute of American Indian Studies, University of South Dakota; Tennessee: Edwin J. Best Jr., Research Library, Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville; Danette Welch, Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection, Knox County Public Library System, Knoxville; Doris R. Martinson, Knox County Archives, East Tennessee Historical Center, Knoxville; Darla Brock, Archivist, Tennessee State Library, Nashville; Texas: Penny Clark, Tyrrell Historical Library, Beaumont; Carol Roark, Texas/Dallas History and Archives Division, Dallas Public Library; Lisa K. Meisch, Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center, Liberty; Clarissa Chavira, San Antonio Public Library; Virginia: Motion Picture Censorship Board Records, Archives Research Services, The Library of Virginia, Richmond; Brenda A. Finley, Roanoke Public Library; Wisconsin: The Milwaukee Public Library; Angie Cope, American Geographical Society Library, Golda Meir Library, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; The University of Wisconsin Library, Madison; Wisconsin State Historical Society, Madison.
All along I heard reports that the Chicago Defender was going to be historically indexed electronically, and indeed, after the final draft of this book was completed, Chicago’s black newspaper, from 1910–1975, was made available online by the Black Studies Center via ProQuest. I picked up addditional detail and information at the eleventh hour from this invaluable resource.
Oscar Micheaux: The Great and Only Page 45