Pivotal 1933 film anchors talk about race
“The Emperor Jones” — the first mainstream American film to star an African American — will be the subject of a free discussion hosted by RiverArts, together with the Dobbs Ferry and Hastings public libraries, on Wednesday, March 24, at 7:30 p.m.
The 1933 film is based on a 1920 play by Eugene O’Neill, with a screenplay by DuBose Heyward. Described as a tragedy, it tells the story of Brutus Jones, a Pullman porter who kills a man during a dice game, escapes imprisonment, and then ends up the leader of a Caribbean island. The role of Brutus Jones made the actor and singer Paul Robeson an international star.
The film, controversial then and now, was released by United Artists, the independent distribution company founded by Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks.
“The Emperor Jones” is one of five films showcased by the Finger Lakes Film Trail as part of its “Race Films/Race Matters” program, which focuses on films from 1910 to the 1940s made largely by Black filmmakers for Black audiences. Registrants for the RiverArts event are encouraged to watch “The Emperor Jones” at www.fingerlakesfilmtrail.org.
Tanya McKinnon of Dobbs Ferry, who will moderate the online discussion, is an author and a literary agent with her own agency, McKinnon Literary. She has a master’s degree in cultural anthropology from the New School and teaches a course on writing for children in the publishing certificate program at City College. McKinnon is also a former board member of RiverArts.
“We are always looking for interesting subjects to present and this is a fabulous program,” said Joanna Riesman, a member of the boards of the Hastings Library and of RiverArts. She credited Barbara Lupack, film scholar, author, and former dean at SUNY Empire State College in Rochester, with putting together the “Race Films/Race Matters” series.
“It involves films that not only show things as they were in the past, but how they are culturally relevant today, dealing with issues we are still grappling with. I urge those who register to watch the introductory documentaries that are included on the same website. And I know Tanya will lead an interesting and productive discussion.”
“For a film made in 1933, ‘The Emperor Jones’ was pushing the envelope on a lot of fronts,” McKinnon said. “And I think it can instigate a full-bodied conversation about content and context. It was a big thing at the time, especially the power and passion of Paul Robeson. Having him in the leading role was a culturally significant moment in the history of African-American representation. His performance allows us to believe in the ongoing power of Black brilliance.
“And in 1933 America you had Jim Crow and here, with ‘The Emperor Jones,’ you had white audiences forced to realize what a Black man could achieve,” McKinnon continued. “Of course, ‘The System’ was still in place, so all was OK, as he is killed off in the end. Also, I think young African Americans today would be affronted greatly when the white character, Smithers, buys Jones for $5. This is a brilliant film for the classroom.”
McKinnon sees some of the power of “The Emperor Jones” in contemporary films such as “Black Panther,” “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “One Night in Miami,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” and “The 40-Year-Old Version.”
Both McKinnon and Lupack noted the dangerous impact of D.W. Griffith’s 1915 film “The Birth of a Nation.”
“Here you had a hugely successful film that extolled the virtues of ‘whiteness’ and celebrated the Ku Klux Klan, followed by the ‘jungle films’ that reinforced the stereotypical image of Black people,” Lupack said. “The ‘Race Films’ goal was to show ‘real people not reel people’. We know that between 70 and 90 films were made, some short, some long. But only 15 percent at the most survived.”
Robeson continued to be in the news up until his death in 1976, both as a performer and an activist. He played the title role in Shakespeare’s “Othello” three different times in London’s West End to rave reviews and sellout audiences. He continued to be in films, including “Show Boat” (1936), from which his rendition of “Ol’ Man River” became an instant classic.
On Aug. 27, 1949, Robeson was scheduled to perform a benefit concert in Lakeland Acres, north of Peekskill, for the Civil Rights Congress. In response, there was a racist riot that included a burning cross and a lynched effigy of Robeson. The concert was rescheduled for Sept. 4, and was attended by about 20,000 people, but was marred by violence afterward. During his lifetime, Robeson was blacklisted as a communist and had his passport revoked.
“RiverArts is excited to be presenting this important discussion on race in cinema in collaboration with the Hastings and Dobbs Ferry libraries,” said Josh Suniewick, the organization’s managing director. “In this climate it is important for our communities to do all we can to promote conversation around issues of race and equity in the interest of progress and understanding of one another.”
To participate in the March 24 event, register at RiverArts.org under “Upcoming Events.”
