FILM FESTIVAL
This gallery showcases clips from popular surviving race films. Since these films were produced at a lower budget, the techniques may seem crude and unskilled compared to the movies Hollywood produced at the time.
Considering that information puts these films in a different light. Race films gave African Americans an opportunity to work in the film industry and pursue their acting ambitions outside of the roles relegated to them in Hollywood.
Films written and directed by African Americans for Black audiences reflected the real life that African Americans lived. Films also dealt with the social issues for African Americans at the time.
In 1930, the Hays Code forbid miscegenation on film. Any films that included or hinted at miscegenation could not secure a release. African American films got around this by using Black actors who looked racially white. When Race Films were popular enough to be shown in white theaters, these scenes were usually cut--especially in southern theaters.
Directed by Spencer Williams • 1946 • United States
Starring Francine Everette, Don Wilson, Katherine Moore
Gertie La Rue, a nightclub entertainer arrives at a Caribbean resort to entertain tourists and the GIs stationed nearby. But an intolerant reformer condemns Gertie’s sultry brand of entertainment and vows to chase her back to Harlem.
Film Synopsis Courtesy of Criterion Channel Youtube Video Courtesy of Department of Afro-American Research Arts Culture
Within Our Gates
Silent film directed by Oscar Micheaux • 1920 • United States
Starring Evelyn Preer, William Starks, Mattie Edwards
In the course of navigating the racial politics of both the black and white communities, the protagonist's past is revealed in a series of flashbacks that contain the film’s most notorious sequence: the lynching of her parents by a white mob.
Film Synopsis Courtesy of Criterion Channel Youtube Video Courtesy of Department of Afro-American Research Arts Culture
The Flying Ace
Silent Film directed by Richard E. Norman • 1926 • United States
Starring Laurence Criner, Kathryn Boyd, Steve Reynolds
"A veteran World War I fighter pilot returns home a war hero and immediately regains his former job as a railroad company detective. His first case: recover a stolen satchel filled with $25,000 of company payroll, locate a missing employee, and capture a gang of railroad thieves."
Film Synopsis Courtesy of Criterion Channel Youtube Video Courtesy of Department of Afro-American Research Arts Culture
Hi-De-Ho
Musical directed by Richard E. Norman • 1946 • United States
Starring Laurence Cab Calloway, Ida James,
Bandleader Cab Calloway is tiring of his girlfriend Minnie, who in turn is jealous of his manager Nettie. When Nettie gets Cab a job at the Brass Hat Club, Minnie retaliates by setting gangster Boss Mason, owner of a rival club, against him.