Oscar Micheaux
Encyclopedia
Oscar Devereaux Micheaux (January 2, 1884 – March 25, 1951) was an American
author
, film director
and independent producer of more than 44 films. Although the short-lived Lincoln Motion Picture Company
produced some films, he is regarded as the first major African-American feature filmmaker, the most successful African-American filmmaker of the first half of the twentieth century and the most prominent producer of race films. He produced both silent films and "talkies" after the industry changed to incorporate speaking actors.
on January 2, 1884 He was the fifth child born to Calvin S. Michaux and Belle Michaux, who had a total of thirteen. In his later years, Micheaux added the “e” to his last name. Calvin Michaux was originally from Kentucky
, and his father had been a slave. The family appeared to have been associated with French colonists because of its surname, possibly French Huguenots who had settled in Virginia in 1700, and whose descendants took slaves west migrated into Kentucky.
Micheaux was born during a time of social instability when African Americans were trying to succeed in a world dominated by whites. Micheaux struggled with social oppression as a young boy, which he reflected in writing in later years. To give their children education, his parents relocated to the city for better schooling. Micheaux attended a well-established school for several years before the family eventually ran into money troubles and were forced to relocate back to the farm. Unhappy, Micheaux became rebellious and discontented. His struggles caused internal problems within his family. Micheaux’s father was not happy with him and sent him away to do marketing within the big city. Micheaux found pleasure in this job because he was able to speak to many new people and learned many people skills that he would later reflect within his films.
When Micheaux was 16 years old, he moved to Chicago, Illinois to live with his brother, who was then working as a waiter. Micheaux became dissatisfied with what he viewed as his brother’s way of living “the good life”, so he rented his own place and found a job in the stockyards, which he found difficult. Micheaux worked many different jobs, moving from the stockyards to the steel mills.
After Micheaux was “swindled out of two dollars” by an employment agency, he decided to become his own boss. His first business was a small shoeshine stand, which he set up at a white suburban barbershop, away from Chicago competition. Micheaux learned the basic strategies of business and started to save money. He became a Pullman porter on the major railroads. At that time, Pullman porters were considered prestigious jobs for African-Americans, as they were relatively well-paid, secure and gave freedom of travel and acquaintance. This job was an informal college education for Micheaux. He profited financially, and also gained contacts and knowledge about the world through traveling, as well as a greater understanding for business. When he left the position, Micheaux had seen much of the United States, had a couple thousand dollars saved in his bank account, and made a number of connections with wealthy white people that would prove to be to his benefit in future endeavors.
After working as a porter, Micheaux worked as a homesteader in Dallas, South Dakota
. This experience inspired his first novels and films. His neighbors on the frontier were all white. “Some recall that [Micheaux] rarely sate at table with his white neighbors”. Micheaux’s years as a homesteader allowed him to learn more about human relations and farming, a time in his life full of tests and experiments. While farming, Micheaux wrote articles and submitted them to press. The Chicago Defender published one of his earliest articles.
Micheaux wrote seven novels. In 1913, 1000 copies of his first book, The Conquest: The Story of a Negro Homesteader were printed. He published the book anonymously, for unknown reasons. It was based on his experiences as a homesteader and the failure of his first marriage, and was essentially an autobiography
about his early life. Although character names have been changed, the protagonist
is named Oscar Devereaux. His theme was about African Americans' realizing their potential and succeeding in areas in which they may have been previously denied access.
Micheaux had a major career as a film producer and director: he produced over 40 films, which drew audiences throughout the US as well as internationally. In 1918, his novel The Homesteader, dedicated to Booker T. Washington
, attracted the attention of George Johnson, the manager of the Lincoln Motion Picture Company
in Los Angeles
. After Johnson offered to make The Homesteader into a new feature film, negotiations and paperwork became contentious between him and Micheaux. Micheaux wanted to be directly involved in the adaptation of his book as a movie, but Johnson resisted and never produced the film.
Instead, Micheaux founded the Micheaux Film and Book Company of Sioux City and Chicago
; its first project was the production of The Homesteader as a feature film. Micheaux contacted wealthy white connections from his earlier career as a porter, and sold stock for his company at $75 to $100 a share. Micheaux hired actors and actresses and decided to premiere just when Chicago was celebrating the return of troops from war. The film and Micheaux received high praise from film critics. One article credited Micheaux with “a historic breakthrough, a creditable, dignified achievement”. Some members of the Chicago clergy criticized the film as libelous. The Homesteader became widely known as Micheaux’s breakout film; it helped him become widely known as a writer and a filmmaker.
In addition to writing and creating his own films from then on, Micheaux also adapted the works of different writers as silent pictures. Many of Micheaux’s films were open, blunt and thought-provoking regarding certain racial issues of that time. Micheaux once commented, “It is only by presenting those portions of the race portrayed in my pictures, in the light and background of their true state, that we can raise our people to greater heights”. Financial hardships during the Great Depression
eventually made it impossible for Micheaux to keep producing films, and he returned to writing.
. This story deals very extensively with race relationships and this conflict within African Americans of feeling weak or inferior.
Micheaux’s second silent film was Within Our Gates, produced in 1920. Although sometimes considered Micheaux’s response to the film Birth of a Nation, Micheaux maintained that he created the film as a response to the widespread instability following World War I
. Within Our Gates revolved around the main character, Sylvia Landry, a school teacher. In a flashback, we see that Sylvia grows up as the adopted daughter of a sharecropper. When Sylvia’s father confronts their white landlord because he feels that he owes the family money, a fight ensues and somewhere along the way, the white landlord is shot by another white man. However, Sylvia’s black father is accused and him and his wife are cruelly lynched. This scene represents Micheaux’s thoughts about the dynamics of the racial hierarchy found within the south. Sylvia is almost raped by the landowner’s brother but discovers that he is actually her father. This mini flashback scene serves to show that lower and middle class African Americans are hardworking people who are being terrorized and unfairly treated by white people. Micheaux always depicts African Americans as being studious and reaching for higher education. Before the flashback scene, we see that Sylvia goes to Boston to find funding for the school in the south where many poor African American children attend. On her journey, she is hit by the car of a very rich white woman who decides to give the school $50,000. Within the film, Micheaux depicts educated and professional people as light-skinned, and poor people as dark-skinned. However, these light-skinned people also represent the villains of the story. This film takes place within the Jim Crow era, and contracts rural and urban experiences for the African American population. In creating a setting for this film in the present day, Micheaux emphasizes the suffering of African Americans in the present day, and does not discuss who this suffering came to be or who is at fault for it. Some feared that this film would cause even more unrest within society, while others believed that it would open up the public’s eyes into the unjust practices pertaining to the black and white communities. Protests against the film continued up until the day it released. The film continued to create controversy and was even censored or banned from some theatres.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and independent producer of more than 44 films. Although the short-lived Lincoln Motion Picture Company
Lincoln Motion Picture Company
The Lincoln Motion Picture Company was an American film production company founded by the Johnson brothers in 1915 in Omaha, Nebraska; it was incorporated in 1916 in Los Angeles, California. Among the first organized black filmmakers, it became the first producer of so-called "race movies"...
produced some films, he is regarded as the first major African-American feature filmmaker, the most successful African-American filmmaker of the first half of the twentieth century and the most prominent producer of race films. He produced both silent films and "talkies" after the industry changed to incorporate speaking actors.
Early life and education
Micheaux was born on a farm in Murphysboro, IllinoisIllinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
on January 2, 1884 He was the fifth child born to Calvin S. Michaux and Belle Michaux, who had a total of thirteen. In his later years, Micheaux added the “e” to his last name. Calvin Michaux was originally from Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, and his father had been a slave. The family appeared to have been associated with French colonists because of its surname, possibly French Huguenots who had settled in Virginia in 1700, and whose descendants took slaves west migrated into Kentucky.
Micheaux was born during a time of social instability when African Americans were trying to succeed in a world dominated by whites. Micheaux struggled with social oppression as a young boy, which he reflected in writing in later years. To give their children education, his parents relocated to the city for better schooling. Micheaux attended a well-established school for several years before the family eventually ran into money troubles and were forced to relocate back to the farm. Unhappy, Micheaux became rebellious and discontented. His struggles caused internal problems within his family. Micheaux’s father was not happy with him and sent him away to do marketing within the big city. Micheaux found pleasure in this job because he was able to speak to many new people and learned many people skills that he would later reflect within his films.
When Micheaux was 16 years old, he moved to Chicago, Illinois to live with his brother, who was then working as a waiter. Micheaux became dissatisfied with what he viewed as his brother’s way of living “the good life”, so he rented his own place and found a job in the stockyards, which he found difficult. Micheaux worked many different jobs, moving from the stockyards to the steel mills.
After Micheaux was “swindled out of two dollars” by an employment agency, he decided to become his own boss. His first business was a small shoeshine stand, which he set up at a white suburban barbershop, away from Chicago competition. Micheaux learned the basic strategies of business and started to save money. He became a Pullman porter on the major railroads. At that time, Pullman porters were considered prestigious jobs for African-Americans, as they were relatively well-paid, secure and gave freedom of travel and acquaintance. This job was an informal college education for Micheaux. He profited financially, and also gained contacts and knowledge about the world through traveling, as well as a greater understanding for business. When he left the position, Micheaux had seen much of the United States, had a couple thousand dollars saved in his bank account, and made a number of connections with wealthy white people that would prove to be to his benefit in future endeavors.
After working as a porter, Micheaux worked as a homesteader in Dallas, South Dakota
Dallas, South Dakota
Dallas is a town in Gregory County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 120 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Dallas is located at ....
. This experience inspired his first novels and films. His neighbors on the frontier were all white. “Some recall that [Micheaux] rarely sate at table with his white neighbors”. Micheaux’s years as a homesteader allowed him to learn more about human relations and farming, a time in his life full of tests and experiments. While farming, Micheaux wrote articles and submitted them to press. The Chicago Defender published one of his earliest articles.
Marriage and family
In South Dakota, Micheaux married Orlean McCracken, whose family proved to be complex and burdensome. Orlean became unhappy with their living arrangements and felt that Micheaux did not pay enough attention to her. She gave birth while he was away on business. She was reported to have emptied their bank accounts and fled. While Micheaux was away, Orlean’s father sold his property and took Micheaux’s money. Micheaux attempted unsuccessfully to get his wife and property back. Although he had saved up a lot of money through his job as a Pullman Porter, Micheaux lost his money during this time. After many failed attempts to recover some of these assets, he needed to move onto his next career and make some money fast.Writing and film career
It was at this point that Micheaux decided to become a writer and, eventually, a filmmaker, in a new industry.Micheaux wrote seven novels. In 1913, 1000 copies of his first book, The Conquest: The Story of a Negro Homesteader were printed. He published the book anonymously, for unknown reasons. It was based on his experiences as a homesteader and the failure of his first marriage, and was essentially an autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
about his early life. Although character names have been changed, the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
is named Oscar Devereaux. His theme was about African Americans' realizing their potential and succeeding in areas in which they may have been previously denied access.
Micheaux had a major career as a film producer and director: he produced over 40 films, which drew audiences throughout the US as well as internationally. In 1918, his novel The Homesteader, dedicated to Booker T. Washington
Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915...
, attracted the attention of George Johnson, the manager of the Lincoln Motion Picture Company
Lincoln Motion Picture Company
The Lincoln Motion Picture Company was an American film production company founded by the Johnson brothers in 1915 in Omaha, Nebraska; it was incorporated in 1916 in Los Angeles, California. Among the first organized black filmmakers, it became the first producer of so-called "race movies"...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. After Johnson offered to make The Homesteader into a new feature film, negotiations and paperwork became contentious between him and Micheaux. Micheaux wanted to be directly involved in the adaptation of his book as a movie, but Johnson resisted and never produced the film.
Instead, Micheaux founded the Micheaux Film and Book Company of Sioux City and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
; its first project was the production of The Homesteader as a feature film. Micheaux contacted wealthy white connections from his earlier career as a porter, and sold stock for his company at $75 to $100 a share. Micheaux hired actors and actresses and decided to premiere just when Chicago was celebrating the return of troops from war. The film and Micheaux received high praise from film critics. One article credited Micheaux with “a historic breakthrough, a creditable, dignified achievement”. Some members of the Chicago clergy criticized the film as libelous. The Homesteader became widely known as Micheaux’s breakout film; it helped him become widely known as a writer and a filmmaker.
In addition to writing and creating his own films from then on, Micheaux also adapted the works of different writers as silent pictures. Many of Micheaux’s films were open, blunt and thought-provoking regarding certain racial issues of that time. Micheaux once commented, “It is only by presenting those portions of the race portrayed in my pictures, in the light and background of their true state, that we can raise our people to greater heights”. Financial hardships during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
eventually made it impossible for Micheaux to keep producing films, and he returned to writing.
Significant films
Micheaux’s first novel The Conquest was adapted to film and re-titled, The Homesteader. This film, which met with critical and commercial success, was first produced in 1918. This film revolves around a man named Jean Baptiste. Baptiste, who is called the Homesteader, falls in love with many white women but resists marrying them out of his loyalty to become a prominent figure for his race. He sacrifices love to show his masculinity and be a key symbol for his fellow African Americans. Baptiste then in turn looks for love within his own race and marries an African American woman. Relations between Baptiste and his wife progressively deteriorate and become increasingly tense. Eventually, Baptiste is not allowed to see his wife. She ultimately stabs her father and herself for keeping them apart and although Baptiste is accused of the crime he is ultimately cleared. An old love helps Baptiste through his troubles and they eventually marry after learning she is actually a mulattoMulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
. This story deals very extensively with race relationships and this conflict within African Americans of feeling weak or inferior.
Micheaux’s second silent film was Within Our Gates, produced in 1920. Although sometimes considered Micheaux’s response to the film Birth of a Nation, Micheaux maintained that he created the film as a response to the widespread instability following World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Within Our Gates revolved around the main character, Sylvia Landry, a school teacher. In a flashback, we see that Sylvia grows up as the adopted daughter of a sharecropper. When Sylvia’s father confronts their white landlord because he feels that he owes the family money, a fight ensues and somewhere along the way, the white landlord is shot by another white man. However, Sylvia’s black father is accused and him and his wife are cruelly lynched. This scene represents Micheaux’s thoughts about the dynamics of the racial hierarchy found within the south. Sylvia is almost raped by the landowner’s brother but discovers that he is actually her father. This mini flashback scene serves to show that lower and middle class African Americans are hardworking people who are being terrorized and unfairly treated by white people. Micheaux always depicts African Americans as being studious and reaching for higher education. Before the flashback scene, we see that Sylvia goes to Boston to find funding for the school in the south where many poor African American children attend. On her journey, she is hit by the car of a very rich white woman who decides to give the school $50,000. Within the film, Micheaux depicts educated and professional people as light-skinned, and poor people as dark-skinned. However, these light-skinned people also represent the villains of the story. This film takes place within the Jim Crow era, and contracts rural and urban experiences for the African American population. In creating a setting for this film in the present day, Micheaux emphasizes the suffering of African Americans in the present day, and does not discuss who this suffering came to be or who is at fault for it. Some feared that this film would cause even more unrest within society, while others believed that it would open up the public’s eyes into the unjust practices pertaining to the black and white communities. Protests against the film continued up until the day it released. The film continued to create controversy and was even censored or banned from some theatres.
Death
Micheaux died on March 25, 1951 in Charlotte, NC. The cause of death was heart failure. He is buried in Great Bend Cemetery in Great Bend, Kansas.Themes
Micheaux's films typically featured outlooks on contemporary black life, specifically those that dealt with relationships between blacks and whites, and the journey for blacks to become more successful within society. His films also reflect his ideologies and life experiences. Journalist Richard Gehr once commented, “Micheaux appears to have only one story to tell- his own- and he tells it repeatedly”. Micheaux sought to create films that would act as a response to white people’s demeaning outlooks towards African Americans. Micheaux aimed to create complex characters and was never interested in simplicity. His own life experiences acted as the main ties between all of his different works. As Micheaux grew up in the uncertain social climate of southern Illinois, he understood the relationships between African Americans and whites, and how each group of people somewhat misunderstood the other.Style
Micheaux pursued moderation within his films and created what has been called a “middle-class cinema”. His form of cinema was designed to be relatable to middle class and lower-class audiences. Micheaux once said,“My results…might have been narrow at times, due perhaps to certain limited situations, which I endeavored to portray, but in those limited situations, the truth was the predominate characteristic. It is only by presenting those portions of the race portrayed in my pictures, in the light and background of their true state, that we can raise our people to greater heights. I am too imbued with the spirit of Booker T. Washington to engraft false virtues upon ourselves, to make ourselves that which we are not”.
Legacy and honors
- By the 1990s, a number of prominent African American filmmakers had emerged, such as Spike LeeSpike LeeShelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
, Robert Townsend, Eddie MurphyEddie MurphyEdward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
, and Melvin Van PeeblesMelvin Van PeeblesMelvin "Block" Van Peebles is an American actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, novelist and composer.He is most famous for creating the acclaimed film, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, which heralded a new era of African American focused films...
. Films by these directors shared some of the same themes that were common in Micheaux’s films. - The Oscar Micheaux Award for excellence was established.
- The Oscar Micheaux Sociey at Duke UniversityDuke UniversityDuke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
continues to honor his work and educate about his legacy.
- Historian and biographer Betti Carol VanEpps-Taylor said: “Thanks to the tireless efforts and dedication of the film scholars, the African American artists and entrepreneurs, and the great grandchildren of the Rosebud homesteaders, a new generation of writers, film makers, earnest young entrepreneurs, and the descendants of those who settled the Rosebud will glimpse again Micheaux’s undying vision- appropriately modified in language to encompass our growing egalitarianism- 'that a colored man can be anything'.”
- 1987, Micheaux was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of FameHollywood Walk of FameThe Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
. - 1989 the Directors Guild of AmericaDirectors Guild of AmericaDirectors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
honored Micheaux with a Golden Jubilee Special Award. - The Producers Guild created an annual award in his name.
- 1989, the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame gave him a posthumous award.
- Gregory, South DakotaGregory, South DakotaGregory is a city in Gregory County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,295 at the 2010 census.-History:As the United States was racing into the 20th century, Gregory County was part of the "Last Frontier" opened to settlers. The Arikara and Ree Indians had long since vanished...
holds an annual Oscar Micheaux Film Festival. - A documentary was made about Micheaux, called Midnight Ramble: Oscar Micheaux and the Story of Race Movies (2004). Its title refers to the early 20th-century practice of some white cinemas screening films for African-American audiences only at matinees and midnight. The documentary was produced by Pamela Thomas, directed by Pearl Bowser and Bestor Cram, and written by Clyde Taylor. It was first aired on the PBS show, The American Experience, in 1994.
- 2002, scholar Molefi Kete AsanteMolefi Kete AsanteMolefi Kete Asante is an African-American scholar, historian, and philosopher. He is a leading figure in the fields of African American studies, African Studies and Communication Studies...
included Oscar Micheaux on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans100 Greatest African Americans100 Greatest African Americans is a biographical dictionary of the one hundred historically greatest African Americans , as assessed by Molefi Kete Asante in 2002.-Criteria:...
. - On June 22, 2010 the US Postal Service issued a 44-cent, Oscar Micheaux commemorative stamp.
- 2011, the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, VirginiaRoanoke, VirginiaRoanoke is an independent city in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Virginia and is the tenth-largest city in the Commonwealth. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia. The population within the city limits was 97,032 as of 2010...
created a category for donors, the Micheaux Society, in honor of Micheaux.
Filmography
- The HomesteaderThe HomesteaderThe Homesteader is a black-and-white silent film by African American author and filmmaker Oscar Micheaux.-Production:The film was produced, co-directed and written for the screen by Micheaux, based on his book of the same name. It is believed to be the first feature-length film made with a black...
(1919) - Within Our GatesWithin Our GatesWithin Our Gates is a silent race film that dramatically expresses the racial situation in America during the violent years of Jim Crow, the Ku Klux Klan, the Great Migration, and the emergence of the "New Negro".-Production background:...
(1919) - Symbol of the Unconquered (1920)
- The BruteThe Brute (1920 film)The Brute is a 1920 race film directed, written, produced and distributed by Oscar Micheaux. The film focuses on a young woman who, after the reported death of her suitor, is forced into an unhappy marriage – only to discover her original suitor is still alive...
(1920) - Son of Satan (1922)
- The Dungeon (1922)
- The Gunsaulus MysteryThe Gunsaulus MysteryThe Gunsaulus Mystery is a 1921 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.-Plot:...
(1922) - The Virgin of the SeminoleThe Virgin of the SeminoleThe Virgin of the Seminole was a 1922 race film directed, written and produced by Oscar Micheaux. The film focused on a young black man who joins the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and becomes a hero by rescuing a captive mixed-race woman from a hostile American Indian tribe...
(1922) - DeceitDeceit (1923 film)Deceit is a 1923 silent black-and-white film. It is a conventional melodrama directed by Oscar Micheaux. Like many of Micheaux's films, Deceit casts clerics in a negative light. Although the film was not released until 1923, it was shot in 1921....
(1923) - Jasper Landry's Will (1923)
- Body and SoulBody and Soul (1924 film)Body and Soul is a 1925 race film produced, written, directed, and distributed by Oscar Micheaux and starring Paul Robeson in his motion picture debut.-Plot:...
(1924) - The Spider's Web (1926)
- The Millionaire (1927)
- When Men BetrayWhen Men BetrayWhen Men Betray is a 1929 race film directed, written, produced and distributed by Oscar Micheaux. The film details the plight of a young woman who falls in love and marries a glib con artist who abandons her without money on their wedding night....
(1928) - Thirty Years Later (1928)
- Wages of SinWages of Sin (1929 film)The Wages of Sin was an "all black cast" drama film produced in 1929 by Oscar Micheaux.-Cast:* William A. Clayton Jr.* Bessie Givens* Ione McCarthy* Kathleen Noisette* Alice B. Russell* Ethel Smith* Gertrude Snelson* Lorenzo Tucker...
(1929) - Darktown RevueDarktown RevueDarktown Revue is an 18-minute short film by Oscar Micheaux, probably his first venture into sound film. As in many early talkies, the camera-work is extremely static. The film included choral singing and several vaudeville acts, including the comedy duo of Tim Moore and Andrew Tribble doing a...
(1930) - A Daughter of the CongoA Daughter of the CongoA Daughter of the Congo is a 1930 race film directed, written and produced by Oscar Micheaux. The film is loosely based on the novel The American Cavalryman , by African American novelist and playwright Henry Francis Downing....
(1930) - Easy Street (1930)
- The ExileThe Exile (1931 film)The Exile was a 1931 American film by Oscar Micheaux. A drama–romance of the race film genre, it was Micheaux's first feature-length talkie, and the first African American talkie...
(1931) - Black Magic (1932)
- Ten Minutes to LiveTen Minutes to Live- Cast :*Lawrence Chenault as Gary Martin*A.B. DeComathiere as Anthony*Laura Bowman as Ida Morton*Willor Lee Guilford as Letha Watkins*Tressie Mitchell as Charlotte Evans*Mabel Garrett as Ida Groves*Carl Mahon as Martin*Galle De Gaston as Galle...
(1932) - Veiled AristocratsVeiled AristocratsVeiled Aristocrats is a 1932 race film directed, written, produced and distributed by Oscar Micheaux. It dealt with the theme of "passing" by mixed-race African Americans to avoid racial discrimination.-Plot:...
(1932) - Ten Minutes to Kill (1933)
- The Girl From ChicagoThe Girl from ChicagoThe Girl from Chicago is an American film produced and directed by Oscar Micheaux, with an all-African American cast to include lead actor Carl Mahon. The story concerns a Federal agent who falls in love while on assignment in Mississippi...
(1933) - Harlem After Midnight (1934)
- Lem Hawkins' Confession (1935) also released as Murder in HarlemMurder in HarlemMurder in Harlem is a 1935 American race film written, produced and directed by Oscar Micheaux, who also appears in the film...
- Temptation (1936)
- Underworld (1936)
- God's Step ChildrenGod's Step ChildrenGod's Step Children is a 1938 American drama film directed by Oscar Micheaux and starring Jacqueline Lewis. The movie is inspired by a combination of elements shared from two previous released Hollywood productions: Imitation of Life and These Three....
(1938) - Swing (1938)
- Birthright (1939)
- Lying LipsLying LipsLying Lips is a 1939, melodrama, race movie by Oscar Micheaux, starring Edna Mae Harris, and Robert Earl Jones .Lying Lips was the thirty-seventh film of Micheaux.-Plot:...
(1939) - The Notorious Elinor LeeThe Notorious Elinor LeeThe Notorious Elinor Lee is a race film directed, written, and co-produced by the African American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux.-Plot:Elinor Lee, a gangster’s moll living in the Harlem section of New York City, has signed up-and-coming boxer Benny Blue to a 10-year contract...
(1940) - The BetrayalThe Betrayal (film)The Betrayal is a race film written, produced, and directed by Oscar Micheaux.-Plot:Martin Eden is a successful African American farmer in South Dakota. He is in love with Deborah Stewart, but he believes that she is white and that she would not be interested in him. He is unaware that Deborah...
(1948)
Further reading
- Lupack, Barbara Tepa (2004). "Black Pioneer: Oscar Micheaux." In: Homo Narrans. Texts and Essays in Honor of Jerome Klinkowitz. Ed. Zygmunt Mazur and Richard Utz. Cracow: Jagiellonian University Press. pp. 125–37 ISBN 8323318964.
External links
- Oscar Micheaux web site hosted by the Barton County Arts Council in Great Bend, Kansas
- Bibliography of books and articles about Micheaux via UC Berkeley Media Resources Center
- "Black Cinema: Micheaux Must Go On," an article about Micheaux by TimeTime (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
film critic Richard CorlissRichard CorlissRichard Nelson Corliss is a writer for Time magazine who focuses on movies, with the occasional article on music or sports. Corliss is the former editor-in-chief of Film Comment... - Stace England & The Salt Kings Original Song Within Our Gates With Film Clips
- Oscar Micheaux commemorative stamp at USPSUnited States Postal ServiceThe United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...