A Black producer fights Broadway in 1938 — Oscar Micheaux didn't ask permission, he made history.
Ted Gregory is trying to be the first black producer to mount a show on Broadway, but he has trouble with his star singer.
Direction
Micheaux's scrappy independence — studio system? Never heard of her.
Acting
Cora Green's triple-threat magnetism deserves a monument.
Production
Micro-budget miracle with more soul than most Oscar bait.
Director
Oscar Micheaux
Cora Green
Amanda 'Mandy' Jenkins
Larry Seymour
Cornell Jenkins
Hazel Diaz
Eloise Jackson / Cora Smith
Alec Lovejoy
Lem Jackson / Big Jones
Trixie Smith
Lucy
Carman Newsome
Ted Gregory
Dorothy Van Engle
Lena Powell
Doli Armenra
Miss Watkins, a Trumpet Player
Columbus Jackson
A Hustler
Leon Gross
Consuela Harris
As Consuelo Harris
Amanda Randolph
Liza Freeman
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Oscar Micheaux directed over 40 'race films' for Black audiences when segregated theaters were the norm. This is DIY cinema as political act.
Cora Green was a genuine Harlem Renaissance star; this was her only surviving film performance. We're lucky this print exists at all.
US
