The Movies, Race, and Ethnicity: African Americans: Videotapes in the Media Resources Center, UC Berkeley

Representations of African Americans in Mainstream and Independent Hollywood

Blackface in the Movies

Representations of African Americans in Animated Cartoons

Race Movies/Black Cast Films (independently-produced African American films 1930-1950)

Blaxploitation Films

Recent Films by African American Filmmakers

Television programs

Interracial buddy movies

Interracial Marriage & Relationships

African Americans in Film and Television

Representations of African Americans in Mainstream and Independent Hollywood

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939)

Performers: Mickey Rooney, Walter Connolly, William Frawley. Clarence Muse plays Jim" as what Donald Bogel has characterized as the "archtypical tom." (Bogle, Donald. Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films / Donald Bogle. New expanded ed. New York: Continuum, 1989) 89 min. 999:90

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1985)

Performers: Patrick Day, Sada Thompson, Samm-Art Williams, Frederick Forrest, Lillian Gish, Bernard Hughes. 121 min. Video/C 1069

African Americans in Cinema: The First Half Century

Contains a rich body of primary and secondary source material, critical essays by prominent film scholars, biographies, film reviews and clips, tracing the history of African Americans in film and black films from 1894 to 1950. Includes an interactive searchable database that contains more than 3,300 movies emphasizing the contributions of African Americans to cinema. Compu/D 564

The African Dodger (1931)

Directed by Mort Blumenstock. Cast: Tom Howard, Joe Lyons, Edward Gargan. "In the early twentieth century, many American carnivals and fun fairs featured an "African Dodger". This was a Negro (usually genuine, sometimes a white man in blackface) who would stick his head through a hole and taunt the suckers, who paid a nickel for the privilege of throwing baseballs at the African Dodger. The dodger would (usually) pull his head out of the hole in time to avoid getting hit, but sometimes he wasn't fast enough. African Dodgers were so commonplace that some sadistic people would bring a hard (wooden or iron) ball into any carnival that came to town, knowing they'd have a chance to throw it at a black man's head and cause him serious injury." In this film comedian Tom Howard plays a man on a carnival midway who gets suckered into substituting for the African Dodger. 91 min. DVD X2036; vhs 999:2637

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Ali (2001)

Directed by Michael Mann. Cast: Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Jon Voight, Mario Van Peebles, Ron Silver, Jeffrey Wright, Mykelti Williamson, Jada Pinkett Smith, Nona M. Gaye, Michael Michele, Joe Morton. Dramatic biography of boxing great Muhammad Ali, which focuses on the ten-year period of 1964-1974. In that time, the brash, motor-mouthed athlete quickly dominates his sport, meets and marries his first wife, converts to Islam (changing his name from Cassius Clay), and defies the United States government by refusing to submit to military conscription for duty in Vietnam. His world heavyweight championship title thus stripped from him entirely for political reasons, the champ sets about to win back his crown, culminating in a legendary unification bout against George Foreman in Zaire, dubbed the "Rumble in the Jungle." 157 min. DVD 1231

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Amazing Grace (UK / USA, 2006)

Directed by Michael Apted. Cast: Ioan Gruffudd, Rufus Sewell, Michael Gambon, Albert Finney, Youssou N'Dour, Ciaran Hinds. A dramatization of the life of the human rights activist, cultural reformer and member of Parliament, William Wilberforce who sustained a twenty-year fight in 19th century England, endeavoring to end the British transatlantic slave trade. Wilberforce encountered intense opposition from members of Parliament but his minister John Newton, a reformed slave ship captain who penned the hymn "Amazing Grace" urged him to see the cause through. 118 min. DVD 8799

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Amazing Grace (1974)

Directed by Stan Lathan. Cast: Moms Mabley, Slappy White, Moses Gunn, James Karen, George Lee Miles, Gary Bolling, Dolph Sweet, Jon Richards, Stepin Fetchit, Butterfly McQueen. A black pious church-going widow and grandmother takes over the political campaign of a neighbor running for mayor of Baltimore, transforming him from a white man's pawn into a serious challenger of Baltimore's blue-blood establishment. 97 min. DVD 3499

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American Gangster (2007)

Directed by Ridley Scott. Cast: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Josh Brolin, Ted Levine, Armand Assante, John Ortiz, John Hawkes, RZA, Lymari Nadal, Roger Guenveur Smith. Disc one: Unrated extended version (177 min.) ; Original theatrical version (158 min.) -- Disc two: Special features (ca. 113 min.) -- Disc three: Special features (ca. 53 min.). Following the death of his employer and mentor, Bumpy Johnson, Frank Lucas establishes himself as the number one importer of heroin in Harlem. He does so by buying heroin directly from a source in South East Asia. Lucas comes up with a unique way of importing the drugs into the United States and as a result, his product is superior to what is currently available on the street and his prices are lower. His alliance with the New York Mafia ensures his position. It is also the story of Richie Roberts, a dedicated and honest policeman who heads up a joint narcotics task force with the Federal government. Inspired by a true story. Special features: Disc one: Feature commentary with director Ridley Scott and writer Steven Zailian (Theatrical version only) ; Disc two: Deleted scenes including an alternate opening; "Fallen empire: making 'American gangster'"; Case files ; Disc three: Music videos: "Do you feel me (Remix)" performed by Anthony Hamilton featuring Ghostface Killah, "Blue magic" from Jay-Z's album "American gangster"; Hip-hop infusion featuring Common and T.I.; "The BET special: the making of 'American gangster'"; "Dateline NBC: 'American gangster' first look"; Theatrical trailer. 335 min. DVD 9554

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Amistad (1998)

Directed by Steven Spielberg. Chronicles the 1839 revolt on board a slave ship bound for America. Much of the story involves the court-room drama about the slave who led the revolt. 155 min. DVD 956; vhs 999:1997

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Amos n' Andy

Amos n' Andy on radio
Check and Double Check (feature film)

Description of series from the Encyclopedia of Television

Ely, Melvin Patrick. The Adventures of Amos 'n' Andy: A Social History of an American Phenomenon / Melvin Patrick Ely. New York: Free Press; Toronto : Maxwell Macmillan Canada; New York: Maxwell Macmillan International, c1991. (UCB Main PN1991.77.A6 E49 1991; UCB Moffitt PN1991.77.A6 E49 1991)

Cripps, Thomas. "The Films of Spencer Williams." Black American Literature Forum, Vol. 12, No. 4. (Winter, 1978), pp. 128-134.

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The Amos 'n' Andy Show: Discs 1-2 (TV, 1950's)

Selected episodes from the 1950's television sit com which relates the comic adventures of Amos Jones and Andrew H. Brown (Amos n' Andy), two black men trying to make it in Harlem whose lives are complicated by the schemes of the Kingfish. Written variously by Bob Ross, Dave Schwartz, Joe Connelly, Bob Mosher, Paul West, and Jay Sommers. Alvin Childress (Amos) ; Spencer Williams, Jr. (Andy) ; Tim Moore (Kingfish) ; Ernestine Wade (Sapphire) ; Amanda Randolph (Mama) ; Johnny Lee (Calhoun). Contents: Disc 1: Getting momma married, Parts 1 & 2 -- Andy buys a house -- The happy Stevens -- Arabia -- Disc 2. Andy plays Santa Claus -- The broken clock -- The Winslow woman -- Call Lehigh 4-9000 -- Leroy lends a hand. DVD 7387

The Amos 'n' Andy Show: Discs 3-4 (TV, 1950's)

Selected episodes from the 1950's television sit com which relates the comic adventures of Amos Jones and Andrew H. Brown (Amos n' Andy), two black men trying to make it in Harlem whose lives are complicated by the schemes of the Kingfish. Written variously by Bob Ross, Dave Schwartz, Joe Connelly, Bob Mosher, Paul West, and Jay Sommers. Alvin Childress (Amos) ; Spencer Williams, Jr. (Andy) ; Tim Moore (Kingfish) ; Ernestine Wade (Sapphire) ; Amanda Randolph (Mama) ; Johnny Lee (Calhoun). Contents: Disc 3: Birthday card -- Relatives -- Kingfish's last friend-- Quo vadis -- Andy falls in love with an actress -- Disc 4. Sapphire disappears -- The gun-- The turkey dinner -- Superfine brush-- Cousin Effie's will. DVD 7388

The Amos 'n' Andy Show: Discs 5-6 (TV, 1950's)

Selected episodes from the 1950's television sit com which relates the comic adventures of Amos Jones and Andrew H. Brown (Amos n' Andy), two black men trying to make it in Harlem whose lives are complicated by the schemes of the Kingfish. Written variously by Bob Ross, Dave Schwartz, Joe Connelly, Bob Mosher, Paul West, and Jay Sommers. Alvin Childress (Amos) ; Spencer Williams, Jr. (Andy) ; Tim Moore (Kingfish) ; Ernestine Wade (Sapphire) ; Amanda Randolph (Mama) ; Johnny Lee (Calhoun). Contents: Disc 5: Hospitalization -- The antique shop -- Rare coin (also on vhs Video/C 9639) -- Young girl's mother -- The girl upstairs -- Disc 6. Amos helps out -- The ballet tickets -- The diner -- The engagement ring -- Andy gets a telegram. DVD 7389

The Amos 'n' Andy Show: Discs 7-8 (TV, 1950's)

Selected episodes from the 1950's television sit com which relates the comic adventures of Amos Jones and Andrew H. Brown (Amos n' Andy), two black men trying to make it in Harlem whose lives are complicated by the schemes of the Kingfish. Written variously by Bob Ross, Dave Schwartz, Joe Connelly, Bob Mosher, Paul West, and Jay Sommers. Alvin Childress (Amos) ; Spencer Williams, Jr. (Andy) ; Tim Moore (Kingfish) ; Ernestine Wade (Sapphire) ; Amanda Randolph (Mama) ; Johnny Lee (Calhoun). Contents: Disc 7: The adoption -- Leroy's suits-- The convention -- Ready made family -- Kingfish gets drafted -- Disc 8. Traffic violations -- The society party -- Kingfish's secretary-- The new neighbors -- Vacation. DVD 7390

The Amos 'n' Andy Show: Discs 9 (TV, 1950's)

Selected episodes from the 1950's television sit com which relates the comic adventures of Amos Jones and Andrew H. Brown (Amos n' Andy), two black men trying to make it in Harlem whose lives are complicated by the schemes of the Kingfish. Written variously by Bob Ross, Dave Schwartz, Joe Connelly, Bob Mosher, Paul West, and Jay Sommers. Alvin Childress (Amos) ; Spencer Williams, Jr. (Andy) ; Tim Moore (Kingfish) ; Ernestine Wade (Sapphire) ; Amanda Randolph (Mama) ; Johnny Lee (Calhoun). Contents: Eyeglasses -- Seeing is believing -- Viva la France -- The boarder . DVD 7391

Amos'n Andy.(TV, 1951)

Cast: Alvin Childress, Spencer Williams, Jr., Tim Moore, Ernestine Wade, Amanda Randolph, Johnny Lee, and Horace Stewart.

Amos n' Andy: Introduction of actors to studio audience by producers (6 min.) -- Amos n' Andy: The rare coin (27 min.) -- Amos n' Andy: Kingfish enlists (25 min.) Video/C 4761

Vol. 4: Antique shop: Kingfish becomes an agent to get the commission from the sale of an antique shop. Kingfish teaches Andy to fly: Kingfish talks Andy into flying lessons so he can impress the ladies. 999:729:4

Vol. 6: The rare coin (27 min.) -- The Christmas story (27 min.) Video/C 9639

Vol. 7: Second honeymoon (27 min.) -- Andy buys a house (27 min.) Video/C 9640

Vol. 8: Andy's vacation; Happy Stevenses 999:728

Vol. Vol. 8a: Kingfish's secretary; The Society 999:728

Vol. Vol. 10: Cousin Effie's will; The adoption 999:729:10

Vol. 11: Eye glasses (27 min.) -- Superfine Brush Company (aka Superfine brushes) (27 min.) Video/C 9641

Vol. 11a: The Kingfish gets drafted; Kingfish's secretary 999:729:11

Vol. 13: Getting momma married 999:729:13

Vol. 14: Young girls mom ; Broken clock 999:729:14

Vol. 15: The Kingfish's last friend ; The society party 999:729:15

Vol. 16: Christmas show ; Relatives 999:729:16

Vol. 18: Amos helps out ; Sapphire disappears 999:729:18

Vol. 19: Counterfeiters in the basement ; Turkey dinner 999:729:19

Vol. 20: Superfine brushes; Traffic violations 999:729:20

Amos 'n Andy. The Trouble with Father. Jack Benny Program.(TV)

Contents: Amos n' Andy: Introduction of actors to studio audience by producers (6 min.) -- Amos n' Andy: The Rare Coin (27 min.) -- Amos n' Andy: Kingfish Enlists (25 min.) -- Trouble with Father: A Skeleton at the Party (27 min.) -- Jack Benny Program: Benny in the Lineup (25 min.). 199?. 110 min. Video/C 4761

Amos and Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy

Takes a fond look at the controversial radio and television show and attempts to determine if the series was a positive first step for Blacks into the world of entertainment or not and examines the events that led to the show's expulsion from the airwaves in 1966 after complaints from civil rights activists. Highlighted with rare clips of radio show creators Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, and hilarious clips from the Amos n' Andy TV series. Commentary by Alvin Childress, Ernestine Wade, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Redd Foxx, Marla Gibbs, and Henry Lee Moon. 1983. 60 min. DVD X904; vhs Video/C MM1157

Band of Angels (1957)

Directed by Raoul Walsh. Cast: Clark Gable, Yvonne DeCarlo, Sidney Poitier, Efram Zimbalist, Jr., Rex Reason, Carolle Drake, Juanita Moore. The story of privileged society of the Old South centering around Amish Bond, a plantation owner with a secret past of slave trading, a freedom-yearning slave Bond has raised as a son, and the fiery belle, well educated and born into a good family who goes on the auction block when her part-African heritage is revealed. Based on the novel by Robert Penn Warren. 128 min. DVD X1615; vhs 999:2231

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Barriers (1998)

Directed by Alan Baxter. Cast: Jamaul Roots, Geoffrey Garcy, Sedley Bloomfield, Derrick Robberts, Quentin Crisp, Annie Golden. A drama about an unlikely friendship between two black youths in New York City, one rich and one poor, and the barriers of race and class that threaten to drive them apart. Tori, a lonely affluent teen befriends a streetwise, tough named Snake from Harlem, but when Tori's father's credit card turns up missing, Snake is blamed. Upset, Tori's pursuit of Snake leads the pair into a deadly showdown that not only tests the limits of their friendship, but forces those around them to reevaluate their own notions of race, class and loyalty. 90 min. 999:3051

Bataan (1943)

Directed by Directed by Tay Garnett. Cast: Robert Taylor, George Murphy, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Nolan. WWII movie featuring what Donald Bogle has called the movies' representation of "New Negro" in the military (an increasingly sympathetic image in the war and post-war years). Bataan features Kenneth Spencer as a black demolitions expert who figures prominantly and heroically in the action of the movie. 115 min. DVD 3498; vhs 999:1258

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Kelly, Thomas O., II "Race and Racism in the American World War II Film: The Negro, the Nazi, and the 'Jap' in Bataan and Sahara." Michigan Academician, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 571-83, Summer 1992

Konzett, Delia. "War and orientalism in Hollywood combat film." Quarterly Review of Film and Video. Oct-Dec 2004. Vol. 21, Iss. 4; pg. 327

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Melnikoff, Kirk. "Wartime Shakespeare: The Strange Case Of Bataan (1943)." Literature/Film Quarterly. 2007. Vol. 35, Iss. 2; p. 129 (11 pages)

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Slotkin, Richard. "Unit Pride: Ethnic Platoons and the Myths of American Nationality." American Literary History, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 469-98, Fall 2001

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Beloved (1998)

Directed by Jonathan Demme. Cast: Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elise, Beah Richards, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Albert Hall. After Paul D. finds his old slave friend Sethe in Ohio and moves in with her and her daughter Denver, a strange girl comes along by the name of "Beloved." Sethe and Denver take her in and help her to finally rediscover who she is and regain her lost sense of hope. 1998. 172 min. DVD 8328; vhs 999:2288

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Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Directed by Martin Brest. Cast: Eddie Murphy, Lisa Eilbacher, Steven Berkoff, Judge Reinhold, Ronny Cox. Axel Foley is a brash, street smart Detroit detective who follows the trail of a friend's murderer to the posh surroundings of Beverly Hills. And before Axel gets his man, he gets up to his neck in an international network of smugglers and drug peddlers. 105 min. 999:3181

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Fuchs, Cynthia J. "The Buddy Politic." In: Screening the male : exploring masculinities in Hollywood cinema / edited by Steven Cohan and Ina Rae Hark. London ; New York : Routledge, c1993. (Main Stack PN1995.9.M46.S36 1993; Moffitt PN1995.9.M46.S36 1993)

Guerrero, Ed. "The Black Image in Protective Custody: Hollywood's Biracial Buddy Films of the Eighties." In: Black American cinema / edited by Manthia Diawara. New York : Routledge,1993. (Main Stack PN1995.9.N4.B45 1993; Moffitt PN1995.9.N4.B45 1993)

Big Momma's House (2000)

Directed by Raja Gosnell. Cast: Martin Lawrence, Nia Long, Paul Giamatti, Jascha Washington, Terrence Dashon Howard, Anthony Anderson, Ella Mitchell, Carl Wright, Phyllis Applegate. A tough-talking FBI agent is sent to Georgia to protect a single mom and her son from an escaped convict. He goes incognito by disguising himself as the woman's grandma. 98 min. DVD 5550

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Hollings, K. "Big Momma's house." Sight & Sound v. ns10 no. 8 (August 2000) p. 39-40

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The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976)

Directed by John Badham. Cast: Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones, Richard Pryor, Rico Dawson. The adventures of an outlaw barnstorming black baseball team in 1939, who take on their own League's unfair rules as they steal cars, food and home base -- anything to keep their pitching and catching the best and boldest. 111 min. 999:2776

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Bird (1988)

Directed by Clint Eastwood. Cast: Forest Whitaker, Diane Venora, Michael Zelniker, Sam Wright, Keith David. A gripping drama of the life of legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie "Yardbird" Parker. Past and future overlap as the movie explores Bird's relationship with his steadfast wife Chan Parker, his soaring skill and destructive excesses with alcohol and drugs. Film uses actual recordings by Parker skillfully blending his solo recordings with modern musicians attuned to the Yardbird's improvisations. 160 min. DVD 625

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Birth of a Nation (1915)

Directed by D.W. Griffith. Cast: Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Henry Walthall, Miriam Cooper, Mary Alden, Ralph Lewis, George Seigmann, Walter Long. Adapted from Thomas Dixon's novel, The Clansman. A Civil War spectacular, Portraying "life in the South" during and after the Civil War as revealed in a story depicting the war itself, the conflict between the defeated Southerners and emancipated renegade Negroes, the despoiling of the South during the carpetbagger period, and the revival of the Southern white man's honor through the efforts of the Ku Klux Klan. 124 min. DVD 3012; DVD 29; VHS 999:1685 (187 min.), 999:1686 213 min.)

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Birth of a Race (Excerpt) (1915)

Directed by John W. Noble. Cast: Louis Dean, Harry Dumont, Carter B. Harkness, Doris Doscher, Charles Graham, Ben Hendricks, Alice Gale, John Reinhardt, Gertrude Braun. After a biblical and historical prologue detailing the evolution of the idea of democracy through the creation, flood, the crucifixion of Christ, the discovery of America, the signing of the Declaration of Independenc and the Civil War, the present-day threat to this idea by autocratic powers is dramatized. 10 min. DVD 3012; DVD 2912

Black & White (1991)

Written and directed by Boris Frumin. Cast: Elena Shevchenko, Gilbert Giles, Patrick Godfrey, Gina Delio, Hayward Boling, Debra Jo Jackson, Stephen Parris. The story of Lisa, a young Soviet emigre studying medicine in Manhattan and Roy, an African American building superintendent on New York's Lower East Side. Edgy and emotionally complex, this nocturnal love story is suffused with the melancholy and anxiety of not belonging, and full of the sad understanding of what it means to be a stranger. 96 min. 999:2253

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Black Hollywood: The Way It Was (Library of Black History)

An extensive exploration of the "Hollywood treatment" given to blacks by the film moguls since the beginning of the film industry. Through interviews with film historians and generous film clips examines how and why stereotypes were created and used by the movie industry. It also explains the economics of the film business and probes the impact of racism, the Depression, and World War II on film production and distribution. Contents: Film excerpts: Birth of a nation -- Scar of shame -- By right of birth -- Black king -- Emperor Jones -- So red the rose -- Broken strings -- Blood of Jesus -- Sports cavalcade -- Cabin in the sky. Originally shown on the television program: Tony Brown's journal. c1986. 104 min. Video/C 8261

Black Legion (1936)

Directed by Archie L. Mayo. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Dick Foran, Erin O'Brien-Moore, Ann Sheridan. In this first leading role in a major movie for Humphrey Bogart, he plays a factory worker, disappointed at not being promoted, who joins a Ku Klux Klan-like group. Threats surrounded the making of the movie, but the studio persisted, creating a bold, torn-from-the-headlines expose of the organization fueled by fear, ignorance and hate -- a nation of "free, white, 100% Americans." 83 min. 999:3162

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"Black legion."Commonweal v. 25 (January 22 1937) p. 360

"Black legion."Literary Digest v. 123 (January 16 1937) p. 23

"Black legion." The Nation v. 144 (January 30 1937) p. 137

"Black legion." The New Republic v. 90 (February 17 1937) p. 47-8

"Black legion." Time v. 29 (January 25 1937) p. 46

Black Like Me (1964)

Directed by Carl Lerner. Cast: James Whitmore, Will Geer, Roscoe Lee Browne. A dramatization of the true story of a white writer in the early 1960's who chemically changed the color of his skin in order to experience life as a black man in the South. Based on the book by John Howard Griffin (Moffitt E185.61.G8; Main Stack E185.61.G75). 107 min. 999:2729

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Booty Call (1997)

Directed by Jeff Pollack. Cast: Jamie Foxx, Tommy Davidson, Vivica A. Fox, Tamala Jones. After weeks of dating, Rushon and Nikki think they might be in love. And they know they're in lust. There's just one little problem--Nikki insists on double-dating with her best friend Lysterine on the night Rushon has reserved for romance. 79 min. DVD 2936

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Borderline (UK, 1930)

Directed by Kenneth MacPherson. Cast: Paul Robeson, Eslanda Robeson, Helga Doorn, Gavin Arthur, Charlotte Arthur, Blanche Lewin. This experimental silent film, made in Switzerland by an independent British film company, is chiefly remembered as Paul Robeson's first film. Boldly blending Eisensteinian montage and domestic melodrama, the film features Robeson and his wife, Eslanda, as lovers caught up in a tangled web of interracial affairs. 63 min. DVD 7281

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Paul Robeson : essays on his life and legacy Edited by Joseph Dorinson and William Pencak. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland, 2002. (Main Stack E185.97.R63.P375 2002; PFA PN2287.R59.P38 2002)

Bring It On (2000)

Directed by Peyton Reed. Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, Jesse Bradford, Gabrielle Union. The Toro cheerleading squad has spirit, spunk, sass and a killer routine that's sure to land them the national championship torphy for the sixth year in a row. But for newly-elected team captain, Torrance, the Toros' road to cheer glory stumbles when she discovers their perfectly choreographed routines were stolen from a hot hip-hop squad across town. Now the squad must scramble to find a new routine to compete in this year's competition. 99 min. DVD 1359

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Brother From Another Planet (1987)

Directed by John Sayles. A sci-fantasy adventure about a black visitor from outer space. Fleeing earth to escape slavery on a distant world, he spashes down in New York harbor and makes his way to Harlem, where he's accepted by the regulars at a local bar, and persued by two alien bounty hunters. 109 min. DVD 1820; vhs 999:1470

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Brother to Brother (2004)

Directed by Rodney Evans. Cast: Anthony Mackie, Larry Gilliard Jr., Duane Boutte, Daniel Sunjata, Alex Burns. Critically acclaimed drama that invokes the glory days of the Harlem Renaissance. As an elderly man, poet Bruce Nugent meets a young, black, gay artist struggling to find his voice, and together they embark on a journey through his inspiring past. 90 min. DVD 3997

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Bulworth (1998)

Directed by Warren Beatty. Cast: Warren Beatty, Halle Berry, Oliver Platt, Paul Sorvino, Jack Warden, Isaiah Washington. Believing his career is over, California Senator Jay Bulworth takes out an enormous insurance policy and a contract on his own life. His impending death fills him with an outrageous desire to break the rules and tell it like it is. 108 min. 999:2411

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Cabin in the Sky (1943)

Directed by Vincente Minnelli. Cast: Ethel Waters, Eddie Anderson, Lena Horne. Petunia Jackson, a poor but devout woman, is burdened with a shiftless husband called Little Joe. When Little Joe is seriously wounded in a fight and seems about to die, the forces of heaven and hell begin a battle for his soul. 99 min. DVD 5684999:357

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Car Wash(1976)

Director Michael Schultz. Cast: George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Franklyn Ajaye, Professor Irwin Corey, Ivan Dixon, Antonio Fargas, Jack Kehoe, Clarence Muse, Lorraine Gary, the Pointer Sisters. An irreverent but affectionate look at a typical day in a Los Angeles car wash. But what a day! There's a would-be robbery and an assembly line of the weirdest, baddest characters you've ever met and lots of booty-bumping music to pass the hours. 97 min. DVD 2573

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Carmen Jones (1954)

Directed by Otto Preminger. Cast: Harry Belafonte, Dorthy Dandridge, Pearl Bailey, Olga James, Joe Adams, Diahann Carroll. Bizet's opera Carmen staged with an all black cast. DVD 3429; vhs 999:1169

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Bibliography on Dorothy Dandridge

Furman, Nelly. "Screen Politics: Otto Preminger's Carmen Jones." In: Carmen : from silent film to MTV / edited by Chris Perriam and Ann Davies. Amsterdam ; New York : Rodopi, 2005. (Main Stack PN57.C33.C37 2005)

Smith, Jeff. "Black faces, white voices: the politics of dubbing in Carmen Jones." Velvet Light Trap (Spring 2003): p29(14). (9214 words)

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Catfish in Black Bean Sauce (2000)

Directed by Chi Muoi Lo. Cast: Paul Winfield, Mary Alice, Chi Muoi Lo, Kieu Chinh, Lauren Tom, Sanaa Lathan, Tyler Christopher, George Wallace. Mai and her brother Dwayne were Vietnamese orphans in a refugee camp when an African-American couple adopted them 22 years ago. As an adult, Mai tracks down her mother and brings her to America for the first time. Now, after an emotional reunion, Dwayne and Mai face conflicting feelings over their identities and loyalites in this touching and funny look at what it means to be family. 119 min. DVD 1799

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Check and Double Check (1930)

Directed by Melville W. Brown. Cast: Freeman Gosden, Charles J. Correll, Sue Carol, Irene Rich. Cab drivers Amos 'n' Andy (characters from the radio show Amos 'n' Andy) contract to transport Duke Ellington and his band out to Blair estate, where they meet Richard Williams who is in love with Jean Blair. Richard must find the deed to his family property before he can marry Jean. Meanwhile, Amos 'n' Andy, after spending the night in a haunted house, find the deed. Notable as the only motion picture produced staring the radio comedy team, Amos n' Andy. 85 min. 999:793

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Clara's Heart (1988)

Directed by Robert Mulligan. Cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Michael Ontkean, Kathleen Quinlan, Spalding Gray, Beverly Todd, Neil Patrick Harris. Clara Mayfield, a Jamaican housekeeper, enters the Harts' luxurious suburban Baltimore home as an interloper, but her unshakable dignity and bounteous humor act like sunshine on the tight bud of David's soul. He flowers under her care and even fashions his speech after hers. 108 min. 999:3710

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Classified X (1997)

A film by Melvin Van Peebles. Examines the treatment of black characters throughout the history of American cinema, using examples from classic films beginning with footage by Thomas Edison in 1903 to the present, tracing how Hollywood has aided and abetted the public perception of the African-American. From its earliest days, Hollywood reflected society's fear of blacks and countered with wish-fulfilling images of African-Americans as servile, ignorant, superstitious, or untrustworthy. 50 min. Video/C 5588

Claudine (1985)

Directed by John Berry. Cast: James Earl Jones, Diahann Carroll, David Kruger. While struggling to support herself and her six children in Harlem by working as a maid for a wealthy family, Claudine meets a charming garbage man, Roop. But although Roop is smitten with the lovely single mother, his own life trials make him slow to respond to her invitation to a lifetime of love. 92 min. DVD 3709

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Palmer, William J. "From Blaxploitation to African American Film." In: The films of the seventies : a social history / by William J. Palmer. Metuchen, N.J. : Scarecrow Press, 1987. (Main Stack PN1995.9.S6.P341 1987; Moffitt PN1995.9.S6.P34 1987)

Collateral (2004)

Directed by Michael Mann. Cast: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg, Bruce McGill, Irma P. Hall, Barry Shabaka Henley. Vincent is a cool, calculating contract killer at the top of his game. Max is a cabbie with big dreams looking for his next fare. This fateful night, Max becomes Vincent's collateral, and will transport him on his next mission - one night, five stops, five hits and then a perfect getaway. Together, Vincent and Max find themselves in a non-stop race against time. With the LAPD and the FBI after them, they each become dependent on the other to survive. 119 min. DVD 3780

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Chambers, Samuel A. "Collateral." Film & History (03603695), May2005, Vol. 35 Issue 1, p69-70, 2p

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Olsen, Mike. "It Happened One Night." Sight and Sound, vol. 14, no. 10, pp. 14-15, Oct 2004

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Schwartz, Ronald. "Collateral." In: Neo-noir : the new film noir style from Psycho to Collateral / Ronald Schwartz. Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 2005. (Main (Gardner) Stacks PN1995.9.F54 S387 2005)

Scott, Ian. "Filming Los Angeles: History, Hollywood, and the City's Disastrous Imagination." Literature Film Quarterly; 2009, Vol. 37 Issue 3, p201-211, 11p

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The Color Purple (1985)

Steven Spielberg's movie adaptation of Alice Walker's novel. Cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Adolph Caesar, Margaret Avery, Rae Dawn Chong, Oprah Winfrey. A young uneducated woman living in the rural South is raped by her father who then forces her to marry a man who beats her. Her life is transformed by the friendship of two women who help her find self-respect and the courage to change her life. Based on the novel by Alice Walker: (Bancroft BANC MSS 92/109 z (typescript) Non-circulating; may be used only in The Bancroft Library; Circulating copies: Moffitt PS3573.A425.C6 1985; Main Stack PS3573.A425.C6 1992) 154 min. DVD 28; vhs 999:228

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Coming to America (1988)

Directed by John Landis. Cast: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, John Amos, Madge Sinclair, Shari Headley. Murphy plays a very wealthy and pampered African prince who comes to America in search of a bride. Accompanied by his closest companion, Murphy quickly finds a job, new friends, new digs, new enemies--and lots of trouble. 116 min. DVD 7106; vhs 999:2123

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Dugga, Victor S. "Africa from the American Lens: A Comparative View of the Films Sheena and Coming to America." SORAC Journal of African Studies: Society of Research on African Cultures, vol. 1, pp. 107-15, Apr 2000

Olaniyan, Tejumola. "'Uplift the Race!' Coming to America, Do the Right Thing, and the Poetics of 'Othering'." Cultural-Critique, 1996 Fall, 34, 91-113.

The Cotton Club (1984)

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Cast: Richard Gere, Gregory Hines, Diane Lane, Lonette McKee, Bob Hoskins, Nicolas Cage, Fred Gwynne. In 1928 New York, spirits are high and jazz, dancing and gangsters rule supreme. Harlem's Cotton Club is in the center of it all, where rich upper-eastsiders mix with dressed-up mobsters. On stage is gifted coronet player Dixie Dwyer, who dreams of the big time, and tap sensation Sandman Williams who can't touch his girl, the lovely singer Lila Rose Oliver, because of strict club rules. As tension rises, so do tempers, and the nightclub becomes a pressure-cooker of jilted loves and mob jobs. 129 min. DVD 788; VHS 999:2852

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Crash (2004)

Directed by Paul Haggis. Cast: Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, William Fichtner, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Thandie Newton, Ryan Phillippe, Larenz Tate. A car accident brings together a group of strangers in Los Angeles in this provocative, unflinching look at the complexities of racial tolerance in contemporary America. 113 min. DVD 4298

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Crown Heights (TV, 2004)

Directed by Jeremy Kagan. Cast: Mario Van Peebles, Howie Mandel, Jeremy Blackman, Dequan Henderson, Jason Blicker. In August of 1991, an African American boy (Gavin Cato) was accidentally killed by a car driven by a Hasidic Jewish man in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. Four hours later Yankel Rosenbaum was murdered in retaliation. For the following three days, the Heights experienced riots and racial tensions. The efforts of an African American youth leader and a Hasidic rabbi bring the polarized communities together. During this time, two teens, Yudi Simon and T.J. Moses forge a friendship based on a mutual love of rap music and dance. Two groups that have suffered persecution throughout the centuries embrace tolerance and discover that progress is possible. 88 min. DVD 8284

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The Defiant Ones (1958)

Directed by Stanley Kramer. Cast: Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier star in Stanley Kramer's groundbreaking film that tears into the problem of racial hatred. The plot centers on these two convicts fleeing a chain gang in the deep South. 1 hour 37 min. DVD 4533; vhs 999:972

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"Defiant Ones" In: Film scripts. Edited by George P. Garrett, O. B. Hardison, Jr. [and] Jane R. Gelfman. New York, Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1971. (Main Stack PN1997.A1.G18)

Frank, Micheline Klagsbrun. "Unchained: Perspectives on Change." Journal of Popular Film & Television. Fall 1990. Vol. 18, Iss. 3; p. 122 (8 pages)

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Kelley, Samuel L. The evolution of character portrayals in the films of Sidney Poitier, 1950-1978 (NEWS: MICROFICHE.6030.Unit 98)

Keyser, Lester J. The cinema of Sidney Poitier : the black man's changing role on the American screen. San Diego, [Calif. : A. S. Barnes, c1980 (MAIN: PN2287.P57 .K4)

Marill, Alvin H. The films of Sidney Poitier Secaucus, N.J. : Citadel Press, c1978. (MAIN: PN2287 .P57M3)

Dirty Dozen (1967)

Directed by Robert Aldrich. Cast: Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Trini Lopez, Ralph Meeker, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Clint Walker, Robert Webber. A World War II drama in which an army major selects 12 men convicted for crimes of violence and offers them their freedom if they will complete a dangerous mission behind Nazi lines. Features Ex-football champ Jim Brown in one of his typically "mean MF" roles. 150 min. 999:783

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Harris, Keith M. "Super bad: Jim Brown, blaxploitation, and the coming of boyz." In: Boys, boyz, bois : an ethics of Black masculinity in film and popular media New York : Routledge, 2006 (Main Stack PN1995.9.N4.H37 2006)

Dreamgirls (2006)

Directed by Bill Condon. Cast: Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover, Anika Noni Rose, Keith Robinson, Sharon Leal, Hinton Battle, Jennifer Hudson. Deena Jones, Effie White, and Lorrell Robinson, three young African-American women in 1960s Detroit, dream of becoming pop stars. They get their wish after a local talent show when they are picked to be backup singers for the legendary James "Thunder" Early. As they become more successful over time, each of the girls discovers the costs and compromises exacted by their desire to be in the music business. Special features (Disc 1): 12 never-before-seen extended musical numbers; Listen (Beyonce music video). (Disc 2). Building the dream (behind-the-scenes full-length documentary); original auditions and screen tests; previsualization sequences; image gallery; additional featurettes. 130 min. DVD 7816

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Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

Directed by Bruce Beresford. Cast: Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy, Dan Aykroyd, Patti Lupone, Esther Rolle. Set in Atlanta in the 1950's, a textile factory owner insists on hiring an ever-patient chauffeur for his aging head-strong mother. The Jewish woman and her African American driver eventually build a relationship over many years. 99 min. DVD 5147

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Winchell, Mark Royden. "That's what friends are for : Bruce Beresford's Driving Miss Daisy (1989)." In: God, man, and Hollywood : politically incorrect cinema from "The birth of a nation" to "The Passion of the Christ" / Mark Royden Winchell. Wilmington, Del. : ISI Books, c2008. (Main Stack PN1995.9.S6.W53 2008; PFA PN1995.9.S6.W53 2008)

Tha Eastsidaz (2000)

Director, Michael Martin. Cast: Snoop Dogg, Tray Deee, Goldie Loc, Darryl Brunson, Xzibit, Warren G., RBS, Jayo Felony, Tash. A gang kingpin is looking to get out of the game after one final deal, only to have his trusted lieutenant betray him. Aided by friends outside prison, Killa Pop plans an ingenious escape and a brutal payback. Features a who's who of the West Coasts's top rap artists. 90 min. 999:2811

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Emperor Jones (1933)

Directed by Dudley Murphy, with screenplay adapted by DuBose Heyward from the drama by Eugene O'Neill. Cast: Paul Robeson, Dudley Digges, Frank Wilson, Fredi Washington, Ruby Elzy. 101 min. DVD 7280; DVD DVD 3917; vhs Video 999:200

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Paul Robeson : essays on his life and legacy Edited by Joseph Dorinson and William Pencak. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland, 2002. (Main Stack E185.97.R63.P375 2002; PFA PN2287.R59.P38 2002)

Far From Heaven (2002)

Directed by Todd Haynes. Cast: Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert, Patricia Clarkson, Viola Davis, James Rebhorn. Cathy is the perfect 50s housewife, living the perfect 50s life: healthy kids, successful husband, social prominence. Then one night she surprises her husband Frank having sex with another man, and her tidy world starts spinning out of control. In her confusion and grief, she finds consolation in the friendship of their African-American gardener, Raymond--a socially taboo relationship that leads to the further disintegration of life as she knew it. 107 min. DVD 1713

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Fear of a Black Hat (1992)

Directed by Rusty Cundieff. Cast: Rusty Cundieff, Larry B. Scott, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Kasi Lemmons. A filmmaker infiltrates rap band NWH in this satire of gangsta rappers, which focuses on the hip hop trio Tasty-Taste, Ice Cold, and Tone Def. The movie irreverently pokes fun at white rappers, the L.A. riots, as well as violence in rap. 95 min. 999:3220

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The Feast of All Saints(TV, 2001)

Directed by Peter Medak. Cast: Robert Ri'chard, Ben Vereen, Ossie Davis, Jennifer Beals, Ruby Dee, James Earl Jones, Eartha Kitt, Forest Whitaker. Set in nineteenth-century New Orleans, this television mini-series depicts the gens de couleur libre, or the Free People of Colour, a dazzling yet damned class caught between the world of white privilege and black oppression. Based on the novel by Anne Rice. 212 min. DVD X1896

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Fireman of the Follies-Bergère (Le pompier des Folies-Bergère)(France, 1928)

With Josephine Baker; music, Eric le Guen. 7:38 min. DVD 9633 (Disc 1)

For Love of Ivy (1968)

Directed by Daniel Mann. Cast: Sidney Poitier, Abbey Lincoln, Beau Bridges, Nan Martin, Lauri Peters, Carroll O'Connor, Leon Bibb. A wealthy family, afraid of losing their housekeeper to a secretarial career, fix her up with a man-about-town, who is secretly involved in illegal gambling. 101 min. DVD 4565

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Freedom Song (2000)

Directed by Phil Alden Robinson. Cast: Danny Glover, Vondie Curtis Hall, Vicellous Reon Shannon, Loretta Devine, Glynn Turman. A stirring dramatization of unsung small-town citizens during the civil rights struggle in the early 1960s who risked their lives to bring change to the grassroots level. Based on first-hand recollections of veteran activists, burning with realism, commitment, and the urgency of lives in crisis. 117 min. DVD 5126

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Freedom Writers (2007)

Director, Richard LaGravenese. Cast: Hilary Swank, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Glenn, Imelda Staunton, April Lee Hernandez, Mario, Kristin Herrera, Jacklyn Ngan, Sergio Montalvo, Jason Finn, Deance Wyatt, Vanetta Smith, Gabriel Chavarria, Hunter Parrish. Dramatization of a true story about a teacher in a racially divided school who gives her students what they've always needed, a voice. Erin Gruwell comes to a southern California high school bubbling over with naive optimism. She quickly discovers that her unruly classroom is not easily won over by her good intentions. After a few floundering attempts to connect with her students, Gruwell gives them the assignment of keeping journals about their own lives. This assignment is something that the class can bite into with relish. This eventually bonds them together and pushes racial rivalries aside. Draws heavily from the published journals of the real students themselves. Special features: Feature-length commentary by director Richard LaGravenese and actor Hilary Swank; deleted scenes; featurettes; theatrical trailer; photo gallery. Based on the book "The Freedom Writers diary: how a teacher and 150 teens used writing to change themselves and the world around them" by the Freedom Writers and Erin Gruwell (MOFF: HQ796 .F76355 1999). 122 min. DVD 7635

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Giroux, Henry A. "Hollywood Film as Public Pedagogy: Education in the Crossfire." Afterimage, Mar/Apr2008, Vol. 35 Issue 5, p7-13, 7p

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Smith, Anna. "Freedom Writers." Sight & Sound, Apr2007, Vol. 17 Issue 4, p59-60, 2p

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Yosso, Tara J.; Garcia, David G. ""'Cause It's Not Just Me": Walkout's History Lessons Challenge Hollywood's Urban School Formula." Radical History Review; Fall2008 Issue 102, p171-184, 14p

The French Way (Fausse Alerte) (1940)

Director, Jacques de Baroncelli. Cast: Josephine Baker, Micheline Presle, George Marchal, Raymond Aimos, Jean Tissier, Gabrielle Dorziat, Saturnin Fabre, Marguerite Perry, Lucien Baroux. A rare wartime musical comedy featuring Josephine Baker as a Parisian cabaret singer who assists two lovers in the face of their parents' disapproval while trying to re-open her nightclub. Includes Baker and chorus girls in cabaret rehearsals and performances. 74 min. 999:3496

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Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)

Directed by Rob Reiner. Cast: Alec Baldwin, Whoopi Goldberg, James Woods, Craig T. Nelson. For three decades Myrlie Evers waited and worked for the conviction of the white supremacist who murdered her husband, civil rights leader Medgar Evers. Yet after two hung juries justice had not come. This film follows the final trial, carefully recreating the details of a relentless quest for justice. Film features special appearances by three children of Medgar Evers, plus Yoland King, the daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. 131 min. DVD 8979; vhs 999:1824

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Glory (1989)

Directed by Edward Zwick. Cast: Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, and Morgan Freeman. Two idealistic young Bostonians lead the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, America's first Black regiment in the Civil War. Based on the letters by Robert Gould Shaw ; based on the book "Lay this laurel" by Lincoln Kirstein ; based on the book "One gallant rush" by Peter Burchard. Special features: Disc 1: Director's audio commentary; picture-in-picture video commentary featuring Ed Zwick, Morgan Freeman & Matthew Broderick ; Disc 2: Documentary "The true story of 'Glory' continues" narrated by Morgan Freeman; "Voices of 'Glory'" featurette; original featurette; deleted scenes; bonus previews; talent files. 122 min. DVD 6920; vhs 999:403

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Gone With the Wind (1939)

Directed by Victor Fleming, et al. Cast: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland, Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neill, Evelyn Keyes, Ann Rutherford, Hattie McDaniel, Butterfly McQueen, Carroll Nye, Laura Hope Crews, Ona Munson. As the South finally crumbles down around her, Scarlett devises a way to overcome starvation in order save herself and her family during the war and the following years of reconstruction. Cast: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland, Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neill, Evelyn Keyes, Ann Rutherford, Hattie McDaniel, Butterfly McQueen, Carroll Nye, Laura Hope Crews, Ona Munson. DVD 3133 special features: (Disc 4: about the cast) "Melanie remembers: reflections by Olivia de Havilland" exclusive 2004 documentary ; two insightful profiles "Gable: the king remembered" and "Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and beyond" ; the supporting players: cameo portraits of an unforgettable ensemble.Discs 1-2: Feature film -- Disc 3: About the movie -- Disc 4: About the cast. Based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell.DVD 3133; DVD 100; VHS 999:142

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The Great White Hope (1970)

Directed by Martin Ritt. Cast: James Earl Jones, Jane Alexander, Lou Gilbert, Joel Fluellen, Chester Morris. Based on the life of African American boxer Jack Johnson, this fictional account of his rise to fame chronicles the battles that the flamboyant champion fought in and out of the ring. Refusing to live within the boundaries deemed acceptable by society, this renowned hero and the woman he loved chose to live their lives the way they wanted-- something which evoked great fury from a narrow-minded world. 102 min. DVD 8059

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Goldfarb, Lyn; Ilyashov, Anatoli. "Working Class Hero: An Interview with Martin Ritt." Cineaste, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 20-23, 1991

Miller, Gabriel. The films of Martin Ritt : fanfare for the common man Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, c2000. (MAIN: PN1998.3.R578 M55 2000)

Naylor, Nicholas. "Muhammad Ali, Jack Johnson, and the 'Problem' of Interracial Relationships: A Re-View of Martin Ritt's The Great White Hope (1970)." Scope: An Online Journal of Film Studies, pp. (no pagination), Nov 2003

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Ritt, Martin. Martin Ritt : interviews Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, c2002. [MAIN: PN1998.3.R578 A5 2002]

Green Pastures (1936)

Directed by Marc Connelly and William Keighley. Cast: Rex Ingram, Eddie Anderson, Oscar Polk, Frank Wilson, Hall Johnson Choir. All-back cast in Marc Connelly fable portrays the story of God in His heaven and his people on earth as told to a group of Sunday school children. Special DVD features: Commentary by actor LeVar Burton and Black Cultural scholars Herb Boyd and Ed Guerrera; 2 vingage musical shorts: "Rufus Jones for president", featuring Ethel Waters and 7-year-old Sammy Davis Jr.; "An all-colored vaudeville show", featuring Adelaide Hall and the Nicholas Brothers; theatrical trailer. 90 min. DVD 5066; vhs 999:725

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Morris, G. "Thank God for Uncle Tom: Race and Religion Collide in The Green Pastures." Bright Lights Films Journal, February 2008 | Issue 59

Weisenfeld, Judith. "'De Lawd' a Natchel Man": The Green Pastures in the American Cultural Imagination." In: Hollywood be thy name : African American religion in American film, 1929-1949 Berkeley : University of California Press, c2007. (MAIN: PN1995.9.N4 W45 2007)

Winokur, Mark. "The Green Pastures as an allegory of Accommodation: Christ, Race, and the All-Black Musical." Film & History 1995 25(1-2): 6-16.

Guess Who (2005)

Directed by Kevin Rodney Sullivan. Cast: Bernie Mac, Ashton Kutcher, Zoe Saldana, Judith Scott, Hal Williams, Kellee Stewart, Robert Curtis Brown. Percy Jones is the understandably proud father of Theresa. She is a beautiful and intelligent young woman living in New York City. When Percy learns that his daughter is seriously dating a young man, he decides to do some research, and learns that her beau is a solid businessman. Percy arranges to meet Theresa's boyfriend and is a bit taken aback when he meets Simon. Percy never guessed that his daughter was involved in an interracial relationship. When it becomes clear that Simon and Theresa's relationship is likely to be altar-bound, Percy finds himself suddenly full of misgivings about the young man. 105 min. DVD 4177

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Vera. Hernán and Gordon Andrew "On how to dissolve racial taboos." Contexts Fall 2005, Vol. 4, No. 4, Pages 68�69

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Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)

Directed by Stanley Kramer. Cast: Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn, Katharine Houghton. Joanna, the caucasian daughter of a publisher, Matthew Drayton, and his patrician wife, Christina, returns home with her new fiance, John, a distinguished black doctor. Christina's mother accepts her daughter's decision to marry John, but Matthew is shocked by this interracial union, and the doctor's parents are equally dismayed. In this film both families are forced to examine their respective levels of racial intolerance. 108 min. DVD 2318; vhs 999:718

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Hallelujah (1929)

Directed by King. Vidor. Cast: Daniels L. Haynes, Nina Mae McKinney, William Fountaine, Harry Gray, Fanny Belle DeKnight, Everett McGarrity, Victoria Spivey, Dixie Jubilee Singers. An all-Black cast film which depicts the life of a rural southern Black family written according to racist stereotypes prevalent in 1929. Themes show illiterate Black plantation life, singing, dancing and gambling, religious beliefs and practices, including a special baptism sequence, and the relationships between men and women in a "sinful environment". "Made when screen musicals were mainly backstage stories or all-star revues, "Hallelujah!" broke the mold. Director King Vidor, given the go-ahead only after pledging his salary to offset production costs, combines melodrama with work songs and spirituals...a sincere and sympathetic treatment of rural black life." 90 min. DVD 4965; vhs 999:1432

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Home of the Brave (1949)

Directed by Mark Robson. Cast: Lloyd Bridges, James Edwards, Frank Lovejoy, Douglas Dick, Steve Brodie, Jeff Corey. "A paralyzed African-American war veteran Private Peter Moss (Edwards) begins to walk again only when he confronts his fear of forever being an "outsider." The film utilizes the recurrent theme of a diverse group of men being subjected to the horror of war and their individual reactions, in this case, the hell of jungle combat against the Japanese in WW II. The soldier's comrades include his lifelong white friend Finch (Bridges), whose death leaves him racked with guilt; redneck-bigot corporal (Brodie); and troubled Sergeant Mingo (Lovejoy). In the film's crucial scene, the doctor (Corey) forces Moss to overcome his paralysis by yelling a racial slur; from this point on, Moss will never again kowtow to prejudice." [Wikipedia] 86 min. 999:3670

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Norden, Martin F. "The Racism-Ableism Link in Home of The Brave and Bright Victory" Film & History May1990, Vol. 20 Issue 2, p26-36, 11p

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Wallace, Michele. "Race, Gender and Psychoanalysis in Forties Film: Lost Boundaries, Home of the Brave and The Quiet One." In: Black American cinema / edited by Manthia Diawara. New York : Routledge, 1993. (Main Stack PN1995.9.N4.B45 1993; Moffitt PN1995.9.N4.B45 1993; PFA PN1995.9.N4.B45 1993)

The Human Stain (1949)

Directed by Robert Benton. Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Nicole Kidman, Ed Harris, Gary Sinise, Wentworth Miller, Jacinda Barrett, Harry Lennix, Clark Gregg. Coleman Silk is a respected professor at a New England college who suddenly finds his life unraveling after a comment he makes about some African-American students is misinterpreted as a racial slur. As the scandal heats up, Nathan Zuckerman, a writer researching a biography of Silk, begins to dig deeply into Silk's life. Eventually, matters are made worse when Coleman's affair with a young married janitor named Faunia Farley is exposed. But amid the controversy, Silk must struggle to keep his greatest secret, a secret he's held for the majority of his life, from becoming made public. Based on the novel: The human stain by Philip Roth. 105 min. DVD X1748

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The Hurricane(1999)

Directed by Norman Jewison. Cast: Denzel Washington, John Hannah, Deborah Kara Unger, Liev Schreiber, Vicellous Reon Shannon, David Paymer, Dan Hedaya, Harris Yulin, Rod Seiger. Based upon true events, this is the story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, an African American boxer who was wrongfully convicted of murder. Sentenced to life in prison, Carter's published memoir, The sixteenth round, inspired a teenager from Brooklyn and three Canadian activists who believed in the truth, to join forces with Carter to prove his innocence. 166 min. 999:2827

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Caster, Peter. ""Based upon a true story": the hurricane and the problem of prison redemption." In: Prisons, race, and masculinity in twentieth-century U.S. literature and film / Peter Caster. (Main Stack PS228.I66.C37 2008)

Kelly, Richard. "The Hurricane." Sight and Sound 10:4 (April 2000) p. 49-50

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Roberts, Randy. "The Hurricane." Journal of American History; Dec2000, Vol. 87 Issue 3, p1167-1168

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Hustle & Flow (2005)

Directed by Craig Brewer. Cast: Terrence Howard, Anthony Anderson, Taryn Manning, Taraji P. Henson, Paula Jai Parker, Isaac Hayes, D.J. Qualls, Ludacris. Rapper DJay, who dreams of becoming the next big rap superstar, works all the angles to get his first record made. He even has help from assorted people in his Memphis 'hood. When he hears that rap superstar Skinny Black is heading to his area, DJay decides to throw together a supreme hustle to grab Skinny's attention. 116 min. DVD 4985

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I Spy (1965-1968)

The first television series to feature a white and a black protagonist working as colleagues and equals. Starring Robert Culp and Bill Cosby. For holdings SEE TV videography

Imitation of Life (1934)

Directed by John M. Stahl. Cast: Claudette Colbert (Beatrice "Bea" Pullman), Warren William (Stephen Archer), Ned Sparks (Elmer Smith, Louise Beavers (Aunt Delilah). The story of two widows and their troubled daughters. In the search for success as an actress, Lora neglects her daughter. Lora's black housekeeper's daughter repudiates her mother by trying to pass for white. As the years pass, each of the four women realizes that she has been living out an emotionally fruitless existence. 106 min. DVD 5246

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Imitation of Life (1959)

Based on Fannie Hurst's novel. Directed by Douglas Sirk. Cast: Lana Turner (Lora Meredith), John Gavin (Steve Archer). Draws the audience into an underworld of backstairs and neon gutters with the story of an exploited black maid (played by a white actress) and her daughter trying to pass for white. 124 min. DVD 5246; DVD 1737

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In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Directed by Norman Jewison. Cast: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant. A small town Southern sheriff finds himself in an uneasy alliance with a big-city black homicide detective (Virgil Tibbs) as they investigate a murder. Starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger. Music by Quincy Jones, title song sung by Ray Charles. 110 min. DVD 4561; vhs 999:421

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Intruder in the Dust (1949)

Directed by Clarence Brown. Cast: David Brian, Claude Jarman, Jr., Juano Hernandez, Porter Hall, Elizabeth Patterson, Charles Kemper, Will Geer. This film is considered one of the most outstanding films about racial tension. It tells the story of a black man in a small Mississippi town who is accused of murdering a white man known to be his adversary. He makes no attempt to defend himself to avoid being lyunched, until a young white boy persuades his lawyer uncle to help find the real killer. Based on the novel by William Faulkner. 87 min. 999:2278

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Degenfelder, E. Pauline. "The Film Adaptation of Faulkner's Intruder in the Dust." Literature/Film Quarterly, vol. 1. 1973. pp: 138-48.

Fadiman, Regina K. Faulkner's Intruder in the dust : novel into film : the screenplay by Ben Maddow as adapted for film by Clarence Brown Knoxville : University of Tennessee Press, c1977 (Main Stack PN1997.I518)

Hannon, Charles. "Race Fantasies: The Filming of Intruder in the Dust." In: Faulkner in cultural context : Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha, 1995 / edited by Donald M. Kartiganer and Ann J. Abadie. pp: 263-83. Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, c1997. (Main Stack PS3511.A86.Z78321185 1997)

Heller, Terry L. "Intruders in the Dust: The Representation of Racial Problems in Faulkner's Novel and in the MGM Film Adaptation." Coe Review 8:79-90. 1977

Li, Stephanie. "Intruder in the Dust from Novel to Movie: The Development of Chick Mallison." The Faulkner Journal. 16(1-2):105-18. 2000 Fall-2001 Spring

Popísil, Tomás. "The Liberal Message Films of the Late 1940s and the Position of African-Americans." Brno Studies in English: Sborník Prací Filozofické Fakulty Brnenské Univerzity, S: Rada Anglisticá/Series Anglica, vol. 30, no. 10, pp. 179-87, 2004

Winchell, Mark Royden. "The keeper of our conscience : Clarence Brown's Intruder in the dust (1949)." In: God, man, and Hollywood : politically incorrect cinema from "The birth of a nation" to "The Passion of the Christ" / Mark Royden Winchell. Wilmington, Del. : ISI Books, c2008. (Main Stack PN1995.9.S6.W53 2008; PFA PN1995.9.S6.W53 2008)

Jerico (UK, 1937)

Directed by Thornton Freeland. Cast: Paul Robeson, Henry Wilcoxon, Wallace Ford. Paul Robeson is in fine voice in this musical drama about a GI who, after he accidentally kills a man, escapes into the desert where he joins an African tribe to avoid punishment. 75 min. DVD 7282

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Paul Robeson : essays on his life and legacy Edited by Joseph Dorinson and William Pencak. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland, 2002. (Main Stack E185.97.R63.P375 2002; PFA PN2287.R59.P38 2002)

Thompson, Clifford. "Race in contemporary American cinema: Part 9--We hardly knew ye: Four early films of Paul Robeson." Cineaste 1998. Vol. 23, Iss. 4; pg. 24, 2 pgs

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Just Another Girl on the I.R.T (1992)

Directed by Leslie Harris. Cast: Ariyan A. Johnson, Kevin Thigpen, Ebony Jerido, Jerard Washington, Chiquita Jackson, Kisha Richardson. A black teenage girl living in Brooklyn dreams of medical school, a family, and an escape from the generational poverty of the inner city. Her dreams are put on hold when she becomes pregnant by her boyfriend. 97 min. DVD X439

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Kansas City (1995)

Directed by Robert Altman. Cast: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Miranda Richardson, Harry Belafonte, Michael Murphy, Dermot Mulroney, Steve Buscemi, Brooke Smith. Set in 1934 Kansas City, a telegraph operator named Blondie kidnaps Carolyn Stilton, wife of a powerful businessman who commutes to Washington to advise President Roosevelt. Blondie figures she can use Carolyn to gain safe passage for her husband Johnny who is in the grip of the city's top gangster, a club owner named Seldom Seen. The movie unfolds in the dark streets of the downtown Kansas City night. 116 min. 999:2090

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Lady Sings the Blues (1972)

Director, Sidney J. Furie. Cast: Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, Paul Hampton. Presents a film biography of the life of Billie Holliday, the performer known as "Lady Day", one of America's most loved and memorable blues singers. 144 min. DVD 4819; vhs 999:3103

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Lilies of the Field (1963)

Directed by Ralph Nelson. Cast: Sidney Poitier, Lilia Skala, Stanley Adams. A free-spirited ex-G.I. stumbles upon five German refugee nuns in Arizona and stops to fix their farmhouse roof. Homer discovers that not only will the Mother Superior not pay him for the job, but she also expects him to build their chapel -- for free! 95 min. DVD 4564

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The Little Colonel (1935)

Directed by David Butler. Cast: Shirley Temple, Lionel Barrymore, Bill Robinson, John Lodge, Evelyn Venable, Hattie McDaniel. An old-fashioned Southern colonel has disowned his daughter for marrying a Yankee and resists all entreaties for a reconciliation until he succumbs to the charms of his little granddaughter. Includes the famous "stairs" dance by Temple and "Bojangles" Robinson. 75 min. DVD 6039; vhs Video/C 999:2031

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DuCille, Ann. "The Shirley Temple of my familiar." Transition. Spring 1997. , Iss. 73; pg. 10, 23 pgs

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Orrvered, Karen. "White and Black in Black and White: Management of Race and Sexuality in the Coupling of Child-Star Shirley Temple and Bill Robinson." Velvet Light Trap Spring97 Issue 39, p52-65, 14p,

Little Senegal (Algeria / France / Germany, 2001)

Directed by Rachid Bouchareb. Cast: Sotigui Kouyaté, Sharon Hope, Roschdy Zem, Adetoro Makinde, Karim Koussein Traoré, Adja Diarra, Malaaika Lacario. An elderly man from Senegal travels to New York City, in hopes of locating African Americans related to his ancestors (many of whom were kidnapped and sold as slaves). 93 min. DVD X2056

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Littlest Rebel (1937)

Directed by David Butler. Cast: Shirley Temple, John Boles, Bill Robinson, Steppin Fetchit. Civil War saga set in the Old South. A case study in 30's and 40's Hollywoods fondness for mammies, Toms, and happy, childlike colored folk. Features an astonishing sequence in which Shirley dons blackface to escape from Union soldiers. DVD 6038; vhs 999:1359

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DuCille, Ann. "The Shirley Temple of my familiar." Transition. Spring 1997. , Iss. 73; pg. 10, 23 pgs

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Livin' Large (1991)

Directed by Michael Schultz. Cast: Terence "T.C." Carson, Lisa Arrindell, Blanche Baker, Nathaniel "Afrika" Hall, Julia Campbell. Dexter Jackson will let nothing stop him from getting rich as a TV news anchor, until he realizes he's losing touch with his roots. A high-spirited comic fable about going from downtown to uptown, from hip-hop to straight to the top! 95 min. DVD 9611

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The Long Walk Home (1991)

Directed by Richard Pearce. Cast: Sissy Spacek, Whoopi Goldberg, Dwight Schultz. When Odessa Cotter, a quietly dignified woman, honors the 1955 Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott by walking an exhausting nine miles to and from work, Miriam, her employer, offers her a ride. Defying both Miriam's racist husband and the powerful White Citizen's Council, Miriam and Odessa put their lives in danger for civil rights. Their shared experiences draw them closer as a deep respect and lasting friendship forms. Together, in a difficult world of black versus white, they manage to discover a common ground. 98 min. DVD 8667; vhs 999:940

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Lost Boundaries (1949)

Director, Alfred L. Werker. Cast: Beatrice Pearson, Mel Ferrer, Susan Douglas, Canada Lee, Richard Hylton. Based on true events surrounding a light-skinned black family who pass for white in a New Hampshire town. Dr. Scott Carter is unable to secure a job as a physician because of his race so he decides "For one year of his life" to pass as a white man, but the one year becomes twenty. Eventually he and his family must confront the racism of the idyllic New Hampshire town he's served for decades. Based on the book by William Lindsay White. 99 min. DVD X1843; vhs 999:1769

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McGehee, Margaret T. "Disturbing the Peace: Lost Boundaries, Pinky, and Censorship in Atlanta, Georgia, 1949-1952." Cinema Journal. Fall 2006. Vol. 46, Iss. 1; p. 23 (29 pages)

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Weisenfeld, Judith. ""Why Didn't They Tell Me I'm a Negro?": Lost Boundaries and the Moral Landscape of Race." In: Hollywood be thy name : African American religion in American film, 1929-1949 Berkeley : University of California Press, c2007. (MAIN: PN1995.9.N4 W45 2007)

Love Jones (1997)

Director, Theodore Witcher. Cast: Larenz Tate, Nia Long, Isaiah Washington, Lisa Nicole Carson, Bill Bellamy, Khalil Kain. She's a beautiful photographer, he's a sweet-talking writer. When they get together in this modern day romance, these two confused love birds discover that you can never underestimate the power of love. 110 min. DVD 932

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Manderlay (Denmark / Sweden / Netherlands / France / Germany / UK, 2005)

Directed by Lars Von Trier. Cast: JBryce Dallas Howard, Isaach De Bankhole, Danny Glover, Willem Dafoe, Lauren Bacall, Chloe Sevigny. A young girl traveling across 1930's America with her father, discovers a plantation that doesn't know that slavery has been abolished. Can this well-meaning girl and her lawyer father change the minds and hearts of the plantation owners? 139 min. DVD 7479

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Mandingo (1975)

Directed by Richard Fleischer. Cast: James Mason, Susan George, Perry King, Richard Ward, Brenda Sykes, Ken Norton. Based on a best-selling novel, this film moves beyond the sentimentalized South of other films with uncompromising honesty and realism to show the brutalizing nature of slavery, which made victims of both owner and slave. The story centers on a slave owner who buys a new slave at auction hoping to bring in money by training him to fight his other slaves. His wife, jealous over her husband's affair with the slave Helen, seduces the new man to get revenge on her husband and eventually gives birth to a black baby. 121 min. 999:3479

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Member of the Wedding (1953)

Directed by Fred Zinnemann. Cast: Ethel Waters, Julie Harris, Brandon De Wilde, Arthur Franz, Nancy Gates. A 12-year-old girl learns something about life when her sister gets married a Based on a story by Carson McCullers. Ethel Waters plays a kind of "nouveau mammy" to Julie Harris' anguished white girl on the verge of adulthood. The first instance of a black actress being used to carry a major-studio production. 91 min. 999:380

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Shimizu, Celine Parrenas. "Master-slave sex acts: Mandingo and the race/sex paradox." In: The persistence of whiteness : race and contemporary Hollywood cinema / edited by Daniel Bernardi. London : New York : Routledge, 2008. (Main Stack PN1995.9.M56.P47 2008)

Mississippi Burning (1988)

Directed by Alan Parker. Cast: Gene Hackman and Willem Defoe. Set in Mississippi in 1964, this is a fictionalized version of the case of the murder of three young civil rights workers, the FBI's attempts to find the missing boys and the clash between the authorities and the locals in a Klan-dominated town. 127 min. DVD 4902; vhs 999:374

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The Road to Mississippi: Reclaiming Our History.
Video/C 2580

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Mississippi Masala. (1991)

Directed by Mira Nair. Cast: Denzel Washington, Sarita Choudhury, Roshan Seth, Sharmila Tagore, Charles S. Dutton, Joe Seneca, Ranjit Chowdhry. In this interracial love story, an African American businessman falls for a beautiful Indian immigrant who's family was expelled from Uganda under the reign of dictator, Idi Amin. As their love grows they must deal with shock and outrage from both families. 118 min. DVD 2107; vhs 999:1201

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Monster's Ball (2001)

Directed by Marc Forster. Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Heath Ledger, Halle Berry, Sean Combs, Mos Def, Will Rokos, Milo Addica, Coronji Calhoun, Peter Boyle. Hank and Leticia inhabit stark, queasy realities of the contemporary South, he as a death row corrections officer and she as the soon-to-be widow of an inmate whose execution Hank helps conduct. In the aftermath of the execution, both lose their children to tragic deaths and they form an unlikely bond. 112 min. DVD 1218

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Murder on the Bayou: A Gathering of Old Men (1987)

Director, Volker Schlondorff. Cast: Louis Gossett, Jr., Richard Widmark, Holly Hunter, Joe Seneca, Rosanna Carter, Tiger Haynes. A shotgun kills a white man in a black man's yard. A suspect, a plantation owner, and a gathering of desperate men each "confess" to the killing. Even as a truckload of vengeful kinfolk arrive, they stand resolute against decades of injustice. 91 min. 999:3603

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Native Son (USA / Argentina, 1951)

Director, Pierre Chenal. Cast: Richard Wright, Jean Wallace, Gloria Madison, Nicholas Joy, Willa Pearl Curtiss, Charles Cane. Adaptation of the classic novel by Richard Wright. Set in Chicago, Native son tells the story of Bigger Thomas, a young black man who accidentally murders his employer's daughter while performing his duties as chauffeur. The combined forces of institutional racism and condescending white liberalism pursue Thomas to an unhappy end. The author plays the leading role in this film version. 90 min. 999:3808

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The Negro Soldier (1943)

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New Orleans (1947)

Directed by Arthur Lubin. Cast: Arturo de Cordova, Dorothy Patrick, Louis Armstrong and his band, Billie Holiday, Woody Herman and his orchestra, Original New Orleans Ragtime Band (Louis Armstrong, Zutty Singleton, Barney Bigard, Kid Ory, Bud Scott, Red Callendar, Charlie Beal and Meade Lux Lewis). Nick, the proprietor of a Bourbon Street gambling joint, an artistic haven for African-American musicans who gather and jam from dusk til dawn, falls in love with an opera-singing socialite. After losing his nightclub Nick tries over the course of many years to get jazz the respect and audience it deserves. 110 min. DVD 1094

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No Way Out (1950)

Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Cast: Richard Widmark, Linda Darnell, Stephen McNally, Sidney Poitier. When a young African-American doctor operates on two white brothers brought in for gunshot wounds, it sets off a chain of violent confrontations between a vicious psychopath, his gang and the black community. 106 min. 999:2450

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Nothin' But a Man (1964)

Directed by Michael Roemer. Cast: Ivan Dixon, Abbey Lincoln, Julius Harris, Gloria Foster. Set against the stirrings of the civil rights movement and a rising wave of burgeoning Black pride. This tells the story of Duff, a railroad section hand who is forced to confront racial prejudice and self-denial when he falls in love with Josie, an educated preacher's daughter. An uplifting story about a man and a woman whose love overcomes racial and class barriers. Special DVD features: Cast and crew 40 years later; short film: "Portrait of Abbey"; extensive liner notes with original stills from the film; cast and crew biographies. 92 min. DVD X1484; vhs 999:1080

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Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)

Directed by Robert Wise. Cast: Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Shelley Winters, Ed Begley, Gloria Grahame. One hundred and fifty thousand dollars, ready for the taking. It's too much to resist for Earl Slater, a bigoted ex-con slumming through life with a patronizing girlfriend and zero expectations. He agrees to be part of a bank job planned by former cop Burke. Until, that is, he finds out one of his partners will be a black man. Earl's desperate need for cash, however, leads him to reconsider. For this job only, he'll put his racism aside ... until moments away from the score, hatred erupts. In this film to obtain the edgy look desired by the director a rare filming technique was used: infrared photography. DVD 2229; vhs 999:1843

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A Patch of Blue (1965)

Directed by Guy Green. Cast: Sidney Poitier, Shelley Winters, Elizabeth Hartman, Wallace Ford. Accidentally blinded as a child, 18-year-old Selina D'Arcey falls in love with a gentle and charming man, Gordon Ralfe, whom she meets in a rare visit to a park. Her racist mother declares that because Gordon is black, their relationship cannot continue, forcing Selina to choose between her family and her heart. Based on "Be ready with bells and drums" by Elizabeth Kata. 105 min. DVD 4535

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Kelley, Samuel L. The evolution of character portrayals in the films of Sidney Poitier, 1950-1978 (NEWS: MICROFICHE.6030.Unit 98)

Keyser, Lester J. The cinema of Sidney Poitier : the black man's changing role on the American screen. San Diego, [Calif. : A. S. Barnes, c1980 (MAIN: PN2287.P57 .K4)

Marill, Alvin H. The films of Sidney PoitierSecaucus, N.J. : Citadel Press, c1978. (MAIN: PN2287 .P57M3)

The Pawnbroker (1965)

Directed by Sidney Lumet. Cast: Rod Steiger, Brock Peters, Jaime Sanchez, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Raymond St. Jacques. Sol Nazerman is a WWII Nazi deathcamp survivor. Now, he runs a pawnshop in Harlem and takes refuge in misery and a bitter condemnation of humanity. When his assistant sacrifices his own life for the pawnbroker during a robbery, Sol is finally confronted with the inherent goodness of the human spirit. 120 min. 999:819

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Cunningham, Frank R. "The Insistence of Memory: The Opening Sequences of Lumet's Pawnbroker." (film maker, Sidney Lumet) Literature-Film Quarterly v17, n1 (Jan, 1989):39 (5 pages).

Gittleman S. "Witnessing The Holocaust In American Literature, A Note To Bonnie Lyons." (Wallant "The Pawnbroker" And Bellow "Mr. Sammlers Planet") Yiddish, 1990, V7 N4:36-38.

Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

Directed by Gabriele Muccino. Cast: Will Smith, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith, Thandie Newton, Brian Howe, James Karen, Dan Castellaneta, Kurt Fuller, Takayo Fischer. In 1981, Chris Gardner was a struggling salesman. His wife worked double shifts to support the family including their young son, Christopher. In the face of this difficult life, Chris has the desperate inspiration to try for a stockbroker internship where one in twenty has a chance of a lucrative full time career. Even when his wife leaves him because of this choice, Chris clings to this dream. The odds become more daunting by the day. Together, father and son struggle through homelessness, jail time, tax seizure and the overall punishing despair in a quest that would make Gardner a respected millionaire. Based on a true story, the special features include an interview with the real Chris Gardner. Based on the autiobiography by Chris Gardner. Special features: Making pursuit: an Italian take on the American dream; Father and son: on screen and off; The man behind the movie: a conversation with Chris Gardner; Inside the Rubik's Cube; "I can" song; director's commentary. 149 min. DVD 7355

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Pinky (1949)

Directed by Elia Kazan. Cast: Jeanne Crain, Ethel Barrymore, Ethel Waters, William Lundigan. Pinky, a black woman who works as a nurse in Boston, finds that she is able to pass for white. Afraid her true heritage will be discovered, she leaves her white fiancee and returns home to Mississippi where she helps her grandmother care for her employer, an imperious plantation owner. When she names Pinky heiress to her estate, the community rises in resentment triggering a-sensational court trial. Subject of a landmark Supreme Court case in film censorship, this moving story became itself a battle for human rights. Originally produced as a motion picture in 1949. Based on the novel 'Quality' by Cid Ricketts Sumner. 102 min. DVD 5064; vhs 999:1043

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Porgy and Bess (1993)

This video is the adaptation of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera stage production of the Gershwins' classic musical drama Porgy and Bess, which portrays the lives of the occupants of Catfish Row. Performers: Willard White, Cynthia Haymon, Gregg Baker, Cynthia Clarey, Marietta Simpson, Damon Evans, Paula Ingram, Gordon Hawkins; the Glyndebourne Chorus; Craig Rutenberg, chorus master; The London Philharmonic; Simon Rattle, conductor. 184 min. Video Disc 162

Pressure Point (1962)

Directed by Hubert Cornfield. Cast: Sidney Poitier, Bobby Darin, Peter Falk, Carl Benton Reid. An African American psychiatrist is charged with treating a hate filled young man who's been jailed for sedition. As he probes the patient's nightmares, the psychiatrist realizes his twisted vision masks a lust for violence. But the inmate has become a model prisoner, and unless the doctor can convince officials that he's daugerous, he'll soon be back on the street. 89 min. DVD 4827

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Purlie Victorious (1963)

Directed by Nicholas Webster. Cast: Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Sorrell Booke, Godfrey Cambridge, Alan Alda, Hilda Haynes. In this film version of a successful stage play, a black preacher returns home to rural Georgia to claim an inheritance and bring down the ruthless plantation owner that he once served. He finds a surprise ally in the plantation owner's son. Religious hypocrisy, racial bigotry, civil rights issues and the changing Southern society backed by forced integraton are subjects in this film (1963) that coincided with the turbulent social issues of the time. 99 min. DVD 5095

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Putney Swope (1969)

Directed by Robert Downey. Cast: Arnold Johnson, Laura Greene, Buddy Butler, Anthony Fargas, Vincent Hamill, Lawrence Wolfe. A comical satire which charts the rise and fall of a Madison Avenue advertising agency previously controlled by Whites which is taken over by Blacks who are dedicated to the downfall of the White Establishment. The picture is mostly a parade of vignettes, dealing with people and campaigns of the advertising world. 85 min. DVD 8923; vhs 999:1450

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Racist Little Rascals

Contents: Big ears / director, Robert McGowan (21 min.) -- Lad and a lamp / director, Robert McGowan (17 min.) -- Anniversary trouble / director, Gus Meins (18 min.) -- Little sinner / director, Gus Meins (18 min.) -- Three smart boys / director, Gordon Douglas (10 min.) -- Mush and milk / director, Robert McGowan (18 min.) -- Spooky hooky / director, Gordon Douglas (11 min.) -- Kid from Borneo / director, Robert McGowan (18 min.). Starring the Our Gang characters, including Spanky, Alfalfa, Stymie, Darla, Porky, Buckwheat, Butch, Wheezer, Chubby, Waldo, and Hattie McDaniel.

A rare collection of early Our Gang and Little Rascals television episodes poking fun at colored folks. Videodisc release of eight episodes of the Our Gang comedies, originally produced between 1938 and 1944, and shown on television as the Little Rascals. 131 min. DVD 2442

Ragtime (1981)

Directed by Milos Forman. Cast: James Cagney, Brad Dourif, Moses Gunn, Elizabeth McGovern, Kenneth McMillan, James Olson, Mandy Patinkin, Howard E. Rollins, Mary Steenburgen. This vivid, high-energy human tableau interweaves the lives and passions of a middle class, small town family against the scandals and events of a transitional America in 1906. Based on the novel by E. L. Doctorow. 156 min. 999:1203 Pt. 1-2

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A Raisin in the Sun (1961)

Performers: Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, Ruby Dee. 1961 film based on the award-winning play about a struggling black family living on Chicago's South Side and the impact of an unexpected insurance bequest. Each family member sees the bequest as the means of realizing dreams and of escape from grinding frustrations. 128 min. DVD 9203; vhs Video 999:955

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A Raisin in the Sun (1989)

Performers: Danny Glover, Esther Rolle, Starletta DuPois, Kim Yancey. 171 min. Video 999:670 Pt. 1-2

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Redemption (2003)

Directed by Vondie Curtis Hall. Cast: Jamie Foxx, Lynn Whitfield, Lee Thompson Young, Brenden Richard Jefferson, Brenda Bazinet, Wes "Maestro" Williams, Greg Ellwand, CCH Pounder. Tells the true life story of Stan 'Tookie' Williams, founder of the L.A. Crips street gang, who denounced the lifestyle that landed him behind bars. While awaiting execution in prison, he became determined to stop violence, and began writing anti-gang books for children, earning him critical acclaim - and four Nobel Peace Prize nominations. 93 min. DVD 4746

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La revue des revues (France, 1927)

Directed by Joe Francys. Cast: Josephine Baker, Helene Hallier, Andre Luguet, Pepa Bonafe, Gretchikine, Madame Komakova, Ludovic, Lila Nikolska, Skibinne, Tiller's Follies Girls, Ruth Zackey and the Hoffmann Girls. Helene Hallier, an ambitious by innocent would-be young chorine, trumps a music hall publicity stunt to become the new Parisian nightclub sensation. The light story is only a pretext for La Revue des Revues' white-hot, non-stop procession of outrageously and scantily attired exotic dancers, showgirls, and acrobats including the Tiller's Follies Girls, Ruth Zackey and the Hoffman Girls, and danseuse russe Lila Nikolska. But it's Josephine Baker, "the high priestess of primitivism" who triumphs in two show stopping numbers. 103 min. DVD 9107

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Rush Hour (1998)

Directed by Brett Ratner. Cast: Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Tom Wilkinson, Chris Penn, Elizabeth Pena. Jackie Chan is Inspector Lee, a Hong Kong Detective who helps confiscate millions of dollars worth of stolen Chinese artifacts from crime Lord Juntao. Seeking revenge, Juntao kidnaps the eleven-year-old daughter of the Chinese consul when he moves to America. Chan is sent as a diplomatic advisor and finds himself paired up with a New York cop (Chris Tucker) -- a man who works alone, and wants to stay that way. 97 min. Video 999:3043

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LeiLani Nishime. ""I'm blackanese" : buddy-cop films, rush hour, and Asian American and African American cross-racial identification." In: Asian North American identities : beyond the hyphen / edited by Eleanor Ty and Donald C. Goellnicht. Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c2004. (Main Stack PS153.A84.A86 2004; Asian Amer PS153.A84.A86 2004)

St. Louis Blues(1929)

Directed by Dudley Murphy. Cast: Bessie Smith. In this all-black cast short, legendary blues singer Bessie Smith finds her gambler lover Jimmy messin' with a pretty, younger woman; he leaves and she sings the blues, with chorus and dancers. Video 999:1692

Stanfield, Peter. "An Excursion into the Lower Depths: Hollywood, Urban Primitivism, and St. Louis Blues, 1929-1937." Cinema Journal - 41, Number 2, Winter 2002, pp. 84-108

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Sanders of the River (UK, 1935)

Directed by Alexander Korda. Cast: Timothy Spall, Brenda Blethyn, Phyllis Logan, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Claire Rushbrook. After her adoptive parents die, a young black woman seeks out her natural birth mother only to discover her mother is white. Equally shocked to learn her daughter she gave up for adoption is black, Cynthia insists it's a mistake. But she soon realizes it's true and when she springs her newfound daughter on the rest of the family, the resulting chaos leads to a series of secrets and lies being revealed at last. Special features: True Pioneer: the British films of Paul Robeson, a new video program with Paul Robeson Jr. and film historians Stephens Bourne and Ian Christie, including film clips from Song of freedom (1936), King Solomon's mine (1937), and Big Fella (1937). 87 min. DVD 7282

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Paul Robeson : essays on his life and legacy Edited by Joseph Dorinson and William Pencak. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland, 2002. (Main Stack E185.97.R63.P375 2002; PFA PN2287.R59.P38 2002)

Secrets & Lies (1996)

Directed by Mike Leigh. Cast: Timothy Spall, Brenda Blethyn, Phyllis Logan, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Claire Rushbrook. After her adoptive parents die, a young black woman seeks out her natural birth mother only to discover her mother is white. Equally shocked to learn her daughter she gave up for adoption is black, Cynthia insists it's a mistake. But she soon realizes it's true and when she springs her newfound daughter on the rest of the family, the resulting chaos leads to a series of secrets and lies being revealed at last. 142 min. 999:1993

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Separate But Equal (1991)

Directed by George Stevens Jr. Cast: Sidney Poitier, Burt Lancaster and Richard Kiley. This film depicts a small town in South Carolina in the year 1950 as the issue of segregation between blacks and whites comes to a bitter, violent and courageous battle. 193 min. 999:418

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Sergeant Rutledge (1960)

Directed by John Ford. Cast: Jeffrey Hunter, Woody Strode, Billie Burke, Constance Towers, Juano Hernandez, Willis Bouchey. An African-American "buffalo soldier" is accused of rape and murder, but is successfully defended by a white officer during his trial in 1881. Lt. Cantrell defends him as witnesses give testimony relived in flashbacks, revealing the sergeant's gallantry and eventually the shocking truth behind the alleged crimes. 112 min. DVD 5659; vhs 999:2700

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Shadows (1959)

Directed by John Cassavetes. John Cassavetes' first film, tells a gripping story of racism set against a New York background in the 1950's. Lelia, a light-skinned black woman living in New York with her two brothers, has an affair with a white man. The relationship soon sours when he meets one of her brothers and discovers she is really black. 87 min. 999:1396

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Carney, Raymond. American Dreaming: The Films of John Cassavetes and the American Experience / Raymond Carney. Berkeley : University of California Press, c1985. (UCB Main PN1998.A3 C3333 1985; UCB Moffitt PN1998.A3 C3333 1985)

Carney, Raymond. The Films of John Cassavetes: Pragmatism, Modernism, and the Movies / Ray Carney. Cambridge [England]; New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press, 1994. Series title: Cambridge film classics. (UCB Main PN1998.3.C384 C37 1994; UCB Moffitt PN1998.3.C384 C37 1994)

Selected Program Notes for the Beat Screening List (Excerpts) by Ray Carney.

She Done Him Wrong (1933)

Director, Lowell Sherman. Cast: Mae West, Cary Grant, Owen Moore, Noah Beery, Gilbert Roland. Mae West as Lady Lou, a toughlady with a heart of gold, who dallys with assorted beaus, becomes entangled in murder, saves a Bowery mission and still has enough energy left to belt out a tune or two! Louise Beavers is featured as Mae West's stereotypically dithery maid and straight woman. 999:1691

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Wojcik, Pamela Robertson. "Mae West's Maids: Race, 'Authenticity,' and the Discourse of Camp." In: Hop on pop : the politics and pleasures of popular culture / edited by Henry Jenkins, Tara McPherson & Jane Shattuc. Durham, N.C. : Duke University Press, 2002. (MAIN: E169.1 .H77 2002; MOFF: E169.1 .H77 2002)

Show Boat (1936)

Directed by James Whale. Cast: Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Charles Winninger, Paul Robeson, Helen Morgan, Helen Westley. A musical which celebrates the loves and heartbreaks of a Mississippi riverboat troupe, starting with a young girl whose heart is stolen by a dashing gambler. Presents timeless songs and an equally timeless outcry against racial bigotry. Includes the memorable performance of Paul Robeson singing "Ol' man river." 110 min. Video 999:3206

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Show Boat (1951)

Directed by George Sidney. Cast: Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel. A romantic musical of Magnolia Hawks who grew up on the riverboat, Cotton Blossom. When a snitch on board calls the police the leading lady, Julie (who's half African-American) and her white husband are forced to leave the show. Magnolia becomes the leading show boat attraction and a gambler, Gaylor Ravenal, the leading man. They fall in love and marry but soon Magnolia must face reality as she is left alone penniless and pregnant. Based on the Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein II musical play from Edna Ferber's novel. 115 min. Video 999:543

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Six Degrees of Separation(1993)

Director Fred Schepisi. Cast: Stockard Channing, Will Smith, Donald Sutherland, Flan Kittredge, Ian McKellen. When Manhattan art dealers take a smooth talking young man into their home believing him to be a friend of their children and Sidney Poitier's son, they awake the next morning to find him in bed with a male friend whom he had invited in for the night. 101 min. 999:1485

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Gillan, Jennifer. "'No One Knows You're Black!': Six Degrees of Separation and the Buddy Formula." Cinema Journal. 40 Spring (3): 47-68. 2001.

Soldier's Story (1984)

Directed by Norman Jewison. Cast: Howard E. Rollins, Jr., Adolph Caesar. A race relations drama about a military murder at a black army base near the end of World War II, and the subsequent investigation of the murder. 102 min. 999:375

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Something New (2006)

Director Sanaa Hamri. Cast: Sanaa Lathan, Simon Baker, Mike Epps, Donald Faison, Blair Underwood, Wendy Rachel Robinson, Golden Brooks, Taraji P. Henson, Alfre Woodard. A beautiful L.A. career woman, Kenya works as a senior manager at a prestigious accounting firm, and is on the verge of making partner. But she has yet to find her own partner and a fulfilling personal life. After another Valentine's Day spent working late, Kenya agrees to a blind date with Brian, a free-spirited landscape architect who is not exactly what she'd pictured for herself. But it's when her perfect match, Mark, enters the picture that Kenya is truly thrown into confusion and ultimately, must decide what she truly wants. Special features: An introduction to the film by Blair Underwood; "The do's and dont's of dating": from lust to love, the cast of 'Something New' gives everyone something to laugh about with their hilarious insights on the dating scene; the making-of 'Something New': go behind the scenes with the cast and crew and see exclusive never-before-seen footage from the set. 100 min. 9568

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Son of Ingagi (1940)

Directed by Richard C. Kahn; written by Spencer Williams. Cast: Zack Williams, Laura Bowman, Alfred Grant, Spencer Williams, Daisy Buford. A huge, horrifying ape creature is hidden in the laboratory of a sinster old house. The monster is the creation of Dr. Helen Jackson, a scientist who dabbles in the world of black magic and mysticism. Jackson experiments with a strange potion that transforms the beast-man into a maniacal, uncontrolled killer. Two newlyweds, who are guests in the doctor's home, are soon trapped by the hideous creature. An independently produced horror film featuring an all-black cast. 61 min. DVD X787; also DVD X1639

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Cripps, Thomas. "The Films of Spencer Williams." Black American Literature Forum, Vol. 12, No. 4 (Winter, 1978), pp. 128-134

UC users only

Song of the South (1946)

Walt Disney. On a long-ago Southern plantation, small children listen to the Brer Rabbit stories told by an elderly servant named Uncle Remus. Based on Tales of Uncle Remus by Joe Chandler Harris. 91 min. DVD 2767; vhs 999:2084

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Sounder (1972)

Directed by Martin Ritt. Cast: Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield. Sounder is the heartwarming story of a black sharecropper family in Louisiana during the Depression. A father steals food for his family, his wife provides love, security and strength while he is in prison, and their oldest son bravely becomes the man of the house until his father returns. Together they love and laugh, struggle and survive, and dream and hope of a more promising future. 105 min. Video 999:449

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Goldfarb, Lyn; Ilyashov, Anatoli. "Working Class Hero: An Interview with Martin Ritt." Cineaste, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 20-23, 1991

Miller, Gabriel. The films of Martin Ritt : fanfare for the common man Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, c2000. (MAIN: PN1998.3.R578 M55 2000)

Ritt, Martin. Martin Ritt : interviews Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, c2002. [MAIN: PN1998.3.R578 A5 2002]

South Central (1992)

Directed by Steve Anderson; produced by Oliver Stone. Cast: Glenn Plummer, Carl Lumbly, Christian Coleman, Byron Minns, Lexie Bigham, Vincent Craig Dupree, LaRita Shelby. Bobby Johnson knows firsthand the ways of an L.A. street gang--and has been jailed for it. But now he has won his freedom and faces a new urgency: reclaiming his 10-year old son from the mean streets' cycle of hate and death. Based on Donald Bakeer's best seller about gang life, "Crips". 99 min. 999:2232

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Steppin Fetchit (Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry)

Stepin Fetchit was the stage name of American comedian and film actor Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry (May 30, 1902�November 19, 1985). His typical film persona and stage name have long been synonymous with the stereotype of the servile, shiftless, simple-minded black man in early 20th Century American film. There has been a more recent revisionist view that sees his film persona as ultimately subversive of the status quo. Perry parlayed the Fetchit persona into a successful film career, eventually becoming a millionaire, the first black actor in history to do so. [Wikipedia]

Movies in MRC featuring Steppin Fetchit

Judge Priest (1934) DVD 9377

Stand Up and Cheer (1934) vhs 999:3733

The World Moves On (1934) DVD 9391

Steamboat Round the Bend (1935)DVD 9390

Charlie Chan in Egypt(1935) DVD 5744

Dimples (1936)DVD 6037

Littlest Rebel (1937) DVD 6038; vhs 999:1359

Harlem Swings (1940s-1950s) Video 999:423-424

Miracle in Harlem (1948)vhs 999:2630

Amazing Grace (1974) DVD 3499

Stereotypes and Minorities; Familiar Faces, Unknown Names.

Stereotypes & minorities: an overview of the treatment of black actors in Hollywood. Actors Della Reese and Nick Stewart offer their insights and reflect on the changing roles of blacks in films. Familiar faces, unknown names: features the character actors -- those supporting players that we recognize but never know who they are. c1991. 45 min. Video/C 8304

Storm Warning (1950)

Director, Stuart Heisler. Cast: Ginger Rogers, Ronald Reagan, Doris Day, Steve Cochran. A school teacher visiting relatives in an unnamed small town happens to witness the beating death of a man at the hands of the KKK. She soon discovers that the whole town is controlled by this vigilante group, and that her loutish brother-in-law is one of the group's members. The D.A. (Ronald Reagan) is the man who breaks the stranglehold of the hooded terrorists--through the simple expedient of walking into one of their meetings and calmly identifying each of them by name. 93 min. DVD X201

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Stormy Weather (1943)

Directed by Andrew L. Stone. Cast: Lena Horne, Bill Robinson, Cab Calloway and his band, Katherine Dunham and her troupe, Fats Waller, Nicholas Brothers. A delightful musical strung together with a silly romantic show biz script. Horne sings the title song, Waller does a rendition of "Ain't misbehavin". A thinly veild dramatization of the life of dancer Bill Robinson. 78 min. DVD 4795; vhs 999:355

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They Call Me Mr. Tibbs (1970)

Director, Gordon Douglas. Cast: Sidney Poitier, Martin Landau, Barbara McNair, Anthony Zerbe. Detective Virgil Tibbs has been assigned to solve the murder of a prostitute. His pal, a political-minded minister who is spearheading a referendum on community control, is suspected of the homicide and Tibbs is faced with the decision of whether or not to invesigate. 108 min. DVD 4562

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This Rebel Breed (1960)

Directed by Richard L. Bare. Cast: Rita Moreno, Mark Damon, Gerald Mohr, Jay Novello, Eugenio Martin. Black, Anglo and Hispanic high-school gangs duke it out in this story about two undercover cops who infiltrate the gangs to stop narcotics trafficking. The undercover cop Frank is of mixed black American and Mexican parentage, which means no gang is going to easily accept him while his partner Don is an Anglo cop. When Lola's boyfriend is killed in a gang fight she starts to fall for Frank. 90 min. 999:3051

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A Time to Kill (1996)

Directed by Joel Schumacher. Cast: Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Matthew McConaughey, Kevin Spacey, Brenda Fricker, Oliver Platt, Charles S. Dutton, Ashley Judd, Patrick McGoohan, Donald Sutherland. A murder trial brings a small Mississippi town's racial tension to the flashpoint. Amid a frenzy of activist marches, Klan terror, media clamor and brutal riots, an unseasoned but idealistic young attorney mounts a stirring courtroom battle for justice. Based on the novel by John Grisham. 150 min. DVD X119

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To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Directed by Robert Mulligan. Cast: Gregory Peck, Brock Peters, Mary Badham. A small-town Southern lawyer loses friends and social position when he defends a black man unjustly accused of rape, but gains the esteem of his motherless children. 116 min. DVD 2934; vhs 999:89

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To Sir, With Love (1966)

Directed by James Clavell. Cast: Sidney Poitier. A novice teacher faces a class of rowdy, undisciplined working-class punks in this classic film that reflected some of the problems and fears of teens in the 60's. 105 min. DVD 4534; vhs 999:721

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Tougher than Leather (1988)

Directed by Rick Rubin. Cast: Run-DMC, Richard Edson, Jenny Lumet, Raymond White, Lois Ayers ; special appearances by the Beastie Boys, Slick Rick, Junkyard Band. After a friend discovers a money-laundering scheme and is murdered, the band members take the law into their own hands and avenge their friend's death. 89 min. 999:3175

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Trading Places (1983)

Directed by John Landis. Cast: Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott, Jamie Lee Curtis. The rich Duke Brothers wager on whether a born loser like Billy Ray Valentine, a hustler from the ghetto, can become as successful as Winthorpe, a wealthy investment executive, if put in the proper environment--and would a prig like Winthorpe turn to a life of crime if he were to lose it all. 116 min. DVD 3779

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Uncle Tom's Cabin

Two silent versions: Uncle Tom's Cabin, or Slavery Days, directed by Edwin S. Porter (1903, 17 min.); and Uncle Tom's Cabin, Minot Films Release, Inc., directed by Irwing Cummings (1914; 42 min.). Video 999:1172

Uncle Tom's Cabin (Silent 1927)

Directed by Harry A. Pollard. Harriet Beecher Stowe's influential 19th century story of the pre-Civil war South. Peace-loving slave Tom is forced to submit to his sadistic master, the evil Simon Legree. Helpless slaves -- raped, tortured and humiliated -- are eventually driven to rebel against their wicked oppressors. 112 min. DVD 237; also tape 999:2334

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Pierce, David "Carl Laemmle's Outstanding Achievement": Harry Pollard and the Struggle to Film "Uncle Tom's Cabin" Film History 10:4 (1998) p. 459-476

UC users only

Uncle Tom's Cabin (1965)

Directed by Geza von Radmanyi. Cast: Herbert Lom (Simon Legree), John Kitzmiller (Uncle Tom), Olive Moorefield (Cassy), O. W. Fischer, Catana Cayetano, Michaela May, Mylene Demongeto. Harriet Beecher Stowe's nineteenth-century classic story of the pre-Civil war South. Peace-loving Tom is forced to submit to his sadistic master, the evil Simon Legree. Helpless slaves-raped, tortured, and humiliated-are eventually driven to rebel against their wicked oppressors. This drama, directed in Yugoslavia by Hungarian Geza Radvanyi, tends to stray from the original story and contains some contradictions to historical fact. 116 min. 999:2425

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Wild Style (1982)

Directed by Charlie Ahearn. Cast: Lee George Quinones, Patti Astor, Andrew (Zephyr) Witten; Grandmaster Flash, Chief Rocker Busy Bee, Fab 5 Freddy, Cold Crush Four, Double Trouble, Rock Steady Crew. Tells the story of street artists in the South Bronx who put on a big outdoor performance to showcase their unique talents, graffiti, rap, and break dancing. The story centers on Zoro, who spends his time spray-painting subway cars who gets his break when he is hired to decorate the platform for the upcoming rap concert. 90 min. DVD 8176; vhs 999:3172

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Walking Tall (1973)

Directed by Phil Karlson. Cast: Joe Don Baker, Noah Beery, Jr., Elizabeth Hartman, Felton Perry, Pepper Martin. Based on the true story of the legendary Tennessee sheriff, Buford Pusser, who with the help of his wife and his right hand man, the first black deputy sheriff in Tennessee, refused to compromise his fight against corruption in his county. DVD. 126 min. DVD 610

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Watermelon Eating Contest (Edison, 1903)

DVD 3552

What Happened in the Tunnel (1903)

Directed by Edwin S. Porter. "Scene, interior of railroad coach. Pretty young lady and negress maid occupy seat. Young man in rear seat tries to attract young lady's attention. She drops her handkerchief. Young man picks it up and hands it to her, and then begins to make love to her. As the train enters a tunnel he is last seen trying to put his arms around her. Upon emerging he is hugging and kissing the colored maid, the young lady having changed seats with her while in the tunnel, much to the young man's disgust." [AFI Catalog] DVD 3552

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Courtney, Susan. Hollywood fantasies of miscegenation : spectacular narratives of gender and race, 1903-1967 Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 2005. (Main Stack PN1995.9.M57.C38 2005; Moffitt PN1995.9.M57.C38 2005)

Gaines, Jane. Fire and desire : mixed-race movies in the silent era Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2001. (Main Stack PN1995.9.N4.G35 2001; PFA PN1995.9.N4.G35 2001)

Stewart, Jacqueline Najuma. Migrating to the movies : cinema and Black urban modernity. Berkeley : University of California Press, c2005. (MAIN: PN1995.9.N4 S74 2005; MOFF: PN1995.9.N4 S74 2005; PFA : PN1995.9.N4 S74 2005)

Williams, Linda. "Of Kisses and Ellipses: The Long Adolescence of American Movies." Critical Inquiry, volume 32 (2006), pages 288?340

UC users only

The Women of Brewster Place (1988)

Directed by Donna Deitch. Cast: Oprah Winfrey, Robin Givens, Cicely Tyson, Jackee, Larenz Tate, Lynn Whitfield, Mary Alice, Olivia Cole, Moses Gunn, Paula Kelly, Leon Lonette McKee, Barbara Montgomery, Phyllis Yonne Stickney, Paul Winfield, William Allen Young. The story of Mattie Michael, a proud, big-hearted woman whose life has been plagued by misfortunes, landing her alone and penniless in a crumbling ghetto tenement on Brewster Place. She gradually unites the other tenement women to help them struggle for a new life. 180 min. DVD 610

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Bobo, Jacqueline. Seiter, Ellen. "Black Feminism and Media Criticism: The Women of Brewster Place." Screen 1991 32: 286-302

UC users only Also in: Vision/re-vision: adapting contemporary American fiction by women to film / edited by Barbara Tepa Lupack. pp: 145-57. Bowling Green, OH : Bowling Green State University Popular Press, c1996. (Main Stack PN1997.85.V57 1996)

The Young One (1960)

Directed by Luis Bunuel (Mexico). Set in the American South on a remote coastal island, a black man fleeing a lynch mob meets a racist sheriff and a recently orphaned 13 year old white girl. Upon release in 1960, this film shocked American audiences with its depiction of a strong, sarchastic black man, capable of holding his own against racism. Inspired by Peter Matthiessen's story "Travelin' Man." Performers: Zachary Scott, Bernie Hamilton, Kay Meersman, Graham Denton, Claudio Brook. 95 min. 999:1369

Conrad, Randall. "No Blacks or Whites: The Making of Luis Bunuel's 'The Young One'." Cineaste v20, n3 (Summer, 1993):28 (7 pages).

Zebrahead (1992)

Writer/director, Anthony Drazan. Cast: Michael Rapaport, N'Bushe Wright, Paul Butler, DeShonn Castle, Candy Ann Brown, Luke Reilly, Dan Ziskie, Kevin Corrigan, Martin Priest, Ron Johnson, Ray Sharkey. A young Jewish white man begins dating the cousin of his best friend, both of whom are black, igniting long simmering racial tensions at their high school. 102 min. 999:1164

Ansen, David. "Zebrahead." Newsweek v120, n17 (Oct 26, 1992):66 (2 pages).

Sragow, Michael. "Zebrahead." New Yorker v68, n37 (Nov 2, 1992):101 (2 pages).

Blackface in the Movies

Babes in Arms (1939)

Directed by Busby Berkeley. Cast: Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Charles Winninger, Guy Kibbee, June Preisser, Grace Hayes, Betty Jaynes, Douglas McPhail. Based on the play "Babes In Arms" by Rodgers and Hart. Learning that his parents are in financial straits, the son of a famous vaudeville team rounds up all the stage kids and puts on a lavish show to raise money. Features the music number "Daddy Was A Minstrel Man." 91 min. DVD 8479; vhs 999:1848

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Dunne, Michael. "Blackface Minstrelsy in Musicals." In: American film musical themes and forms Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland, c2004. (MAIN: PN1995.9.M86 D86 2004; PFA : PN1995.9.M86 D86 2004)

Babes on Broadway (1941)

Directed by Busby Berkeley. Cast: Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Fay Bainter, Virginia Weidler, Ray McDonald, Richard Quine, Donald Meek, Alexander Woollcott. One of the famous old musicals that combines captivating music and lavish production numbers by the master, Busby Berkeley. The story is the standard tale of two struggling Broadway hopefuls, and is filled with 16 song and dance numbers. Features a blackface number with Rooney and Garland, "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee". 118 min. DVD 8479

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Dunne, Michael. "Blackface Minstrelsy in Musicals." In: American film musical themes and forms Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland, c2004. (MAIN: PN1995.9.M86 D86 2004; PFA : PN1995.9.M86 D86 2004)

Bamboozled (2000)

Directed by Spike Lee. Cast: Damon Wayans, Savion Glover, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Tommy Davidson, Michael Rapaport. In a searing parody of American television, this film presents a humorous look at how race, ratings and the pursuit of power lead to a network executive's stunning rise and tragic downfall. 136 min. DVD 739; vhs 999:3211

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Birth of a Nation (1915)

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View this video online
UC Berkeley users only - Requires Windows Media Player or Flip4Mac
© notice

Blonde Venus (1932)

Directed by Josef von Sternberg. Cast: Marlene Dietrich, Herbert Marshall, Cary Grant, Hattie McDaniel. Features a musical number, "Hot Voodoo", in which Dietrich appears onstage as a cabaret singer, wearing a gorilla suit to the sound of drums, attended by a chorus of women in blackface decked out as "natives." In the number, Dietrich removes the gorilla suit to reveal herself as a blonde Venus, white sexualized femininity itself... 94 min. DVD 6912; vhs 999:349

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Jacobs, Lea. "The Censorship of Blonde Venus: Textual Analysis and Historical Method." Cinema Journal, 27; 3, Spring 1988

Check and Double Check (1930)

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Holiday Inn (1944)

Directed by Mark Sandrich. Cast: Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds, Virginia Dale, Walter Abel. A song-and-dance man leaves show business and opens up a Connecticut inn with his former partner and is saved from financial disaster by the showmanship of old friends. For entertainment at the Inn, Bing proposes a Lincoln's Birthday tribute in blackface. 100 min. DVD 679

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Dunne, Michael. "Blackface Minstrelsy in Musicals." In: American film musical themes and forms Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland, c2004. (MAIN: PN1995.9.M86 D86 2004; PFA : PN1995.9.M86 D86 2004)

The Jazz Singer (1927)

Directed by Alan Crosland. Cast: Al Jolson, May McAvoy, Warner Oland, William Demarest, Eugenie Besserer, Otto Lederer, Josef Rosenblatt. A melodramatic story of a Jewish cantor's son (Al Jolson) who aspires to be a jazz singer despite his father's objection and religious tradition. In motion picture history, this marks the first feature film to utilize synchronous sound. Jolson's songs include "Toot, toot, tootsie", "Blue skies", and "Mammy". 89 min. DVD 8594; vhs 999:790

"Since its premiere in 1927, many jazz critcs have overlooked The Jazz Singer, America's pioneer talking picture, in the history of American jazz film. Despite its title, the talkie's account of Old World vs. New World tension and Jewish assimilation has little to do with the jazz sound made famous by such artists as Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton. Yet as crtic Krin Gabbard argues, the film's appropriation of the title jazz reflects the cultural understanding of "jazz" during the American Jazz Age. In the 1920s, jazz, referring in general to up-tempo music, represented the emotional release and freedom of a generation striving to break established social conventions. While African American contributions to jazz were largely overlooked in the rise of Paul Whiteman and Al jolson's fame, blackface minstrelsy of the age represented white Americans attempt to ventriloquize blacks associated with supposed freedom of Negro primitivisim. Using jazz to represent Raboniwitz's break from Old World tradition and featuring a finale in blackface minstrelsy, The Jazz Singer (as Gabbard argues) lays the foundation for cultural representations of jazz in American cinema." [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ASI/musi212/brandi/jazz.html]

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The Jolson Story (1946)

Directed by Alfred E. Green. Cast: Larry Parks, Evelyn Keyes, William Demarest, Bill Goodwin. A musical extravaganza biopic telling the story of the meteoric singing/performing career of Asa Yoelson, a talented cantor's son determined to make it big in the "biz". After changing his name to Al Jolson, he captivated audiences everywhere with his minstrel and jazz performances. 130 min. DVD 9907

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Littlest Rebel (1937)

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DuCille, Ann. "The Shirley Temple of my familiar." Transition. Spring 1997. , Iss. 73; pg. 10, 23 pgs

UC users only

Orrvered, Karen. "White and Black in Black and White: Management of Race and Sexuality in the Coupling of Child-Star Shirleylemple and Bill Robinson." Velvet Light Trap Spring97 Issue 39, p52-65, 14p,

Neighbors(1920)

Directed by Buster Keaton and Eddie Cline. Keaton and his attractive neighbor pass love notes through holes in a fence because of their disapproving families. But even once the couple gets together, their union and upcoming marriage cause even more problems. Keaton swings from clotheslines by his toes, wiggles with his head in the ground like a human carrot, and has a hilarious inability to keep his pants up. The Neighbors also features racial attitudes that are beyond troubling. Like a number of Keaton productions, the hero ends up in black face, only this time he escapes in time to wash his face, leading to the arrest of an innocent African-American passing by. When Keaton is caught again and again ends up in black-face, he somehow manages to clean half his face and enters into a routine of being half-white (dignified and controlled) and half-black (he dances a jig). 18 min. DVD 293

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Othello

For various film versions of Othello featuring white actors in blackface, see Shakespeare videography

Show Boat (1936)

Directed by James Whale. Cast: Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Charles Winninger, Paul Robeson, Helen Morgan, Helen Westley. A musical which celebrates the loves and heartbreaks of a Mississippi riverboat troupe, starting with a young girl whose heart is stolen by a dashing gambler. When Julie LaVerne (Helen Morgan) is forced to leave the show boat, Magnolia Hawks (Irenne Dunne) replaces Julie as the show boat'�s female star. Magnolia sings one of her numbers in blackface and is briefly seen applying the burnt-cork. 110 min. Video 999:3206

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Southern Fried Rabbit(1943)

Animated short. Directed by Friz Freleng. Featuring Bugs Bunny in blackface. DVD 7359

Swing Time (1936)

Directed by George Stevens. Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore, Helen Broderick, Eric Blore, Betty Furness, Georges Metaxa. Music, Jerome Kern: lyrics, Dorothy Fields. Fred Astaire plays a gambler intent on raising $25,000 in New York in order to marry his fiance back home. Includes a Astaire in blackface in a musical tribute to Bill Robinson ("Bojangles of Harlem"). 103 min. DVD 4254; vhs 999:801

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

Dunne, Michael. "Blackface Minstrelsy in Musicals." In: American film musical themes and forms Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland, c2004. (MAIN: PN1995.9.M86 D86 2004; PFA : PN1995.9.M86 D86 2004)

Gubar, Susan. Racechanges: white skin, black face in American culture New York : Oxford University Press, 1997 (Main Stack NX652.A37.G83 1997; Moffitt NX652.A37.G83 1997)

Tropic Thunder (2008)

Directed by Ben Stiller. Cast: Ben Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr., Jack Black, Steve Coogan, Nick Nolte, Danny McBride, Brandon T. Jackson, Jay Baruchel. While filming an action movie in the jungle, death and hilarity ensue as the lead actors believe the murderous heroin-producing gang they encounter is a part of the script. A spoof on action/adventure films. In the movie, Robert Downey, Jr. plays an Oscar-winning actor named Kirk Lazarus whose character in the war movie being made was written as black. So Lazarus decides to play the character as written. 107 min. DVD X840

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Uncle Tom's Cabin (Silent 1927)

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Whoopee!(1930)

Directed by Thornton Freeland. Cast: Eddie Cantor, Ethel Shutta, Paul Gregory, Eleanor Hunt, John Rutherford, Spencer Charters. A musical sparked by Cantor's performance as a hyper-hypochondriac. Out West, Henry Williams (Cantor) helps Sally flee her wedding, unaware that she has left a note behind saying they've eloped. Features some of Busby Berkeley's most fanciful choreography. "As it facilitates intermarriage in The Jazz Singer, so blackface brings Whoopee!'s Indian and white lovers together. Henry, helping Sally escape her wedding to Sheriff Bob, hides in an oven. When the stove is lit, he explodes out in blackface. Like Whiteman's lion, Jolson's mammy, and the prototypical, exaggerated blackface mouth, the oven associates blackface with primitive orality. The disguise fools Sheriff Bob and encourages Sally to confess her love for Wanenis. Promoting anarchic violence against the forces of law and order, blackface also facilitates intermarriage in the low plot. Cantor sings "My Baby Just Cares for Me" in blackface and sings it again sans cork to Nurse Custer to end the film. Transforming Jew from frightened melancholic into trickster, blackface shifts the meaning of "cares for" from nursing to sex. When Sheriff Bob tries to wipe Henry clean, he leaves him with what look like Orthodox Jewish earlocks and beard." [Rogin, Michael. "Making America Home: Racial Masquerade and Ethnic Assimilation in the Transition to Talking Pictures." The Journal of American History. Dec 1992. Vol. 79, Iss. 3;93 min. 999:3734

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Ziegfeld Follies (1946)

Directed by Vincente Minnelli. Performer: Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Lucille Bremer, Fanny Brice, Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Lena Horne, Gene Kelly, James Melton, Victor Moore, Red Skelton, Esther Williams, William Powell, Edward Arnold, Marion Bell, Bunin's Puppets, Cyd Charisse, Hume Cronyn, William Frawley, Robert Lewis, Virginia O'Brien, Keenan Wynn. A musical salute to Broadway's most opulent producer of stage reviews, "The Great Ziegfeld". Features a sketch with Judy Garland and Fred Astaire in black-face. 118 min. DVD 5681; vhs 999:3421

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Representations of African Americans in Animated Cartoons Included in the collections below are the Warner Brothers "Censored 11"-- a group of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons that were withheld from syndication by United Artists in 1968. United Artists owned the distribution rights to the Associated Artists Productions library at that time, and decided to pull these eleven cartoons from broadcast because they are based on racist depictions of African Americans and are deemed too offensive for contemporary audiences. The cartoons are: Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land (DVD 2440); Sunday Go to Meetin' Time (DVD 2443); Clean Pastures (DVD 9356); Uncle Tom's Bungalow (DVD 9357); Jungle Jitters (DVD 2444); The Isle of Pingo Pongo (DVD 9356); All This and Rabbit Stew (DVD 2444); Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs (DVD 2441); Tin Pan Alley Cats (DVD 2443); Angel Puss (DVD 9357); and Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears (DVD 2441) [Wikipedia] Bibliography of books and articles about racist cartoons

Black Anthology Cartoons. Vol. 1 (1937-1947)

Contents: Uncle Tom's cabana (1947, 9 min.) -- Uncle Tom's bungalow (1937, 8 min.) -- Eliza on ice (1944, 6 min.) -- It happened to Caruso (1938, 7 min.) -- Vodoo in Harlem (1938, 7 min.) -- Popeye ala mode (1945, 7 min.) -- Swing wedding (1937, 8 min.) A collection of seven stereotypical cartoons of Afro-Americans produced in the '30's and '40's. Includes parodies of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin and of Jack Benny with appearances by cartoon characters Mighty Mouse, Popeye and Bosko.

Uncle Tom's Cabana: Uncle Tom went from cabin to cabana to ward off the mortage. Little Eva (now grown up) saves Tom's cabin with her singing and seductive sexiness. Uncle Tom's bungalow: Topsy and Little Eva buy Uncle Tom from Simon Legree's Used Slave Co., but can't keep up the payments. Topsy and Eva do a color switch under Legree's whip as Eliza saves the day. Eliza on ice: Uncle Tom starts the race with Simon Legree chasing Eliza. Mighty Mouse rescues Eliza. It happened to Caruso: Weschester, the vegitarian cannibal, becomes Robinson Caruso's Man Friday (Jack Benny's cloned voice). Caruso kills a tiger with his violining. Vodoo in Harlem: Cannibals singing after hours in Walter Lantz's animation studio. Popeye ala mode: Popeye checks into a cannibal hotel, but has trouble checking out as the cannibals have Popeye over for dinner..err..as dinner. Swing wedding: Lots of jazz and Cab Calloway music done by Frogs right out of MGM's Bosko cartoons. 60 min. 999:2140

Black Anthology Cartoons. Vol. 2 (1930's)

Contents: The old house (1936, 10 min.) -- Bosko's Easter eggs (1937, 8 min.) -- Bosko and the pirates (1937, 8 min.) -- Bosko and the cannibals (1937, 10 min.) -- Bosko in Bagdad (1938, 10 min.) -- Bosko the doughboy (1931, 7 min.) -- Old anything (1931, 6 min.). A collection of seven stereotypical cartoons of Afro-Americans produced in the 1930s starring Warner Bros.' first cartoon star, Bosko. Created by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising he was featured from 1929-1933.

The Old house: Classic haunted house adventure with Bosko, Bruno (dog) and his honey, Honey. Bosko's Easter eggs: Bruno breaks the eggs Bosko wuz deliverin ta Honey. Bosko and the pirates: Boskos' imagination ends him up on a frog pirate ship where the pirate frogs try ta git Boskos' cookies. Captain Frog makes Bosko walk the plank...or...that is rather...tap dance the plank. Bosko and the cannibals: Boskos' imagination puts him in a jungle full of cannibal cookie eating frogs that try to get his cookies. Bosko in Bagdad: "Who dat" sequence gets Bosko a flying carpet that whisks him and the genie Frog to Bagdad. The Bagdad frogs tempt Bosko with tap dancing, watermellons and castor oil to get his cookies. Bosko the Doughboy: Pre-MGM Bosko. Bosko is bored with the war until the enemy shoots Boskos' photo of Honey. Then he goes into action with violent results. Old anything: Bosko builds a building with the help of some Mickey Mouse clones. During the construction there are detached heads, ears, stomachs, etc. 60 min. 999:2141

Black Anthology Cartoons. Vol. 3 (1934-1946)

Contents: Scrub me Mama with a boogie beat (1941, 7 min.) -- John Henry and the Inky Poo (1945, 8 min.) -- Jasper in a jam (1946, 7 min.) -- Rasslin' match (1934, 11 min.) -- The lion tamer (1934, 9 min.) -- The early worm gets the bird (1940, 8 min.) -- The little broadcast (1943, 8 min.). Includes puppetoons by George Pal, two features staring Amos n' Andy, Charlie Barnet and his orchestra and vocals by Peggy Lee. Scrub me Mama with a boogie beat: Lazy Town is the sexiest, most racist and foot-stompinist laundry mat in the country. John Henry and the Inky Poo: Puppetoon by George Pal. The steel drivin man John Henry shows...if you have a mind, you can do anything. Jasper in a Jam: Great jazz music video with Little Jasper caught in a pawnshop at midnight. Features Charlie Barnet and Orchestra with vocals by Peggy Lee. Rasslin' match: The 1st of only two Amos 'n' Andy cartoons. Since Taxi servicing is slow King-Pin gets Andy into a rasslin match. Amos seems to be in more pain than Andy watching Andy get hurt. Lion tamer: The 2nd of only two Amos 'n' Andy cartoons. Kingpin gets Andy a job as a lion tamer for a local circus. The deal wuz the lion wuz supposed to be two guys in a lion suit... Early worm gets the bird: Three little "Black Birds" are sent to bed by "Mammy Black Bird," but one wants to get the worm early and gets more than he expected. Little broadcast: A George Pal puppetoon where the Great Maestro gets to conduct more than he can compose himself to. 60 min. 999:2142

Black Toons

Vol. 1: A warning to vandals and hoodlums [theater announcement] -- Trailers for Blackboard jungle, Go, Johnny, go, Rock, rock rock -- Uncle Tom's caba?na (1947) -- Uncle Tom's bungalow (1937) -- Mighty Mouse in Eliza on the Ice (1944) -- Coal Black and de sebben dwarfs (1943) -- It happened to Crusoe (1941) -- Pop-Pie ala mode (1945) -- Swing wedding (1937). Bonus selections: Weird cartoons: Bambi meets Godzilla, Betty Boop in Crazy town; You auto lay an egg ; [excerpt from It's a bird with Charles Bowers] ; Small fry ; Frogland ; Cobweb hotel) ; Munster's TV episode Mar. 18, 1965: Far out, Munsters. A collection of animated films from the 1930s and 1940s which feature caricatures and stereotypes of blacks. Most are very racist with nasty stereotypes. Some wild rhythm & blues, jazz groups and music parodies. In "Swing Wedding" a wild eye'd hipster "shoots-up" with his trumpet valve as a hypo while Fats Waller, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Ethel Waters and the Mills Brothers are impersonated! DVD 9355

Vol. 2: The early worm gets the bird (1940) -- September in the rain (1937) -- Jungle Jitters (1938) -- The Isle of Pingo Pongo (1938) -- Life begins for Andy Panda (1939) -- Africa squeaks (1940) -- All this and rabbit stew (1941) -- Have you got any castles (1938) -- Goofy groceries (1941) -- Scrub me Mama with a boogie beat (1941) -- Clean pastures (1937) -- Goldilocks and the jivin' bears (1944) A collection of animated films from the 1930s and 1940s which feature caricatures and stereotypes of blacks. In September in the rain much of the cartoon features characters in blackface in a satire of then-contemporary culture including Al Jolson, Fats Waller and Louis Armstrong. The Isle of Pingo Pongo is a parody of 1930s travelogues full of black stereotypes and swinging "jungle music." In Africa squeaks Porky Pig, Spencer Tracy, Kay Kaiser and Jerry Colonna are swinging with the natives in "Darkest Africa." In Clean pastures Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, The Mills Brothers and others are caricatured doing their part to take swing music out of the hands of the devil and use it to save souls with the magic of jazz and boogie-woogie. DVD 9356

Vol. 3: Little black Sambo (1935) -- Uncle Tom and Little Eva (1932) -- Fresh hare (1942) -- Sunday go to meetin' time (1936) -- Uncle Tom's bungalow (1937) -- Angel puss (944) -- Confederate honey (1940) -- Little ol' Bosko and the cannibals (1937) -- Pop-pie a la mode (1945) -- Voodoo in Harlem (1938) -- Tin Pan Alley cats (1943). A collection of animated films from the 1930s and 1940s which feature caricatures and stereotypes of blacks. In Fresh hare Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny do a minstrel show, complete with black-face. Sunday go to meetin' time features excellent gospel and jazz music mixed with black stereotypes. Uncle Tom's bunglow is a spoof of the book Uncle Tom's Cabin. Confederate honey is a parody of "Gone with the Wind," with Elmer Fudd playing Ned Cutler (Rhett Butler in the real movie). Little ol' Bosko and the cannibals features a frog that sounds like Louis Armstrong, plus other frog caricatures of famous black musicians like Fats Waller, Cab Calloway, and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson portrayed as cannibals! In Pop-Pie al la mode, Popeye is shipwrecked on an island inhabited by cannibals who view him as their next meal! DVD 9357

Vol. 4: Jasper and the haunted house (1942) -- Bosko shipwrecked (1931) -- The stupidstitious cat (1947) -- Suddenly it's Spring (1944) -- Porky's ant (1941) -- The lost dream (1949) -- Outdoor indore (1928) -- Flop goes the weasel (1934) -- Robinson Crusoe Jr. (1941) -- Talking magpies (1946) -- Swiss cheese family Robinson (1947) -- Ali-Baba bound (1940) A collection of animated films from the 1930s and 1940s which feature caricatures and stereotypes of blacks. The stupidstitious cat is a parody of the famous "Jack Benny Program" with a black crow playing the part of "Rochester" (who was black and played a stereotypical black role on the Jack Benny Program.) In Outdoor indore Felix joins the circus and travels to India. Flop goes the weasel features a very black stereotype of "Mammy" portrayed by a large hen giving birth to a baby chick. Robinson Crusoe Jr. stars Porky Pig against African natives. The talking magpies is the first screen appearance of cartoon characters Heckle and Jeckle. Swiss Cheese family Robinson features Mighty Mouse who saves a mouse family from jungle cannibals. In Ali-Baba bound Porky Pig battles extremist Muslims; one has a bomb on his head in place of a turban.

Blaxploitation Cartoon Festival.

A series of 8 short animated "racist" cartoons featuring blackfaced caricatures. Includes Amos n' Andy, Jungle Jitters, Scrub me Mama, Little black Sambo. 50 min. Video 999:425

Cartoon Collection, V

Cartoons from the 1930s and 1940s showing the pervasiveness of racial and ethnic stereotypes. In addition to cartoons, the video includes sing-alongs, intermission trailers and an animated preview of Snow White. Contents: "Any Bonds Today?" (sung by Bugs Bunny)--"Let's Sing with Popeye": Excerpts from the first Popeye cartoon and Popeye sings 'I'm Popeye the sailor man.' -- "Plane Dumb" (Tom and Jerry)-- "Porky's Hare Hunt" -- Trailer for "Snow White" --"Minnie's Yoo Hoo" (sung by Mickey Mouse): Sing-a-long to the lyrics on the screen as Mickey Mouse directs the Mickey Mouse Club theme song. --"Little Black Sambo": Little Sambo plays pranks with a dog striped like a tiger. -- "Porky's pooch": A hungry mutt barges into Porky Pig's suite. His wit and charm fail to move Porky so he threatens to jump off the ledge, tricking Porky into taking him in. -- "Joe Glow the firefly": A firefly with a miner's lighted helmet explores a camper's tent and the various people-sized items that, from his perspective, are gigantic. -- "Porky's movie mystery": In this parody of the "Mr. Moto" series, a mysterious phantom is causing trouble at the Warner Bros Studios. The police call in Mr. Motto (Porky Pig) to investigate. -- "The Lone Stranger and Porky": When Porky is held up by a villain the Lone Stranger comes to his rescue and in the middle of the fight, the Stranger's horse Silver falls in love with the villains' horse. -- Intermission public service announcement against pay and cable TV plus six ads for popcorn and candy in the lobby -- "Japoteurs": Early animated Superman episode involving the hijacking of a giant American bomber by Japanese saboteurs. -- "John Henry": A cartoon version of the tale of John Henry, the great steel-driving worker who competes with a steam drill. -- "Congo jazz" --"I'll be glad when you're dead you rascal you" (Betty Boop with Louis Armstrong and his orchestra) -- "Snap Happy" (Little Lulu)-- "Jungle jive" (pianist, Bob Zurke). 999:2143

Cartoon Scandals: A Study of Violence, Racism and Sex in Cartoons

By today's standards, many of these 1930s-1940s cartoons are now considered too risque or offensive by TV censors and have been edited or banned from TV. This collection features some of these rare classic cartoons in their original, uncut, uncensored versions. Concludes with the animated short by Lenny Bruce, "Thank you, mask man," a gay parody on the Lone Ranger saga. Contents: [Bugs Bunny in war bond public announcement] -- Daffy: the commando -- Scrub me, mama, with a boggie beat -- Tokio jokio -- Sheep shape -- All this and rabbit stew -- Three little kittens (a Jungle Jinks cartoon) -- Eleventh hour (Superman) -- Be human (Betty Boop) -- Little Black Sambo -- The mad doctor (Mickey Mouse) -- Jungle jitters -- Uncle Tom and Little Eva (Jungle Jinks cartoon) -- Thank you, mask man / by Lenny Bruce. 93 min. DVD 2444

Coonskin (1975)

Written and directed by Ralph Bakshi. This outrageous, original film about the status of blacks in America is told with live-action and animation vignettes, the best of which are sly parodies of the stories from Disney and Uncle Remus' Song of the South and Kim Basinger's Cool World. This allegorical tale follows the exploits of a black rabbit who comes from the rural South to New York and ends up dealing drugs in Harlem. Released in 1974, it was accused of being racist and withdrawn by its distributor within a week of its release. 90 min. 999:2144

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

A History of Racist Animation

Contents: Film excerpts: Chinese laundry blues -- Rasslin' match (Amos n' Andy) -- Hittin' the trail to Hallelujah Land -- Pickaninny blues -- Scrub me, mama, with a boggie beat -- All this and rabbit stew -- Little Black Sambo -- John Henry -- Jasper in the haunted house -- Bosko shipwrecked -- Jungle jazz-- Robinson Crusoe, Jr. -- Jungle jitters -- Shanty where Santy Claus lives -- Musical Lulu -- Have you got any castles? -- Ducktators -- Japoteurs (Superman) -- You're a sap, Mr. Jap (Popeye) -- Ali Baba bound -- Popeye meets Ali Baba -- Timid toreador -- Porky's garden -- Daffy duckaroo -- Molly Moo Cow and the Indians -- Hell bent for election (1944, F.D. Roosevelt political cartoon).

Presents historical commentary and excerpts from a cross section of cartoons, once seen as harmless, but now perceived as racist stereotypes. Rare footage includes "Chinese Laundry Blues" (poking fun at both Chinese and Jews), George Pal's "John Henry," the incredibly racist "Pickaninny Blues," complete with shuffling Negroes being sold on the auction block, as well as Walter Lantz's "Scrub me, mama, with a boogie beat," Bosco, Amos n' Andy, Little Black Sambo as well as American propaganda cartoons from World War II. Consists primarily of excerpts from films originally issued between 1930-1950. DVD 2440

Politically Incorrect Cartoons

Contents: Swing wedding -- Old mill pond -- Tin Pan alley cats -- Scrub me, mama, with a boggie beat -- Boogie woogie man -- Jasper's in a jam -- Jasper and the beanstalk (Jack and the beanstalk tale) -- Jasper and the haunted house -- Hot lips Jasper -- Sliphorn King of Polaroo -- Ham's that couldn't be cured -- Saturday evening puss (Tom & Jerry) -- Goldilocks and the jivin' bears (Three bears tale) -- Clean pastures -- Three little bops (Three little pigs tale) -- Coal black and de sebben dwarfs (Sleeping beauty tale). Credits: Producers/directors, Walter Lantz, George Pal [et al].

Collection of rare and obscure cartoons with a jazz oriented theme (which means lots of characters with big lips and natural riddem). Includes several of George Pal's hard to find "Jasper" Puppetoons, "Tin Pan Alleycats" (a fave with its Salvador Dali style landscapes) and Tom & Jerry with that black maid you never see anymore. DVD 2441

Racist Warner Bros. Cartoons

Sunday go to meetin' time -- Confederate honey -- All this and rabbit stew -- Bugs Bunny nips the nips -- Angel puss -- Goldilocks and the jivin' bears (Three bears tale) -- [Bugs Bunny in war bond public announcement] -- Coal black and de sebben dwarfs (Sleeping beauty tale) -- Clean pastures -- Tin Pan alley cats -- Scrap happy -- Ductators -- Tokio jokio.

Watch Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and other Warner Bros. cartoon characters poke fun at racial minorities in this ultra-rare collection of racist cartoons that will never be seen on TV. 91 min. DVD 2443

Romeo in Rhythm(1940)

Directed by Rudolf Ising. "...this is a subdued, one might even say sweet, tribute to black music and culture. A sort of animated CARMEN JONES, if you like. While the principal players being caricatured as crows might bring howls of "racism" now, one can easily forgive such a practice in this cartoon--indeed, it seems perfectly logical. One would expect crows, if they could talk, sing and dance, to put on a show such as this." [Home For Orphan Toons ] Included on DVD 8479

Uncle Tom's Bungalow [animated cartoon]

Directed by Tex Avery, 1937. Topsy and Little Eva buy Uncle Tom from Simon Legree's Used Slave Co., but can't keep up the payments. Topsy and Eva do a color switch under Legree's whip as Eliza saves the day. 999:2140

Uncle Tom's Cabana [animated cartoon]

Directed by Tex Avery, 1947. Uncle Tom's Cabana: Uncle Tom went from cabin to cabana to ward off the mortage. Little Eva (now grown up) saves Tom's cabin with her singing and seductive sexiness. Video Disc 152; VHS 999:2140

[Uncle Tom's Cabin] Eliza on Ice (animated, 1944)

Uncle Tom starts the race with Simon Legree chasing Eliza. Mighty Mouse rescues Eliza. 6 min. 999:2140

Weird Cartoons. Vol. 1

Includes such racists "gems" of the 1930's and 40's as Little Black Sambo / Castle Films presents ; produced by Celebrity Pictures ; animated by U.B. Iwerks (ca. 8 min.) -- Scrub me mama with a boogie beat / A Universal Picture ; a Walter Lantz production ; artists, Alex Covy, Frank Tipper ; story, Ben Hardaway ; words and music, Don Daye (ca. 6 min.) 999:2193

Race Movies/Black Cast Films

Bibliography of books, articles, and websites about Oscar Micheaux (includes listing of Micheaux web sites)

Birmingham Black Bottom: The First Black Talkies.

Contents: Music hath harms / Cast: Spencer Williams, Roberta Hyson, Curtis Mosby's Dixieland Blue Blowers -- The melancholy dame / Cast: Evelyn Preer, Spencer Williams, Roberta Hyson -- Framing of the shrew / Cast: Evelyn Preer, Edward Thompson -- Oft in the silly night / Cast: Spencer Williams, Roberta Hyson. These groundbreaking comedies, the brainchild of pioneer director, Al Christie, are from the first series of talking pictures written and conceived for black performers, rare shorts from 1929. With the advent of sound, Christie decided to produce a series of all black cast comedy-musical shorts adapted from Octavus Roy Cohen's "Darktown Birmingham" stories. To cast his comedies, he chose from the talent of the famous Lafayette Players Stock Company of Harlem. 75 min. 999:1770

Big Fella (1937)

Directed by J. Elder Wills. Featuring Paul Robeson, Elisabeth Welch, Eldon Grant, Roy Emerton, Marcelle Rogez. A classic musical celebrating the legendary actor, singer and activist Paul Robeson. Joe, a dockworker in Marseilles, finds a missing boy and takes him to stay with a local cafe singer, Miranda where they both become surrogate parents to the child. 73 min. DVD 167

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

Paul Robeson : essays on his life and legacy Edited by Joseph Dorinson and William Pencak. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland, 2002. (Main Stack E185.97.R63.P375 2002; PFA PN2287.R59.P38 2002)

Thompson, Clifford. Cineaste "Race in contemporary American cinema: Part 9--We hardly knew ye: Four early films of Paul Robeson." 1998. Vol. 23, Iss. 4; pg. 24, 2 pgs

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The Black King (1932)

Directed by Bud Pollard. Also known as Harlem Hot Shot, this film is one of the earliest films to focus on "The Back to Africa" movement. Made by an independent white-owned company, this film was billed as a satire on the life of Marcus Garvey. 70 min. DVD X29; vhs Video 999:929

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

Larson, Charles R. "The Black King: Forgotten 'Black?' Classic." Journal of Popular Film and Television, vol. 20 no. 2. 1992 Summer. pp: 17-25.

Black Shadows on a Silver Screen.

History of the motion picture made by Black film makers between 1900 and 1950, including scenes from these films. Emphasizes the attempt by Black film makers to provide alternatives to the lack of sensitivity and racism of Hollywood films by portraying Blacks realistically. 52 min. DVD X1409; vhs Video/C 1063

The Blood of Jesus (1941)

Directed by Spencer Williams. Spencer Williams, who later became Andy on the Amos'n'Andy Television series was the star, director, producer and writer of this film, an unusual piece that offers a glimpse into Southern Baptist life from an African American perspective. 68 min. DVD X1638; vhs 999:928

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

Giles, Mark. "The Blood of Jesus: Timeless Black Values." Black Camera - A Micro Journal of Black Film Studies 15:1 [Spring-Summer 2000] p.6-7

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Strecker, Damien. "No Laughing Matter: Spencer Williams, Jr.'s Christian Moral Vision in "The Blood of Jesus". Black Camera - A Micro Journal of Black Film Studies 20:2 [Fall-Winter 2005] p.6-7

Blue Melodies (Hollywood rhythm: Paramount Musical Shorts; 3)

Various, Paramount (1929-34). Eight mini musicals featuring landmark performances by the legends of jazz and blues from the early years of sound film production. Bessie Smith stars in her only film, the once-notorious musical St. Louis Blues. Teenaged Billie Holiday performs with Duke Ellington's orchestra while another piece, Bundle of Blues, spotlights Ellington's favorite band singer, Ivie Anderson. And, months before her Broadway debut, a girlish Ethel Merman defends her life before a judge in Her Future. Contents: Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life / Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday (1935) -- Those Blues / Vincent Lopez (1932) -- Ol' King Cotton / George Dewey Washington (1930) -- A Bundle of Blues / Duke Ellington, Ivie Anderson (1933) -- Jitterbug Party / Cab Calloway (1934) -- Her Future / Ethel Merman (1930) -- St. Louis Blues / Bessie Smith (1929) -- Blue of the Night / Bing Crosby (1933). Video 999:1692

Boarding House Blues (1941)

Directed by Josh Binney. Performer: Dusty Fletcher, Lucky Millinder and Orchestra, Bull Moose Jackson, Jackie "Moms" Mabley, Una Mae Carlisle, Berry Bros., Marie Cooke. Tenant troubles in a show-business boarding house form the backdrop for this 1948 musical review. 90 min. Video 999:1221

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

Body and Soul (1925)

Directed by Oscar Micheaux. Paul Robeson, Julie Theresa Russell, Marshall Rogers, Chester A. Alexander, Walter Comick, Mercedes Gilbert. Paul Robeson stars in this early silent film of a minister gone corrupt. He associates with the owner of a house of gambling, forces a girl to steal and later kills the girl's brother. But, when all is said and done it's only a dream. 80 min. DVD 7281; vhs 999:534

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

Boy! What a Girl! (1947)

Director Arthur Leonard. Tim Moore in an Amos 'n Andy Kingfish impersonates a wealthy spinster from Paris. Includes a series of musical performances by black artists including Slam Stewart, Sid Catlett, Deek Watson and a guest appearance by Gene Krupa. 70 min. Video 999:1147

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

Broken Strings (1940)

Directed by Bernard B. Ray. Performer: Clarence Muse, Sybil Lewis, William Washington, Tommiwitta Moore, Stymie Beard, Pete Webster, Edward Thompson, Buck Woods, Jess Lee Brooks, Earl Morris. An all-Black melodrama concerning a classical violinist who injures his fingers. His son tries to earn the needed cash to restore his father's paralyzed hand by following in his father's footsteps as a violinist but to his father's displeasure, he prefers swing to classical music. 70 min. Video 999:1223

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

Broken Earth Tyler-Texas Black Film Collection: The Missing Link in Black Cinema (1939)

Directed by Roman Freulich. Cast: Clarence Muse. A widowed farmer with a sick young son prays for his son's recovery. A ray of sunlight accompanied by spiritual music signifies that his pleas won't go unanswered. A film produced by blacks for a black audience. 17 min. 999:2592

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

The Bronze Buckeroo (1939)

Directed by Richard C. Kahn. Cast: Herbert Jeffrey, Lucius Brooks, Artie Young, F.E. Miller, Spencer Williams, Jr., Clarence Brooks. Bob Blake and his boys arrive at Joe Jackson's ranch to find him missing. While Slim cheats Dusty out of his money using ventriloquism and marked cards, Blake tries to find Jackson. Learning that Thorne and his gang are holding him prisoner, he and his men trail them. When Thorne's gang gets the drop on them, Slim puts his ventriloquism to work. Filmed with an all Black cast and crew. 56 min. DVD X1638; also DVD 4995; vhs 999:2211

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

Leyda, Julia. "Black-Audience Westerns and the Politics of Cultural Identification in the 1930s." Cinema Journal 42.1 (2002) 46-70

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Devil's Daughter (1939)

Directed by Arthur Leonard. Cast: Nina Mae McKinney, Jack Carter, Ida James, Hamtree Harrington, Willa Mae Lane, Emmett Wallace. Leon Lee. Isabelle Walton (McKinney) returns to claim her late father's Jamaican plantation. She encounters voodoo and and a jealous half-sister in the process. Comic relief by Hamtree Harrington who thinks his soul has been put into the body of a pig. 60 min. DVD 4995; vhs 999:1225

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

Dirty Gertie from Harlem U.S.A. (1936)

Directed by Spencer Williams. Cast: Francine Everette, Don Wilson, "Piano" Frank, Old Hager, Spencer Williams, John King, July Jones. In this all black cast feature, Gertie LaRue and her troupe of performers arrive direct from Harlem at the Paradise Hotel on the island of Trinidad. They are there to do a show at the Diamond Palace, a club owned by Diamond Joe, who falls for Gertie. Gertie has left Harlem in a hurry and cannot go back there because she has jilted her boyfriend, Al, who is now looking for revenge. 60 min. Video 999:1222

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

Double Deal (1939)

Directed by Arthur Dreifuss. Cast: Monte Hawley, Jeni Le Gon, Edward Thompson, Florence O'Brien, Shelton Brooks, F.E. Miller. Rivals for a pretty singer get mixed up in gangster trouble. One of the beaus is a crook who robs a jewelry store and frames the other boyfriend. The girl sorts the truth out for herself. 60 min. Video 999:1224

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

Duke is Tops (1938)

Directed by William L. Nolte. "Duke Davis (Ralph Cooper) has invested all his savings to back his sweetheart, Ethel (Lena Horne), in a road show over the old T.O.B.A. circuit, on which they have both been performers since childhood. Marshall (Monte Hawley), a New York talent scout, makes an offer to Ethel as a single and, to induce her to take it, Duke writes a fake check, made out to him, for $5000 pretending he has sold his contract with Ethel to Marshall. Resentful and heartbroken, she accepts and becomes a big hit in New York. Marshall then books her at the swanky Century Club, plans her show himself, and it flops miserably. Meanwhile, Duke has used his last resources to start a new show, but without Ethel it also fails. He joins the Doc Dorando (Lawrence Criner) medicine show, and with him as the speiler for the quack elixir sold by Dorando, it is successful. He becomes Doc's partner with an elaborate trailer and a company of entertainers, including Willie Covans, the Basin Street Boys, The Cats and the Fiddle, "Rubberneck" Holmes and Joe Stevenson. Money is rolling in but he drops everything to hurry to Ethel's side when he hears of her misfortune. Ella (Neva Peoples), Ethel's faithful companion and maid, has also told Ethel of Duke's sacrifice in order to give her a chance in New York. Duke talks the Century Club owner, Fenton (Edward Thompson),into allowing him to build an elaborate show based on a medicine show concept, and sends for Doc Dorando and the other entertainers." [Internet Movie Database] 80 min. DVD X29; vhs Video 999:1168

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

Gang War (1940)

Directed by Leo C. Popkin. Host: Richard Roundtree. Cast: Ralph Cooper, Gladys Snyder, Reggie Fenderson, Lawrence Criner, Monte Hawley, Jesse Brooks, Johnny Thomas, Maceo Sheffield, Charles Hawkins, Robert Johnson, Henry Roberts, Harold Garrison. Classic battle between 2 gangs for control of the juke box machines in Harlem. 65 min. DVD 4995

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

The Girl from Chicago (1932)

One of Oscar Micheaux's most famous films. Starring Carl Mahon as Alonzo Smith, a young secret service agent, who falls in love with a school teacher, Norma, in a small Mississippi town. Later in New York, Alonzo has to save Norma's friend Mary from the numbers racket and is accused of murder. 69 min. DVD X1639; vhs 999:927

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Girl in Room 20(1946)

Directed by Spencer Williams. Cast: Geraldine Brock, July Jones, Spencer Williams, Mamie Fisher, Celeste Allen, Buzz Ayecock. A Texas girl moves to New York to make it as a singer, but runs into trouble with a man who offers to be her agent. Meanwhile her boyfriend arrives from Texas to win her back. A film produced by blacks for black audiences. 63 min. DVD 7457; also DVD X1639; vhs 999:2595

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

Go Down Death (1944)

Directed by Spencer Williams. Cast: Myra D. Hemmings, Samuel H. James, Eddye L. Houston, Spencer Williams, Ames Droughan, Walter McMillion. Based on a poem of the same title by James Weldon Johnson. Director, Spencer Williams. A minister's reputation is in question as he wavers between heaven and hell. 50 min. DVD X1638; also DVD 1589; also on VHS Video 999:1166

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

God's Stepchildren (1938)

Directed by Oscar Micheaux. Cast: Alice B. Russell, Trixie Smith, Jacqueline Lewis, Charles Thompson, Ethel Moses, Carman Newsome, Gloria Press, Alec Lovejoy, Columbus Jackson, Laura Bowman. A light-skinned African-American orphan who refuses to acknowledge her race is sent by her foster mother to an all-black school. She resents this treatment and grows up to have a hard time fitting into black society. 65 min. DVD 7457

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Harlem Rides the Range (1939)

Director, Richard C. Kahn. Cast: Herbert Jeffrey, Lucius Brooks, Flournoy E. Miller, Artie Young, Spencer Williams, Clarence Brooks, Tom Southern. A two gun slinging Black cowboy saves the uranium mine of his girl's father. It is interesting to note that this involved a uranium mine in 1939. Video 999:1167

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

Leyda, Julia. "Black-Audience Westerns and the Politics of Cultural Identification in the 1930s." Cinema Journal 42.1 (2002) 46-70

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Harlem Swings

1940's-50's musical all-black comedy short subjects, starring Ethel Waters, Stepin Fetchit, Dusty Fletcher, Louis Jordan, and others. 70 min. Video 999:423-424

Hi-De-Ho (1947)

Motion picture starring big band sensation Cab Calloway (portraying himself). 63 min. Video 999:426

Jazz Cocktails Hollywood rhythm: Paramount Musical Shorts; 2.

In this collection of musical shorts some of the greatest names in jazz are presented in some of their earliest filmed performances. Featuring Duke Ellington, Artie Shaw, Fats Waller, Cab Calloway, and Bing Crosby who bends the definition of jazz to croon three ballads. Perhaps the gem of this film however is Office Blues in which a pre-stardom, pre-Astaire Ginger Rogers cavorts in an Art Deco extravaganza. Contents: Office blues (1930) / Ginger Rogers -- Cab Calloway's Hi-De-Ho (1934) / Cab Calloway -- Artie Shaw's Class in Swing (1939) / Artie Shaw -- Dream House (1932) / Bing Crosby ; directed by Mack Sennett -- Black and Tan Fantasy (1929) / Duke Ellington, Fredi Washington, Arthur Whetsol -- Makers of Melody (1929) / Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart -- Ain't Misbehavin' (1941) / Fats Waller. 999:1695

Juke Joint (1947)

Director, Spencer Williams. Cast: Spencer Williams, July Jones, Inez Newell, Leonard Duncan, Dauphine Moore, Melody Duncan, Katherine Moore, Tilford Patterson, Albert Smith, Howard Galloway, Clifford Beamon, Frances McHugh, Don Gilbert, Mac and Ace, Kit and Kert, The Jitterbug Johnnies, Duncan's Beauty Show Girls. Two slick talking traveling "thespians" seek a room at the home of Mama Holiday and become embroiled in her family's affairs. Mama is at odds with her dreamer husband & glamour-seeking daughters, one of whom is propositioned by the owner of the local juke joint. To gain Mama's favor, the men use their persuasive skills to keep the daughter from leaving town with her suitor. 70 min. 999:1259

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Killer Diller (1948)

Directed by Josh Binney. Cast: Dusty Fletcher, George Wiltshire, Butterfly McQueen, Nellie Hill, Freddie Robinson, William Campbell, Edgar Martin, Sid Easton, Gus Smith, Jackie Mabley, Ken Renard. The story of a magician who does disappearing acts between stage performances of a variety program. This musical includes performances by Dusty Fletcher, the King Cole Trio, Jackie "Moms" Mabley, Andy Kirk and his orchestra. Considered one of the best early comedies starring an all-black cast. 70 min. 999:1220

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Lying Lips (1939)

A classic melodrama from famed director Oscar Micheaux, stars Edna Mae Harris as a nightclub singer who is unjustly convicted and sent to prison for the murder of her aunt. Co-produced by the distinguished black aviator, Colonel Hubert Julian. 60 min.. DVD X1639; vhs 999:931

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Midnight Ramble: Oscar Micheaux and the Story of Race Movies.

Recounts the story of race movies produced for Afro-Americans from the 1920s through 1950 and the role played by Oscar Micheaux, the leading Afro-American producer and director. These movies were designed for Afro-Americans and were frequently shown at midnight. They presented Afro-Americans in a positive light. Featuring interviews with Afro-American actors and actresses, and historians. 58 min. Video/C 3614

See separate bibliography of books, articles, and websites about Oscar Micheaux

Midnight Shadow Tyler-Texas Black Film Collection: The Missing Link in Black Cinema (1939)

Directed by George Randol. Cast: Frances Redd, John Criner, Richard Bates, Ollie Ann Robinson, Clinton Rosemond, Buck Woods. Mr. Wilson who owns Texas land with oil on it is murdered and the deeds to the oil land stolen. Two "bumbling" detectives, Junior and Lightfoot, investigate the murder by the "Midnight Shadow," seeking to clear their friend of murder. A film produced by blacks for black audiences. 54 min. 999:2594

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Miracle in Harlem (1948)

Directed by Jack Saindlin. Cast: Hilda Offay, Sheila Guyse, William Greaves, Kenneth Freeman, Stepin Fetchit, Savannah Churchill. A sweet old woman who runs a candy manufacturing business out of her home with the help of her niece and a young divinity student, is swindled out of her business by a big businessman and his son, who has connections with the underworld. Two murders follow in this suspenseful film that also has touches of humor. A film produced by blacks for black audiences. 80 min. 999:2630 (2 tapes)

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Moon Over Harlem (1939)

Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. Cast: Bud Harris, Cora Green, Izinetta Wilcox, Carl Gough, Slim Thompson. An unusual musical melodrama with an all-black cast about Harlem widow Minnie who marries "Dollar" Bill, a shady gambler who is after her money and her attractive daughter, Sue. Sue is in love with Bob, an idealist who decides to organize the community against local racketeers and does not realize that his would-be father-in-law Dollar Bill is one of them. Film features 20 chorus girls, a choir, a rare appearance by jazz legend Sidney Bechet and a 60-piece symphony orchestra under the direction of Donald Heywood. 67 min. DVD 4080; vhs 999:930

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Belton, John. Howard Hawks, Frank Borzage, Edgar G. Ulmer London : Tantivy Press ; New York : A.S. Barnes, 1974. (MAIN: PN1998.A3 H337 1974)

Bogdanovich, Peter. "Edgar G. Ulmer." In: Who the Devil Made It. New York : Alfred A. Knopf : Distributed by Random House, 1997. (Main Stack PN1995.9.P7.B58 1997; Moffitt PN1995.9.P7.B58 1997)

Edgar G. Ulmer the man off-screen [Videorecording] Media Resources Center DVD 6455

Gallagher, Tag. "All lost in wonder: Edgar G.Ulmer." Screening the Past, 1 March 2001

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Movies of Color: Black Southern Cinema

A portrait of independent African-American filmmaking in the Southern region of the United States prior to World War II ... an incredible body of truly independent filmmaking made under the most hostile set of circumstances, including racial prejudice, unimaginably low budgets, and crude technical conditions. The film clips shown here, which are a mirror of the Black experience from the 1920s through mid-1950's, focus on the innovative works of film makers Spencer Williams, Oscar Micheaux, Eloyse Gist, and Clarence Muse. Special features: "Includes 2 bonus short films (an extra 107 min.): "The Blood of Jesus and "Go down, death" ; scene access. 55, 107 min. 2000. DVD 1589

Murder in Harlem (1935)

Directed by Oscar Micheaux. Featuring Clarence Brooks, Dorothy Van Engle, Laura Bowman, Andrew Bishop, Alec Lovejoy, Bee Freeman. A young woman is murdered at the National Chemical Labs and the nightwatchman is arrested. Then the scene shifts back three years to a man who fell in love with a woman but was unable to express his true feelings. Now he is a lawyer and the woman he loved is the sister of the nightwatchman who is on trial for murder. Together, they find the real murderer and fall in love again. 95 min. Video 999:2462

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Oscar Micheaux, Film Pioneer.

Oscar Micheaux is remembered for his work as a pioneer producer-director whose films offered a positive image and an alternative for African Americans in the 1920s and 1930s. The program is built around the on-camera reminiscences of two performers who appeared in Micheaux films: Bee Freeman, and Lorenzo Tucker. Also included are dramatic reenactments of Micheaux directing and touring the country to sell his films. Dramatic sequences: Danny Glover (as Micheaux). c1981. 28 min. Video/C 8264

Paradise in Harlem (1939)

Performer: Frank Wilson, Mamie Smith, Edna Mae Harris, Lucky Millinder and his orchestra, Juanita Hall Singers. A Harlem cabaret performer, Lem, witnesses a gangland murder. The gang persuades him to leave town but unfortunately, Lem returns. An all black cast gangster musical which presents fascinating glimpses into the life of African American entertainers before WWII. 82 min. Video 999:1216

Princess Tam Tam (1935)

Directed by Edmond T. Gréville. Cast: Josephine Baker, Albert Prejean, Robert Arnoux, Germaine Aussy, Georges Peclet, Viviane Romance, Jean Gallard. An exotic Pygmalion-like musical comedy about a French author who goes to North Africa to write a novel but becomes distracted--then entranced--by a native girl whom he transforms into a "princess." 80 min. DVD 5569; vhs 999:3718

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Race Movies: The Popular Art of the Black Renaissance

Explores the involvement of black filmmakers in filmmaking, from its earliest days through the 1920s with particular emphasis on the work of James Weldon Johnson, Oscar Micheaux, and Richard D. Maurice. Focus is on the movies that were made and the production companies that produced them. 1985. 20 min. Video/C 8293

Rare Black Short Subjects: The Negro in Industry, Sports & Entertainment

Newsreels from All American News (9 min): Urban League delves into labor situation. Students make lowly mud a thing of beauty. Valet to F.D.R. tells of historic journeys. Meet a bear in Memphis zoo. Unloading supplies at Nettuno Beach, Italy. Tuskegee offers fine physical fitness course. Negro comedy act. -- Negro in industry (11 min.) -- Kilroy is here (9 min.) -- Negro in sports (10 min.) -- Negro in entertainment (11 min.). Programs and newsreel footage produced in the 1940's highlighting the accomplishments of African Americans, particularly in industry, sports and entertainment. Includes advertisements by Chesterfield cigarettes to promote Black pride. Video 999:1215

Rhapsodies in Black & Blue Hollywood rhythm: Paramount Musical Shorts; 4.

Eight odd-ball mini-musicals produced in the early years of sound film production. Cary Grant makes his film debut as a sailor cruising the Far East. Louis Armstrong dons outlandish leopard-skin attire to stand knee-deep in soap bubbles. A manic Eddie Cantor undergoes a balmy medical exam while in another film a medical check-up by Dr. Rudy Vallee and nurse Mae Questel finds musical deficiencies to be the root of all ills. Also on tap, Ethel Merman shows the sweeter and more vulnerable side of her brassy personality. Contents: A Rhapsody in Black and Blue (1932) / Louis Armstrong -- Singapore Sue (1931) / Anna Chang, Cary Grant -- Insurance (1930) / Eddie Cantor -- All for the Band (1930) / Eddie Younger and his Mountaineers -- Moonlight and Romance (1930) / Rosita Moreno and Nino Martini -- Be like me (1931) / Ethel Merman -- Old Man Blues (1931) / Ethel Merman -- Musical Doctor (1932) / Rudy Vallee, Mae Questel. 999:1693

Scar of Shame (1927)

Directed by Frank Peregini. The Colored Players Film Co. produced films during the 1920's, the golden years of silent films. "The prime achievement of the Colored Players was this film, shot with a sure feeling for editing and composition the film compares with the best Hollywood product of its time. The film's story examines caste and class within the black community telling of a love affair between a music student of good social standing and the daughter of a working-class drunkard. "Made by Hollywood technicians, The Scar of Shame is nevertheless the product of black consciousness, examining as it does caste and class within the black community. The 'hero' is a light-skinned, refined music student of good social standing who, very much against his better judment, falls in love and marries the dark sensual daughter of a working-class drunkard. Expressing profound and probably unconscious reservations about the possibility of black success while limiting that success to that black who is like the white in values and appearance..." -- excerpt from AFI program notes by Stephen Zito. Approx. 90 min. DVD 643; Video/C 591; VHS 999:1023

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Butters, Gerald R. Black manhood on the silent screen Lawrence : University Press of Kansas, c2002. (MAIN: PN1995.9.N4 B88 2002)

Cripps, Thomas. "Race Movies as Voices of the Black Bourgeoisie: The Scar of Shame." In: Representing Blackness: Issues in Film and Video / edited with an introduction by Valerie Smith. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, c1997. Rutgers depth of field series (Main Stack PN1995.9.N4.R47 1997; Moffitt PN1995.9.N4.R47 1997)

Cripps, Thomas. "Thomas Cripps Responds to Jane Gaines." Cinema Journal, Vol. 27, No. 2. (Winter, 1988), pp. 56-59.

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Gaines, Jane. "The Scar of Shame": Skin Color and Caste in Black Silent Melodrama." Cinema Journal, Vol. 26, No. 4. (Summer, 1987), pp. 3-21.

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Kalinak, Kathryn. "Kathryn Kalinak Responds to Jane Gaines's "Scar of Shame": Skin Color and Caste in Black Silent Melodrama" ("Cinema Journal," Summer 1987) Cinema Journal, Vol. 27, No. 2. (Winter, 1988), pp. 54-56.

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Sepia Cinderella (1947)

Directed by Arthur H. Leonard Cast: Sheila Guyse, Billy Daniel, Tondaleyo, Freddie Bartholomew, Dick Watson and Brown Doc's, John Kirty's Band, Leonardo and Zola, Apocs & Estrellita, Welter Fuller's Orchestra. In this all black cast musical romance a poor dancer must compete with a rich lady for the man she loves. The man, a famous singer, leaves his beloved to pursue his career and the high life. Eventually he discovers there is more to life than a place in society and returns to his singer/girlfriend. 70 min. 999:1218

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Siren of the Tropics (La Sirène des tropiques) (France, 1927)

Directed by Henri Etievant, Mario Nalpas. Cast: Josephine Baker, Pierre Batcheff, Georges Melchior, Regina Dalthy. Papitou is a free-spirited, animal-loving native girl who falls in love with Andre, a sophisticated young man who has been sent to the Parisian Antilles as a prospector. She is unaware that he is betrothed to another, or that his work assignment is actually a perilous ruse concocted by his scheming boss. As the truth becomes known, Papitou finds herself pursuing Andre back to Paris. 87 min. DVD 4050

Small Steps, Big Strides

This tribute celebrates African American silver screen legends. Included are interviews and rare footage documenting the kinds of roles black actors were first given, the challenges these performers met, and the real behind-the-scenes story of their acceptance and triumphs in Hollywood. Includes special mention of Darryl Zanuck who was the first to open major roles to African American actors. Performers: Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Nicholas Brothers, Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, James Earl Jones, Gregory Hines, Hatti McDaniel, Duke Ellington, Ink Spots, Sidney Poitier, Stepin' Fetchit, Harry Belafonte, Ethel Waters, Darryl Zanuck. c1997. 60 min. Video/C 8208

Song of Freedom (1936)

Directed by J. Elder Wills. Cast: Paul Robeson, Elizabeth Welch, Robert Adams, Orlando Martins, James Solomon, Toto Ware. Robeson portrays a successful concert singer in England who discovers he is the descendant of a West African queen whose tribe is now in need of a leader. He returns to the home of his ancestors; the island of Casanga off the coast of Africa. However, following his arrival conflict erupts over his claim to royalty. 80 min. DVD 176; vhs 999:1226

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Thompson, Clifford. Cineaste "Race in contemporary American cinema: Part 9--We hardly knew ye: Four early films of Paul Robeson." 1998. Vol. 23, Iss. 4; pg. 24, 2 pgs

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Souls of Sin Tyler-Texas Black Film Collection: The Missing Link in Black Cinema (1949)

Directed by Powell Lindsay. Cast: William Greaves, Jimmy Wright, Emory Richardson, Billie Allen, Savannah Churchill, Powell Lindsay. A musician from Alabama moves into a small Harlem flat with a gambler and an unemployed writer. The musician works his way into a successful job, but the gambler gets killed. The writer is then hired to write about the the gambler's life and life in Harlem. A film produced by blacks for a black audience. 65 min. 999:2593

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Spirit of Youth(1938)

Directed by Harry L. Fraser. Cast: Joe Louis, Edna Mae Harris, Mantan Moreland, Mae Turner, Clarence Muse, The Big Apple Dancers. World heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis stars in Spirit of Youth. Often mistakenly referred to as a biography of Louis, the film is actually the fictional story of aspiring boxer Joe Thomas, who hopes to make millions in the ring. He does, but as a consequence falls into the hands of a predatory nightclub singer. Only after the femme fatale stomps on Joe's heart does he return to his virginal childhood sweetheart. Initially aimed at the "all-colored" theaters of the era, The Spirit of Youth proved popular enough to receive bookings in white movie houses. 66 min. DVD X29

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Step Children (1937)

Director Oscar Micheaux. Film deals with a light-skinned African-American orphan who refuses to acknowledge her race. 65 min. 65 min. 999:1148

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Sunday Sinners (1940)

Directed by Arthur Dreifuss. Cast: Mamie Smith, Edna Mae Harris, Alex Lovejoy, Christole Williams, Norman Astwood, Earl Sydnor, Thelma Norton. In this all black cast musical feature, gangsters frame a minister's son for robbery and murder but the congregation of his father's church help prove his innocence. 65 min. Video 999:1219

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Weisenfeld, Judith. "'Sunday Sinners and Sunday Saints: Urban Commercial Culture and the Reconstruction of Black Religious Leadership" In: Hollywood be thy name : African American religion in American film, 1929-1949 Berkeley : University of California Press, c2007. (MAIN: PN1995.9.N4 W45 2007)

Swing (1938)

Directed by Oscar Micheaux. Cast: Cora Green ; Hazel Diaz ; Carmen Newsome ; Dorothy Van Engle ; Alice Lovejoy ; Larry Seymour ; Mandy Randolph. A musical with plot built around the music which is performed from Alabama to New York (Harlem). 78 min. 999:369

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Ten Minutes to Live (1932)

Directed by Oscar Micheaux. Cast: Laurence Chenault, A.B. Comathiere, Laura Bowman, Willor Lee Guilford, Tressie Mitchell. A mystery-musical built around a threatening note which gives the heroine only "ten minutes to live." The heroine sings and dances in a Harlem nightclub. Much nightclub business as the mystery unravels with song and dance numbers and a stand up comedy routine. A fine example of the film-making efforts from the pioneer African-American directors and production companies of the 1930's, who made films that were typically excluded from mainstream movie houses due to the prevailing attitudes of the time. 65 min. DVD X47; vhs 999:1217

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That's Black Entertainment, Part I: Race Movies: The Early History of Black Cinema with Three Original Short Films

The first film, Race movies, explores the involvement of black filmmakers in filmmaking from its earliest days through the 1920s, with particular emphasis on the work of James Weldon Johnson, Oscar Micheaux, and Richard D. Maurice. Focus is on the movies that were made and production companies that produced them, including the Lincoln Motion Picture Company of Los Angeles, Micheaux Pictures Corporation and the Norman Film Manufacturing Company. Concludes with three shorts that were shown in movie houses prior to feature presentations. Contents: Race movies: the popular art of the Black Renaissance (1985, 20 min.) -- "St Louis blues" starring Bessie Smith (1929, ca. 15 min.) -- "Hi-de-ho" starring Cab Calloway (1935, ca. 10 min.) -- "Boogie-woogie Dream" starring Lena Horne (1941, ca. 13 min.). 59 min. Video/C 4837

That's Black Entertainment, Part II: The Soundies Era: Black music videos from the 1940's

A vintage collection of sixteen three-minute music videos called "Soundies" which were originally screened on a visual jukebox called Panorams during the 1940s. Includes many of the biggest names in Afro-American music and film. Contents: Hey Lawdy Mama / June Richmond, Roy Milton -- Take me back, baby / Count Basie -- Some of These Days / Maxine Sullivan -- Beat Me, Daddy / Maurice Rocco -- Is You Is, Or Is You Ain't My Baby? / King Cole Trio, Ida James -- Baby Won't You Please Come Home / Herb Jeffries -- Keep Waitin' / George Washington Brown, Deep River Boys -- Toot that trumpet / Deep River Boys -- Keep Smiling / The Four Ginger Snaps -- Babbling Bess / the Chanticleers -- Dispossessed Blues / Lynn Albritton, The Four Knobs -- Lovin' up a Solid breeze / Lynn Albritton, The Six Knobs, Harlem Cuties -- Block Party Revels / Harlem Cuties -- Minnie the Moocher / Cab Calloway -- I Call It Love / King Cole trio -- Lionel Hampton: King of the Vibes / L. Hampton. 47 min. Video/C 4838

Underworld (1937)

Directed by Oscar Micheaux. Cast: Bee Freeman, Sol Johnson, Ethel Moses, Oscar Polk, Lorenzo Tucker. A young Black man who recently graduated from a Southern college is persuaded to come to Chicago with a gambler. There he travels in Black underworld circles, falls for a vamp and is framed for murder before finding a better life. "Adapted from a story Chicago after midnigh," by Edna Mae Baker. 80 min. 999:2461

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Up In the Air (1940)

Directed by Howard Bretherton. Host: Richard Roundtree. Cast: Frankie Darro, Marjorie Reynolds, Mantan Moreland. A radio singer is murdered while singing on the air in a radio studio. Radio page boy, Frankie Ryan, and his janitor pal, Jeff, solve the mystery for the none-too-sharp police. 61 min. DVD 4995

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Veiled Aristocrats (1932)

Directed by Oscar Micheaux. Cast: Laura Bowman, Lorenzo Tucker, Barrington Guy, Lawrence Chenault, Walter Fleming, Lucile Lewis, Carl Mahon, Bernadine Mason. John Warwick, a light-skinned black who has passed for white and has become a lawyer, returns to his home town after a 20 year absence to be reunited with his mother Molly and sister Rena. Frank, a dark skinned man has proposed marriage to Rena, but Molly sends her daughter away with her son to also pass for white but Rena eventually renounces trying to pass for white and is reunited with Frank. While the film deals with the serious issue of class and color-awareness among African-Americans, it also includes some thoroughly smashing musical interludes and tap dancing routines. 45 min. 999:2463

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Way Down South (1939)

Directed by Bernard Vorhaus. Cast: Bobby Breen, Clarence Muse, Alan Mowbray, Ralph Morgan, Steffi Duna, Sally Blane, Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Edwin Maxwell, Charles Middleton, Robert Greig, Hall Johnson choir. Pre-Civil War Louisiana is the setting as young Tim Reid (Breen) tries to get his family's plantation back from a group of treacherous trustees. Breen teems up with a Cajun innkeeper to foil the villain and sing some songs. Co-written by Clarence Muse with African-American poet Langston Hughes, who were also responsible for writing the songs, this is one of the first films produced and written by African Americans. 61 min. DVD 5090

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Where Is My Man Tonight? Tyler-Texas Black Film Collection: The Missing Link in Black Cinema (1943)

Directed by Spencer Williams. Cast: Hugh Martin, Georgia Kelly, Emmet Jackson. Variant title: "Marching On!" A young man, Rodney, is drafted into the Army and goes to serve to uphold a family tradition and to please his girlfriend. When his girlfriend takes an interest in his sergeant, Rodney leaves his camp in Arizona but later returns as a hero. A film produced by blacks for a black audience. Preceded by introduction to the Tyler-Texas black film collection by Ossie Davis (4 min.) 83 min. 999:2591

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Within our Gates (Library of Congress/Smithsonian Video Collection) (1919)

Directed by Oscar Micheaux. Cast: Evelyn Preer, Flo Clements, James D. Ruffin, Jack Chenault, William Smith, Charles D. Lucas. The earliest surviving feature directed by an African-American, Within our Gates tells the story of a young African-American woman who seeks a Northern white patron for a Southern school for Black children. The scenes of lynching and attempted white-on-Black rape may be a response to D.W. Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation". 79 min. DVD 643; VHS 999:1019

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Zou Zou (France, 1934)

Directed by Marc Allégret. Cast: Josephine Baker, Jean Gabin, Yvette Lebon. When the star of a musical plays walks out on her sugardaddy producer for true love, a talented Cinderella (Baker) takes her place, saves the show, and is hailed as a new sensation on opening night. Includes five big musical numbers. 92 min. DVD 4106; vhs 999:415

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Blaxploitation Films Bibliography of articles and books about blaxploitation films

Afros, Macks, 'n Zodiacs. Vol. 1: A Compilation of Some of the Best Black Action Films of the 1970's

Features clips and trailer attractions from black action motion pictures that were filmed and released in the 1970s. "You'll see Foxy Brown and Cleopatra Jones-- two chicks with guts. And what about that bad-ass Fred "The Hammer" Williams, shotful of lead and he still ain't dead! You'll visit The Mack Superfly and Blacula--these brothers have drive and don't take no jive! So turn on your black light, sit back and dig this compilation of Black action!" Films reviewed: Blacula, Monkey Hustle, The Mack, Dr. Black & Mr. Hyde, Dolemite, Cleopatra Jones, Foxy Brown, Ebony ivory and jade, Black belt Jones, Shaft, Super dude, Cotton comes to Harlem, Trouble man, Super fly, Lets do it again, Which way is up?, Black Caeser, Hell up in Harlem, Cool breeze, The human tornado, Disco godfather, Sheba Baby, Black mama white mama, Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold, Scream Blacula scream, soul to soul, That man Bolt, The soul of Nigger Charlie, Across 110th street, The big bird cage, Book of numbers, Trick baby, Truck Turner and more. 91 min. Video/C 6028

Afro Promo: Black Cinema Trailers 1946-76

Alternately trashy and poignant and sometimes just plain hard to believe these days, here's an irresistible program of black cinema trailers that trace its evolution through its most crucial period, 1946-1976. Explores an extensive range of stylistic approaches -- blaxploitation, comedy, music bio, plantation drama, and more -- all smartly organized by genre, or viewable as one outrageous joyride through mid-century picture history. 91 min. DVD 5084

BaadAssss Cinema: A Bold Look at 70's Blaxploitation Films

In this groundbreaking documentary from the Independent Film channel, filmmaker Isaac Julien takes us back to the early 70s and the explosion of blaxploitation films, today one of American cinema's most beloved cult genres. Featuring a wealth of footage from classic films and interviews with key players the film thoroughly explores blaxploitation films from their breakout casting and unforgettable soundtracks to the outrageous fashions and over-the-top story lines. 2002. 56 min. DVD 1561

Badass Supermama

A playful, but questioning personal exploration of beauty as perceived by a black women, looking at race, gender, sexuality, body image and representation. These inter-connected issues are examined through 1970's "blaxploitation" movie goddess Pam Grier and her characters, with clips from her films Foxy Brown and Sheba, baby. A video by Etang Inyang. 1996. 16 min. Video/C 7266

Blacula (1972)

Directed by William Crain. Cast: William Marshall, Denise Nicholas, Vonetta Mcgee, Gordon Pinsent, Thalmus Rasulala, Emily Yancy, Lance Taylor, Sr., Charles Macaulay. In 1815 the African prince Mamuwalde is cursed by Dracula and sealed in a coffin doomed to be tortured by an unquenchable lust for blood. Two decoratorspurchase Blacula's coffin and unwittingly release him and become his first victims. 93 min. DVD 2346

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Benshoff, Harry M."Blaxploitation Horror Films: Generic Reappropriation or Reinscription?" Cinema Journal - 39, Number 2, Winter 2000

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"Blacula." The New Yorker v. 48 (September 9 1972) p. 29-30

Gateward, Frances. "Daywalkin? Night Stalkin? Bloodsuckas: Black Vampires in Contemporary Film." Genders, issue 40, 2004

Hudson, Dale. "Vampires of color and the performance of multicultural whiteness." In: The persistence of whiteness : race and contemporary Hollywood cinema / edited by Daniel Bernardi. London : New York : Routledge, 2008. (Main Stack PN1995.9.M56.P47 2008)

Lehman, Paul R.; Browning, John Edgar. "The Dracula and the Blacula (1972) cultural revolution." In: Draculas, vampires, and other undead forms : essays on gender, race, and culture / edited by John Edgar Browning, Caroline Joan (Kay) Picart. Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 2009. (Main (Gardner) Stacks PN1995.9.D64 D735 2009)

Medovoi, Leerom. "Theorizing Historicity, or the Many Meanings of Blacula." Screen, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 1-21, Spring 1998.

Black Mama, White Mama

Directed by Eddie Romero. Cast: Pam Grier, Margaret Markov, Sid Haig, Lynn Borden, Zaldy Zschornack, Laurie Burton. Two extradited female prisoners in a Philippine jungle prison, prostitute Lee Daniels and guerrilla fighter Karen Brent, will do anything to escape. Their chance comes during a transport on which they are shackled together. After killing a guard they are on the run for their lives, igniting a bloody shoot out between gangsters and a group of revolutionaries. 86 min. DVD 486

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Holmlund, Chris. "Wham! Bam! Pam! Pam Grier as Hot Action Babe and Cool Action Mama." Quarterly Review of Film and Video Volume 22, Number 2/April-June 2005

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Mayne, Judith.(2000) "Caged and Framed: The Women-in-Prison Film." In: Framed: Lesbians, Feminists, and Media Culture. ( pp. 115 - 145 ). Minneapolis & London : University of Minnesota Press.(Main Stack PN1995.9.W6.M359 2000)

Schubart, Rikke. "Godmother" of Them All: The Rise and Fall of Pam Grier" In: Super bitches and action babes : the female hero in popular cinema, 1970-2006 Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., c2007. (MAIN: PN1995.9.W6 S363 2007)

Cleopatra Jones (1973)

Directed by Jack Starrett. Cast: Tamara Dobson, Bernie Casey, Shelley Winters. Classic blaxploitation potboilder. A beautiful, tough drug enforcement agent intercedes when a menacing drug ring attempts to stage a retaliatory raid on a Los Angeles drug rehabilitation center. 89 min. DVD 8336; vhs Video 999:1820

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Brody, Jennifer DeVere. "The Return of Cleopatra Jones." Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 1999 25(1): 91-121.

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Coffy (1973)

Directed by Jack Hill. Cast: Pam Grier, Booker Bradshaw, Robert Doqui, William Elliott, Allan Arbus, Sid Haig. Coffy (Pam Grier) is a nurse turned avenger, becoming a one-woman, anti-drug vigilante who roots out the dealers who "turned on" her 11-year-old sister. This violent, sexy drama is a variation on urban vigilante flicks, where family members fight crime more effectively than the cops, and in much more provocative ways. 91 min. DVD 5429; vhs Video/C 999:1869

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Holmlund, Chris. "Wham! Bam! Pam! Pam Grier as Hot Action Babe and Cool Action Mama." Quarterly Review of Film and Video Volume 22, Number 2/April-June 2005

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Reel knockouts : violent women in the movies / edited by Martha McCaughey and Neal King. 1st ed. Austin : University of Texas Press, 2001. (Main Stack PN1995.9.W6.R454 2001)

Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970)

Directed by Ossie Davis. Cast: Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques, Calvin Lockhart, Judy Pace, Redd Foxx, John Anderson, Emily Yancy, Lou Jacobi, Eugene Roche, J.D. Cannon. Johnson and Grave Digger Jones are two Harlem plainsclothes cops investigating a "Back to Africa" campaign run by a shady preacher. 97 min. DVD 487; VHS 999:1819

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Disco Godfather (1979)

Directed by J. Robert Wagoner. Cast: Rudy Ray Moore, Carol Speed, Jimmy Lynch. Rudy Ray Moore is Tucker Williams, the rapping owner of the Blueberry Hill disco. An ex-cop with a penchant for head-whacking martial arts, Tucker is called into action when his nephew gets hooked on angel dust. With the help of his "Gal Friday" Noel, Tucker declares war on Stinger Ray, the nation's leading angel dust producer. But as the war progresses, Tucker learns that Stinger and his goons are as deadly as the drugs they push. 93 min. DVD 4589

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Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde (1976)

Directed by William Crain. Cast: Bernie Casey, Rosalind Cash, Marie O'Henry, Ji-Tu Cumbuka, Milt Kogan, Stu Gillam. Dr. Henry Pride, a black man, is involved in research at a large hospital to find a cure for cirrhosis of the liver. In his lab alone at night Dr. Pride injects a brown rat with his latest serum and is astonished to see the color pigmentation drain and the rat turn white. Even its nature changes as it attacks and kills the other rats in the cage. Pride continues to perfect the serum and later, injects an old black woman near death from a liver ailment. She turns a ghastly white, her face becomes grotesque, and with superhuman strength, attacks a nurse then collapses and dies. Dr. Pride, certain he has now perfected the serum, injects it into himself. As he watches in the mirror, a hideous transformation takes place. 88 min. Video 999:1756

Benshoff, Harry M."Blaxploitation Horror Films: Generic Reappropriation or Reinscription?" Cinema Journal - 39, Number 2, Winter 2000

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Five on the Black Hand Side (1973)

Directed by Oscar Williams. Cast: Clarice Taylor, Leonard Jackson, Virginia Capers.. In the Brooks family, Papa may rule with an iron fist ... but Mama's about to slap him down. Tired of being told what to do and when to do it, she goes to war! Swapping her old housedress for army-green duds and combing her tidily coiffed head into a ceiling-scraping 'fro, she takes to the roof on strike. 96 min. DVD 3710

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Fox in a Box Bonus Disc

Features documentaries and interviews in honor of Pam Grier and blaxploitation films, looking at her influence on mass culture and particularly at her films Coffy, Foxy Brown, and Sheba, baby. Pam Grier: super foxy -- Blaxploitation to hip-hop -- Original theatrical trailers. Coffy ; Foxy Brown ; Sheba, baby. DVD 5431

Holmlund, Chris. "Wham! Bam! Pam! Pam Grier as Hot Action Babe and Cool Action Mama." Quarterly Review of Film and Video Volume 22, Number 2/April-June 2005

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Reel knockouts : violent women in the movies / edited by Martha McCaughey and Neal King. 1st ed. Austin : University of Texas Press, 2001. (Main Stack PN1995.9.W6.R454 2001)

Foxy Brown (1974)

Directed by Jack Hill. Cast: Pam Grier, Peter Brown, Terry Carter, Kathryn Loder, Harry Holcombe, Antonio Fargas. A sexy black woman, Foxy Brown, seeks revenge when her government agent boyfriend Michael is shot down by gangsters led by the kinky couple of Steve Elias and Miss Katherine [Internet Movie Database]. 94 min. DVD 485; VHS 999:1648

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Holmlund, Chris. "Wham! Bam! Pam! Pam Grier as Hot Action Babe and Cool Action Mama." Quarterly Review of Film and Video Volume 22, Number 2/April-June 2005

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Reel knockouts : violent women in the movies / edited by Martha McCaughey and Neal King. 1st ed. Austin : University of Texas Press, 2001. (Main Stack PN1995.9.W6.R454 2001)

The Mack (1973)

Directed by Michael Campus. Cast: Max Julien, Don Gordon, Richard Pryor, Carol Speed, Roger E. Mosley, William C. Watson, George Murdock, Dick Williams, Juanita Moore, Paul Harris, Hernandez, Kai, Annazette Chase, Sandra Brown, Junero Jennings, Lee Duncan, Stu Gilliam, David Mauro, Christopher Brooks, John Vick, Norma McClure, Fritz Ford, Robert Munk, Frank Ward, Ted Ward, Willie Ward, Andrew Ward, Roosevelt Taylor, Jay Payton, the Sisters Love, the Ballads, the Uptights. It takes a street fighter to clean up the streets and Mack, a sharp, smooth talking hustler newly out of prison and his sidekick, Slim, have got the brains, the muscle and the cool to take on the takers and to push out the pushers. Packed with raw power, the film takes an uncompromising look at big city street life and survival. 110 min. DVD 6295; vhs 999:1807

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Shaft (1971)

Director, Gordon Parks. Cast: Cast: Richard Roundtree, Moses Gunn, Gwenn Mitchell, Christopher St. John, Charles Cioffi. Richard Roundtree plays John Shaft, the steely private eye who takes on the mob. 98 min. DVD 681; VHS 999:947

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Shaft (2000)

Director, John Singleton. Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Vanessa Williams, Richard Roundtree, Jeffrey Wright, Christian Bale, Busta Rhymes, Dan Hedaya. To stop a racist killer Shaft's got to track down the only eyewitness that can put him behind bars. As Shaft closes in, so does the danger. Armed with attitude and up against corrupt cops and venomous druglords he's out to make crime pay up. 99 min. DVD 428

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Shaft in Africa (1973)

Directed by John Guillermin. Cast: Richard Roundtree, Vonetta McGee, Frank Finlay, Neda Arneric, Debebe Eshetu. Detective John Shaft is persuaded by diplomats at the United Nations to track down a slave-trading operation. He travels undercover from Africa to France to catch a ring exploiting illegal immigrant labor. This is the third film in the Shaft series. 112 min. DVD 9664

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Sheba, Baby (1975)

Directed by William Girdler. Pam Grier, Austin Stoker, D'Urville Martin, Rudy Challenger, Dick Merrifield, Christopher Joy, Charles Kissinger, Charles Broaddus. Private eye, Sheba Shayne, is called on to help keep her father from losing his business to the mob. 91 min. DVD 5430

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Holmlund, Chris. "Wham! Bam! Pam! Pam Grier as Hot Action Babe and Cool Action Mama." Quarterly Review of Film and Video Volume 22, Number 2/April-June 2005

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Reel knockouts : violent women in the movies / edited by Martha McCaughey and Neal King. 1st ed. Austin : University of Texas Press, 2001. (Main Stack PN1995.9.W6.R454 2001)

Super Fly (1972)

Directed by Gordon Parks, Jr. Cast: Ron O'Neal, Carl Lee, Sheila Frazier, Julius Harris, Charles MacGregor, Nate Adams, Polly Niles. Tale of a Harlem drug dealer, Priest, who wants out of cocaine-dealing but a drug kingpin does not want Priest to stop. He sets up one last big drug deal before he retires, but is thwarted by double-crossers, murder and revenge. 93 min. DVD 4648; also vhs 999:1181

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Doherty, Thomas. "The Black Exploitation Picture: Superfly and Black Caesar." Ball State University Forum, vol. 24 no. 2. 1983. pp: 30-39.

Sweet Sweetback's Baad Asssss Song (1971)

Directed by Melvyn Van Peebles. Cast: Melvin van Peebles, Simon Chuckster, Hubert Scales, Niva Rochelle, Rhetta Hughes, Brer Soul, John Dullaghan. Presents the story of a professional sex-show stud who kills two white policeman who are beating up a black youth. Presents the story of a professional sex-show stud who kills two white policemen who are beating up a black youth. Directed by Melvin Van Peebles. 97 min. DVD 4081; vhs 999:523

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Undercover Brother (2002)

Director, Malcolm D. Lee. Cast: Eddie Griffin, Chris Kattan, Denise Richards, Dave Chappelle, Aunjanue Ellis, Chi McBride, Neil Patrick Harris, Jack Noseworthy, Bille Dee Williams. Undercover Brother uses gadgets and disguises to steal from the rich and give to the poor. His activities are discovered by the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D., a spy organization devoted to subverting The Man and his henchman, Mr. Feather, who use their power over the media to demean black people and destroy racial unity. The spy organization is run by The Chief. When a popular black political figure calls a press conference, presumably to announce his presidential candidacy, he instead announces that he's opening a chain of fried chicken restaurants. The agency rightly suspects foul play. 86 min. DVD 1804

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Leonard, David J.

"Undercover Brother." In: Screens fade to black : contemporary African American cinema Westport, Conn. : Praeger Publishers, 2006. (MAIN: PN1995.9.N4 L46 2006)

Recent Films by Black Film Makers

Above the Rim (1994)

Directed by Jeff Pollack. Cast: Duane Martin, Leon, Tupac Shakur, Marlon Wayans. Kyle Lee Watson is an inner-city high school basketball star torn between college and the lure of the streets. During an important championship play-off game, Kyle grandstands to catch the attention of a Georgetown college scout. Instead, he impresses Birdie, a powerful gang leader who is assembling a team to compete in the neighborhood Shoot-Out contest, a high-stakes street basketball tournament for the bragging rights of the city. 97 min. DVD 5715

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Afrocentricity (2000)

A compilation of seven short films, in-depth interviews and commentary by emerging African American film directors. "Meet here the next generation ... unadulterated by the Hollywood filmmaking process." Contents: True / filmmaker, Charles Stone III -- Breakdown / starring Vanessa Williams ; filmmaker, Jeff Byrd -- A gut feeling / ex. producer, Spike Lee ; filmmaker, Lee Davis -- Breakfast at Ben's / filmmaker, Chuck Wilson -- Kings / director, Niva Dorell -- Hip hop: the new world order / featuring Public Enemy ; filmmaker, Muhammida El Muhajir -- The Gift / filmmaker, Tanya Boyd. 160 min. DVD 267

All About the Benjamins (2002)

Directed by Kevin Bray. Cast: Ice Cube, Mike Epps, Eva Mendes, Tommy Flanagan. A bounty hunter chases a bail jumper to an abandoned warehouse that just happens to be the exchange place for a major diamond heist. Now the would-be adversaries need to cooperate to foil the diamond thieves. 98 min. DVD 5698

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Anne B. Real (1997)

Director, Lisa France. Cast: Carlos Leon, Eric Smith, Jackie Quinones, Sherri Saum, Geronimo Frias, Jr., Antonio Macia, Ja Nice Richardson, Ernie Hudson. When Cynthia's father hands her a copy of "The diary of Anne Frank" before dying, she never imagined how it would help to open her soul. Trapped within her own prison, in this coming of age story of a young female rapper, Cynthia finds the courage to stand up and fight for what is hers. 90 min. DVD 5627

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Antwone Fisher (2002)

Director, Denzel Washington. Cast: Derek Luke, Joy Bryant, Denzel Washington, Salli Richardson, Earl Billings, Kevin Connolly, Viola Davis, Rainoldo Gooding. Guided by a determined Navy psychiatrist, a troubled sailor embarks on a personal, emotionally inspiring journey to confront his past and connect with the family he never knew. Inspired by the true life experiences of Antwone Fisher. Special features: Commentary by director Denzel Washington and producer Todd Black; "Meeting Antwone Fisher" featurette; "The Making of Antwone Fisher" behind-the-scenes featurette; "Hollywood and the Navy" featurette. 120 min. DVD 5627

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Leonard, David J. "Antwone Fisher" In: Screens fade to black : contemporary African American cinema Westport, Conn. : Praeger Publishers, 2006. (MAIN: PN1995.9.N4 L46 2006)

Ashes and Embers (1982)

Written, directed and produced by Haile Gerima. Cast: John Anderson, Evelyn A. Blackwell, Norman Blalock, Kathy Flewellen, Uwezo Flewellen, Barry Wiggins. The story of the pained psyche of a black Vietnam veteran, Ned Charles who returns to Los Angeles after his hitch is up. Anderson can't adjust to civilian life and soon becomes involved in minor crimes. The film explores his troubled relations with his grandmother who tries to help him come to terms with life and also with his activist girlfriend and her friends. 120 min. 999:2733

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The Attendant

Directed by Isaac Julien. Cast: Thomas Baptiste, Cleo Sylvestre, John Wilson. This film presents the inner fantasies of an older black married attendant at a museum, who is obsessed by images of his homosexual desires. In his fantasies, the paintings on the walls of his museums, including Francois Biard's Scene on the Coast of Africa, are transformed into very erotic images of men being bound and whipped. 8 min. c1993. DVD 9610

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Orgeron, Devin. "Re-Membering History in Isaac Julien's "The Attendant"." Film Quarterly Jul 2000, Vol. 53, No. 4: 32-40.

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Baby Boy (2000)

Directed by John Singleton. Cast: Tyrese Gibson, Omar Gooding, A.J. Johnson, Taraji P. Henson, Snoop Dogg, Tamara LeSeon Bass, Ving Rhames, Candy Ann Brown, Angell Conwell. In South Central L.A., Jody has two babies by two different women and he still lives at home with his mom. He's trying to live large, but doesn't have or want a job. Growing up is tough on Jody, but a series of events involving his mom, her new boyfriend, his girlfriend, and her ex-con ex-boyfriend all force him to learn some hard lessons about living, loving and surviving. 130 min. DVD 911

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Bamboozled (2000)

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B.A.P.S (Black American Princesses) (1997)

Director, Robert Townsend. Cast: Halle Berry, Martin Landau, Ian Richardson, Natalie Desselle. Nesi and Mickey are two waitresses at a crossroads. Underpaid and unappreciated, they dream of owning a combination restaurant/hair salon. There's a problem: they're broke. So when the chance to audition as dance girls for a music video pops up, the girls head to L.A. They fail to get the part, but Nesi lands in the most improbable role of all, impersonating the granddaughter of an ailing billionaires long-lost love for $10,000 and full use of his Beverly Hills estate. 90 min. DVD 4208

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Barbershop (2002)

Director, Tim Story. Cast: Ice Cube, Anthony Anderson, Sean Patrick Thomas, Eve, Troy Garity, Michael Ealy, Leonard Earl Howze, Keith David, Lahmard Tate, Cedric the Entertainer. Calvin never wanted to take over the family business, a barbershop on the south side of Chicago. One morning he decides to sell the shop to Lester. Calvin spends the day cutting heads at the shop, and starts to understand the importance of the legacy left to him. Calvin learns to appreciate his barber friends, and discovers that the place where they work is more than just a place to get a haircut. Calvin gradually changes his mind about selling the shop, but it may be too late. 102 min. DVD 1521

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Leonard, David J.

"Barbershop" In: Screens fade to black : contemporary African American cinema Westport, Conn. : Praeger Publishers, 2006. (MAIN: PN1995.9.N4 L46 2006)

Beat Street (1984)

Director, Stan Lathan. Cast: Guy Davis, Rae Dawn Chong, New York Breakers, Melle Mel, The Furious Five. A ghetto-derived musical film which delves into the hip-hop culture of New York's streets to uncover the despairs, dreams, and triumphs of the emerging 80s generation. Before the backdrop of wild rhythms and whirling bodies lies a tableau of young aspiring artists, striving to turn their fever into fame through hip-hop, graffiti art and break dancing. The break battle scene is the highlight of the film when gangs fight eachother with dancing, not guns. 106 min. 999:3171

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Belly (1998)

Directed by Hype Williams. Cast: Nasir "Nas" Jones, Earl "DMX" Simmons, Taral Hicks, Tionne "T- Boz" Watkins, Clifford "Method Man" Smith. Two friends begin robbing clubs to make some quick cash. For one of them, the payoffs are not big enough and he begins selling drugs. Soon, friendships and relationships are put to the test by jealousy, greed, paranoia and betrayal. A realistic urban drama highlighted by an all-star hip-hop cast and a pulsing rap soundtrack. 95 min. Video 999:2812

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Black and White (1999)

Directed by James Toback. Cast: Robert Downey, Jr., Brooke Shields, Mike Tyson. When Rich Bower decides to reinvent himself as a hip-hop impresario after a life of crime, he is confronted by the internecine dealings of the white world. Documentary filmmaker Sam Donager and her husband enter the scene as they follow a group of privileged uptown teenagers who are drawn to the hip-hop lifestyle. 99 min. DVD 5701

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The Boondocks. The Complete First Season (TV series; 2005)

Contains episodes 1-5 from the 2005 first season. Featuring the voices of Regina King, John Witherspoon, Mike Epps, and Charles Q. Murphy. When Robert "Granddad" Freeman becomes legal guardian to his two grandsons, he moves from the tough south side of Chicago to the upscale neighborhood of Woodcrest (aka "The Boondocks") so he can enjoy his golden years in safety and comfort. But suburbia is about to be shaken up by Huey, a ten-year-old leftist revolutionary, and his eight-year-old misfit brother, Riley. Race relations, tabloid media, hip-hop culture, Santa Claus--The Boondocks hilariously takes on every taboo.

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Disc 1The garden party -- The trial of Robert Kelly -- Guess hoe's coming to dinner -- Granddad's fight -- A date with the health inspector. 107 min. DVD 5854

Disc 2: The story of Gangstalicious -- A Huey Freeman Christmas -- The real -- Return of the King -- The Itis. 107 min. DVD 5855

Disc 3: Let's nab Oprah -- Riley wuz here -- Wingmen -- The block is hot -- The Passion of Reverend Ruckus. 109 min. DVD 5856

Boyz 'n the Hood (1991)

Directed by John Singleton. For three young men growing up in South Central Los Angeles, the "hood" is a place of drive-by shootings, unemployment, drugs and pain. But their reactions to the world around them vary- one is an unambitious drug dealer, his brother is a college bound teenage father, and the brother's best friend is guided by a strong father who hopes for a better life for his son. 112 min. DVD 182; VHS 999:744

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Bush Mama (1976)

Directed by Haile Gerima. Cast: Barbara O., Johnny Weathers, Susan Williams. A powerful drama of a black woman living on welfare in the Los Angeles Watts ghetto, trying to care for her daughter after being stranded alone by her man's imprisonment for a crime he didn't commit. 98 min. 999:2627

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Clockers (1995)

Directed by Spike Lee. Cast: Harvey Keitel, John Turturro, Mekhi Phifer, Isaiah Washington, Delroy Lindo, David Keith, Pee Wee Love, Regina Taylor. Two brothers grow up together in the same Brooklyn housing projects, but they are as opposite as good and evil. Victor Dunham has a family, works two jobs and leads a respectable life. His 19-year-old brother, Strike, hangs out with his friends on a bench and sells crack cocaine. Strike agrees to kill a rival dealer as a favor to Rodney, the neighborhood drug kingpin, but when the man is murdered, it is Victor who confesses. Detective Rocco Kleine won't buy Victor's confession, and begins to attempt to break down the stories of both brothers in order to save Victor. 129 min. DVD 562; VHS 999:1636

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Cooley High (1975)

Directed by Michael Schultz. Cast: Glynn Turman, Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs, Garrett Morris, Cynthia Davis. Fun-loving and warm movie about high school life in the 1960's. Preach, a serious-minded writer and Cochise, a basketball hero headed for college, are best friends at Cooley High in Chicago. Together, they cut classes to go to the zoo, crash parties, put the hustle on some hustlers, and dream of getting out of their impoverished, rough neighborhood. 107 min. DVD 8955; vhs Video 999:1174

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Crooklyn (1994)

Directed by Spike Lee. Cast: Alfre Woodard, Delroy Lindo, David Patrick Kelly, Jose Zuniga, Isaiah Washington, Ivelka Reyes, Spike Lee, N. Jeremi Duru, Frances Foster, Norman Matlock, Patriece Nelson, Joie Susannah Lee, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Tse-Mach Washington, Carlton Williams, Christopher Knowings, Sarif Rashed, Zelda Harris. Director Spike Lee fashions a bold, flavorful picture of family life in a crowded but cozy Brooklyn neighborhood nicknamed "Crooklyn" by the Carmichaels, who experience one very special summer in their hometown under difficult but often wonderful circumstances. 114 min. DVD 582; Video 999:1818

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Da Hip Hop Witch (2000)

Directed by Dale Resteghini. Cast: Stacii Jae Johnson, Dale Resteghini, Eminem, Pras, Killah Priest, Spliff Star, Mobb Deep, Rock, Vanilla Ice, La the Darkman. Focuses on a supposed witch that is terrorizing popular hip hop singers. An ambitious journalist tries to learn the story behind the witch. At the same time five white kids venture out of the suburbs and into the inner city to expose the witch as a publicity stunt created to sell records. 94 min. Video 999:2813

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Da Projects (1997)

Directed by Doris Wade. Cast: Stanley McKnight, Monea Shepard, CeCe Waterman, Flora Gillard, Elmeria Scales, Charles Harris, Debra Ann Byrd. A realistic film capturing typical everyday life situations that minorities have to deal with living in urban areas known as "the projects." Coco, a high school student sexually harassed by her step-father, leaves home in search of comfort from her brother, while her boyfriend is constantly made fun of in school and in the neighborhood. Debra and Flora are two nosy ladies from the projects of Harlem, who miss nothing and always know the latest gossip. 80 min. 999:2264

Daughters of the Dust (1991)

Directed by Julie Dash. Tells the story of a large African-American family as they prepare to move North at the dawn of the 20th century. Explores the unique culture of the Gullah people. 113 min. DVD 168; Video 999:887

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Dead Presidents (1995)

Directors, Allen & Albert Hughes. Cast: Larenz Tate, Keith David, Chris Tucker, N'Bushe Wright, Freddy Rodriguez, Bokeem Woodbine. On the streets, they call cash dead presidents. And that's just what a Vietnam veteran is after when he returns home from the war, only to find himself drawn into a life of crime. With the aid of his fellow vets he plans the ultimate heist - a daring robbery of an armored car filled with unmarked U.S. currency. 119 min. DVD 1069

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Def by Temptation

Directed by James Bond III. Cast: Kadeem Hardison, Melba Moore, Bill Nunn, Samuel L. Jackson. Joel, a divinity student, finds himself in conflict with his calling. Needing to get away from his overprotective grandmother and southern hometown, he heads for New York City to visit his childhood friend "K". Once in New York, he meets the "Temptress," a seductive succubus who lures men to bed and kills them. "K" and Dougy, an undercover cop who has been tracking the woman for months, try to destroy the Temptress. But they both eventually fall prey to her curse leaving Joel alone to face destiny. 100 min. DVD 1150

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Deliver Us From Eva (1957)

Directed by Gary Hardwick. Cast: LL Cool J, Gabrielle Union, Duane Martin, Essence Atkins, Robinne Lee, Meagan Good, Mel Jackson, Dartanyan Edmonds, Dorian Gregory. Eva is a very uptight young woman who constantly meddles in the affairs of her sisters and their husbands. Her in-laws, who are tired of Eva interfering in their lives, decide to set her up with someone so she can leave them alone. They end up paying Ray, the local "playboy," $5,000 to date her. The plan goes by smoothly, but troubles comes when Ray actually falls in love with Eva. Special features: Behind-the-scenes featurette; director's commentary; LL Cool J's "Paradise" music video; K-Ci and JoJo's "This very moment" music video. 105 min. DVD 8322; vhs 999:1520

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Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)

Directed by Carl Franklin. Cast: Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Jennifer Beals, Tom Szemore, Mauri Chaykin. Leon Lee. Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins is a decorated war hero who returns home to work as a private eye. His job of finding a missing socialite puts him between the white power elite and the vibrant black commumnity of Central Avenue. As soon as Easy and his trigger-happy friend Mouse find Daphne Monet, trouble follows. 101 min. DVD 3806; vhs 999:1811

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Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)

Directed by Darren Grant. Cast: Kimberly Elise, Steve Harris, Shemar Moore, Tamara Taylor, Lisa Marcos, Tiffany Evans, Cicely Tyson, Tyler Perry. Helen McCarter would seem to have it all. She's married to Charles who is one of Atlanta's most successful attorneys. But despite having wealth and prestige, things are not as they seem in the McCarter home. On the evening of their anniversary, Charles drops a bombshell on Helen - he's divorcing her for another woman. Thrown out of the house with nowhere to go, Helen moves in with her grandmother Madea, a sassy woman with no shortage of opinions and a gun that she's not afraid to use. As Madea helps Helen get back on her feet emotionally, she meets Orlando, a nice and handsome man who is obviously attracted to her. But after her experiences with Charles, Helen isn't sure if she's ready to trust a man again. 117 min. DVD 4084

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The Directors. The Films of Spike Lee.

Through in-depth interviews, behind the scenes footage and clips from his films, Spike Lee talks about the ideas, influences, motivations, struggles and successes behind his work. "I have been blessed with the opportunity to express the views of black people who otherwise don't have access to power and the media. I have to take advantage of that while I am still bankable." 1997. 60 min. Video/C 7090

Do the Right Thing (1989)

Cast: Danny Aiello (Sal), Ossie Davis (Da Mayor), Ruby Dee (Mother Sister), Richard Edson (Vito), Giancarlo Esposito (Buggin Out), Spike Lee (Mookie), Bull Nunn (Radio Raheem), John Turturro (Pino), Rosie Perez (Tina), Joie Lee (Jade), Sam Jackson (Mister Se~nor Love Daddy). This powerful visual feast combines humor and drama with memorable characters while tracing the course of a single day in the black ghetto of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. It's the hottest day of the year, a scorching 24-hour period that will change the lives of its residents forever. Special DVD features, disc 2 (supplement): New video introductions by Spike Lee ; St. Clair Bourne's 60-minute documentary "The Making of Do the Right Thing" ; Spike Lee and line producer Jon Kilik revisit the Bed-Stuy locations ; Public Enemy's video for "Fight the Power" directed by Spike Lee ; the 1989 Cannes Film Festival press conference with Spike Lee, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, and Joie Lee ; Spike Lee's behind-the-scenes footage, from rehersal to wrap ; original storyboards for the riot sequence ; new video interview with editor Barry Brown ; theatrical trailer and TV spots. Videodisc release of 1989 motion picture. 120 min. DVD 579 (Criterion); DVD 27; vhs 999:386

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Don't be a Menace to South Central while Drinking your Juice in the Hood (1996)

Directed by Paris Barclay. Cast: Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans. From block parties and beepers to high tops and high-powered weapons, it's everything that's funny about growing up in the 'hood ... the Wayans Brothers' neighborhood, that is! 89 min. DVD 1058

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Dutchman (1967)

Director, Anthony Harvey. Cast: Al Freeman, Shirley Knight, Frank Lieberman, Robert Calvert, Howard Bennett. A film adaptation of the play of the same name by Le Roi Jones (Amiri Baraka). Deals with a white woman enticing, then humiliating and finally knifing a black man while they ride a subway train in New York City. 55 min. Video/C 2538

Drumline (2002)

Directed by Charles Stone III. Cast: Nick Cannon, Zoe Saldana, J. Anthony Brown, GQ, Leonard Roberts, Orlando Jones. Halftime is party time for the gifted street drummer who snares the top spot in his university's marching band. However, he initially flounders in his new world, before realizing that it takes more than talent to reach the top. 118 min. DVD 2572

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Drylongso (1998)

Directed by Cauleen Smith. Cast: Toby Smith, April Barnett, Will Power, Channel Schafer, Salim Akil. "Drylongso," an African-American expression meaning "getting by with very little," presents the story of a young woman in just that situation. Living in Oakland, California and frustrated with her own life Pica grabs a camera and decides to document the existence of young black men, whom she feels are a breed on the verge of becoming extinct. Through this project, she meets many colorful characters and also suffers the death of her boyfriend. Through it all, Pica learns the importance of her own existence and finds her own place in the world. Presents a powerful tribute to the strength of the African American culture. 81 min. vhs Video/C 999:3678

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Eve's Bayou (1997)

Directed by Kasi Lemmons. Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Lynn Whitfield, Debbi Morgan, Vondie Curtis Hall, Branford Marsalis, Lisa Nicole Carson, Jurnee Smollett, Diahann Carroll. Roz Batiste is a beautiful and dedicated mother of three, who is forced to admit that her family is falling apart due to her philandering husband Louis. Her younger daughter, Eve, witnesses one of her father's infidelities. Struggling to make sense of what she has seen, Eve turns to her older sister Cisely, who dismisses her in fear of the truth, and then to her Aunt Mozelle, a known psychic and rumored black widow. Unable to find the understanding she is looking for Eve decides to take matters into her own hands. For the Batiste family, the ties that bind may not be strong enough to keep them together, and what they learn will change their lives forever. Special DVD features: "Dr. Hugo," a short film, an illumination of "Eve's Bayou", written and directed by Kasi Lemmons ; produced by Caldecott Chubb and Cevin Cathell ; filmographies of the director and principal cast ; theatrical trailer. 108 min. DVD X1041; vhs 999:2086

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15 to Life (2002?)

Directed by Moon Jones. Cast: Moon Jones, Stefanie Tremblay, Daniel Zirilli, Jalene Mack, Alfred Holmes, Boyce Ellisl; special appearances by Black Menace, Big Slack, J Dogg. It's prison life at its grittiest in this urban tale of three teenage boys who follow in their father's footsteps through the violent system. When a young filmmaker begins a documentary on the boys, she discovers that a dirty cop is behind their wrongful incarceration. Now she must prove their innocence. 81 min. DVD 1390

Friday(1995)

Director, F. Gary Gray. Cast: Ice Cube, Chris Tucker, Nia Long, Tiny "Zeus" Lister, Jr., Regina King, Anna Maria Horsford, Bernie Mac, John Witherspoon. Rap's hottest star leads the nonstop laughs in this hip-hoppin' look at a day in the life of the 'hood. Craig is an alright guy with some crazy friends. Like Smokey who has 24 hours to pay back Deebo, South Central's nastiest thug, or else! Trouble is, neither Craig's mother nor his main squeeze has the bread. As time ticks away, the chance this pair will ever see Saturday is fading fast. DVD 8974; vhs 999:2809

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Get On the Bus (1996)

Directed by Spike Lee. Cast: Charles S. Dutton, Andre Braugher, Isaiah Washington, Ossie Davis, DeAundre Bonds, Thomas Jefferson Byrd, Richard Belzer, Albert Hall. Follows a group of different men traveling from Los Angeles to the Million Man March in Washington, D.C. They board the bus as strangers but emerge three days and thousands of miles later as brothers. 121 min. DVD 530; VHS 999:1808

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Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005)

Directed by Jim Sheridan. Cast: Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson, Terrence Howard, Joy Bryant, Bill Duke, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Omar Benson Miller, Viola Davis. A rap superhero is encased in muscular flesh like armor, his face is an impassive mask, he reaches out to destroy his enemies with his unique talent. Marcus is a gangster who breaks from his youthful life of crime to triumph as a rapper. Marcus's girlfriend helps him pull free the wires holding his jaw shut when he's recovered from being shot in the face. He even has a moment when a razor blade is thrown into his cell and is encouraged to kill himself. Instead, the self-reliant gangster uses it to carve his rhymes into the walls. 116 min. DVD 5676

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Girl 6

Directed by Spike Lee. Cast: Theresa Randle, Isaiah Washington, Spike Lee, Jenifer Lewis, Debi Mazar, John Turturro, Madonna, Quentin Tarantino. When an attractive, talented actress discovers that the only job she can get is working as a fantasy telephone operator, she decides to make the most of it. As Girl 6, she soon becomes the most popular girl in town. 108 min. DVD 5251; vhs 999:3013

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The Glass Shield

Written and directed by Charles Burnett. Cast: Richard Anderson, Michael Boatman, Bernie Casey, Elliott Gould, Don Harvey, Ice Cube, Michael Ironside, Natalija Nogulich, Lori Petty, M. Emmet Walsh, Gary Wood. In this action thriller, an ambitious rookie cop and his station's only female deputy uncover widespread corruption and conspiracy when they realize that an innocent man has been jailed for murder. 110 min. 999:2992

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Hozic, Aida A. "The House I Live In: An Interview with Charles Burnett." Callaloo. 17(2):471-91. 1994 Summer

Thompson, Cliff. "The Devil Beats His Wife: Small Moments and Big Statements in the Films of Charles Burnett." Cineaste. 23(2):24-27. 1997

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Thompson, Clifford. "Good Moments in a Tough World: The Films of Charles Burnett." Cineaste. Spring 2008. Vol. 33, Iss. 2; p. 32 (4 pages)

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White, Armond. "Sticking to the soul: Charles Burnett." Film Comment. Jan/Feb 1997. Vol. 33, Iss. 1; pg. 38, 4 pgs

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Greetings from Africa (1994)

Directed by Cheryl Dunye. In this short a lesbian, played by director Dunye, searches for someone to date. Then she meets L, a beautiful woman who leads her in and out of hot water. 8 min. 999:3345

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Hangin' with the Homeboys (1991)

Directed by Joseph B. Vasquez. Cast: Doug E. Doug, Mario Joyner, John Leguizamo, Nestor Serrano. A streetwise account of a wild night on the town with four Bronx homies--two African Americans, a Puerto Rican, and an Italian. 90 min. Video/C 999:1317

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Harlem Nights (1989)

Directed by Eddie Murphy. Cast: Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx, Danny Aiello, Michael Lerner, Della Reese, Stan Shaw, Jasmine Guy, and Arsenio Hall. Three generations of comedy legends star in this tale of nightclub owner Sugar Ray (Richard Pryor) and his son Quick (Eddie Murphy), who fight to keep a vicious mobster and a corrupt police force from putting them out of business. 115 min. DVD 1054

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He Got Game (1998)

Directed by Spike Lee. Cast: Denzel Washington, Ray Allen, Milla Jovovich, Rosario Dawson. With promises of a reduced sentence, Jake Shuttlesworth (Washington) is granted temporary release from state prison in order to persuade the nation's top college basketball recruit, his estranged son Jesus, to play ball for the Governor's alma mater! But just as the son faces intense pressures and irresistible temptations contemplating his big decision, the father is also forced to consider not only what's best for himself but what's best for his son. 136 min. Video 999:2135

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Higher Learning (1995)

Directed by John Singleton. Cast: Jennifer Connelly, Ice Cube, Omar Epps, Regina King, Michael Rapaport, Kristy Swanson, Tyra Banks, Jason Wiles, Laurence Fishburne. First-term freshmen from different countries, races and social backgrounds are forced to integrate when they all enroll in Columbus University. They all have their own problems, which are strained to the breaking point by prejudice, inexperience and misunderstandings. 127 min. DVD 3678

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Hollywood Shuffle (1987)

Directed by Robert Townsend. Cast: Robert Townsend, Craigus R. Johnson, Helen Martin, Starletta DuPois. Bobby Taylor waits for his big break as an actor and dreams of leading roles, Academy Awards, stretch limos and adoring fans. 81 min. DVD 7353; vhs 999:422

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House Party (1990)

Directed by Reginald Hudlin. Cast: Christopher Reid, Robin Harris, Christopher Martin, Martin Lawrence, Tisha Campbell, A.J. Johnson, Paul Anthony, Kid 'N' Play, Full Force. One night in East St. Louis--the "Blackest city in America"--two teenagers decide to take advantage of vacationing parents by throwing a bash, a house party. A sort of black version of "Risky Business." Starring Kids 'N Play, Robin Harris, Full Force, and Tisha Campbell. 100 min. DVD 7352; vhs 999:1318

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I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988)

Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans. Cast: Bernie Casey, Jim Brown, Isaac Hayes, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Janet Dubois, Antonio Fargas. In this ultra-slick, urban action comedy Mr. Slade comes out of retirement along with Jack Spade to try to clean up Mr. Big's neighborhood from crimes, drugs and the over use of gold chains as they take on the local gang boss in his hangout, the Big Brim Bar. 89 min. DVD 484

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Margolis, Harriet. "Stereotypical Strategies: Black Film Aesthetics, Spectator Positioning, and Self-Directed Stereotypes in "Hollywood Shuffle" and "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka"." Cinema Journal, Vol. 38, No. 3 (Spring, 1999), pp. 50-66

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Juice (1992)

Directed by Ernest R. Dickerson. Cast: Omar Epps, Jermaine Hopkins, Khalil Kain, Tupac Shakur. Four Harlem friends spend their days hanging out and looking for a way to get the power and respect they call juice, when one of them plans to take it through an armed robbery, and wants the crew to be with him. Features cutting edge-rap and rock music. 95 min. 999:2422

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King Midas (2003)

Directed by Brandon David. Cast: Justin Michael Morales, Louis Sapp III, Angelica Lawrence, Josh Mond. Get as close as you can to the real thing in this tale of Hip Hop gone bad. When producer Tommy Gold, trying to make it big in the rap industry, uses his illegal drug fortune to produce a record, he gets caught in the dangerous underground world of cocaine and music. 83 min. DVD 1739

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Jungle Fever (1991)

Directed by Spike Lee. Cast: Wesley Snipes, Annabella Sciorra, Spike Lee, Ossie Davis, Anthony Quinn. An Afro-American architect begins an affair with his working class Italian secretary. Their relationship causes them to be scrutinized by their friends, cast out from their families and shunned by their neighbors in this moving view of inner-city life. 131 min. DVD 580; Video 999:763

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Killer of Sheep (1977)

Directed, written, produced by Charles Burnett. Cast: Henry Gayle Sanders, Kaycee Moore, Charles Bracy, Angela Burnett, Eugene Cherry, Jack Drummond. This gripping portrait of Stan, a Black man employed in a Los Angeles slaughterhouse, is internationally regarded as a film classic. Stan's grueling work--gutting and cleaning the sheep carcasses--infects his entire life, including his relationships with his wife, children and friends. The film hauntingly evokes the physical detail and bittersweet emotions of working class life with compassion and honesty. Declared a National Treasure in 1990. Bonus features on DVD 8738: Charles Burnett's acclaimed short films, Several friends (1969), The horse (1973), and When it rains (1995) ; Killer of Sheep commentary track with Charles Burnett and Richard Pena, Program Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center. 79 min. DVD 8738; also DVD 6940; vhs 999:1729

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Arthur, Paul. "Killer of Sheep." Film Comment, Jan/Feb2008, Vol. 44 Issue 1, p38-38

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Brill, Lesley. ""Boundaries, burdens and stings" : living as prey in Burnett's Killer of sheep." In: Crowds, power, and transformation in cinema / Lesley Brill. Detroit : Wayne State University Press, c2006. (Main (Gardner) Stacks PN1995.9.C67 B75 2006)

Hedges, Inez. "Signifyin' and Intertextuality: Killer of Sheep and Black Independent Film." Socialism and Democracy. Jul 2007. Vol. 21, Iss. 2; p. 133 (11 pages)

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Hozic, Aida A. "The House I Live In: An Interview with Charles Burnett." Callaloo. 17(2):471-91. 1994 Summer

Kim, Sojin; Livengood, R. Mark. "Killer of Sheep." (movie reviews) Journal of American Folklore v111, n439 (Wntr, 1998):69 (5 pages).

Thompson, Cliff. "The Devil Beats His Wife: Small Moments and Big Statements in the Films of Charles Burnett." Cineaste. 23(2):24-27. 1997

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Thompson, Clifford. "Good Moments in a Tough World: The Films of Charles Burnett." Cineaste. Spring 2008. Vol. 33, Iss. 2; p. 32 (4 pages)

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White, Armond. "Sticking to the soul: Charles Burnett." Film Comment. Jan/Feb 1997. Vol. 33, Iss. 1; pg. 38, 4 pgs

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Krush Groove (1985)

Directed by Michael Schultz. Cast: Sheila E., RUN-DMC, The Fat Boys, Kurtis Blow, Blair Underwood, The New Edition. A talented group of street-savvy urban kids hook up with Krush Groove, a hot new rocord label. But with their success come the ego trips and greed that threaten to destroy everything they've worked for. A fresh, 23-title soundtrack vibrantly pushes the rap-to-riches story along. 95 min. Video 999:1806

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Learning Tree (1969)

Based on the novel by Gordon Parks. Traces on year in the life of young Newt, in which he learns about love, fear, racial injustice, and his own capacity for honor. 107 min. 999:387

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Livin' Tha Life (2003)

Directed by Joe Brown; story by Joe Brown, improvised by the cast. Cast: Jarell Jackson, Edward D. Smith, Rooney Perry, Shawn Harris, Archie Howard, Zai Wilburn. Just another day in the 'hood. Ride with two homies, Jamal and Peanut, as they cruise through the streets of Compton and come face-to-face with some of the stranges characters you'll ever meet. 84 min. DVD 1659

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Lost in the Game (2004)

Directed by MC Ren and Playboy T. Starring MC Ren, Playboy T, Nitetrain. An electrifying hip-hop thriller featuring MC Ren of N.W.A. Enter into the dark world of the hip-hop music business as up-and-coming executive Playboy T struggles to secure a record deal for his prized artist. He must deal with all the trials and tribulations of shady record companies, unsuspecting executives and street hustlers. 60 min. DVD 3477

Malcolm X (1992)

Directed by Spike Lee. Cast: Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, Al Freeman. Screen version of the life of Malcolm X, who through his religious conversion to Islam, found the strength to rise up from a criminal past to become an influential civil rights leader. 201 min. DVD 148; VHS 999:769

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Men of Respect (1991)

Directed by William Reilly. Cast: John Turturro, Katherine Borowitz, Dennis Farina, Rod Steiger, Peter Boyle. A fearless mobster wins the respect and admiration of a powerful godfather by assassinating the leaders of a rival family. But the prodding of his ambitious wife and the prophecy of a ghetto gypsy, convinces the mobster to murder the godfather and claim his crown. A brilliant study of the criminal mind inspired by Shakespeare's MacBeth. 107 min. Video 999:1687

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Menace II Society (1993)

Directed by Allen and Albert Hughes. Cast: Tyrin Turner, Larenz Tate, Jada Pinkett, with supporting roles by Charles S. Dutton and Bill Duke. 104 min. Video 999:1139

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Mo' Better Blues (1990)

Directed by Spike Lee. Cast: Denzel Washington (Bleek Gillian), Spike Lee (Giant), Wesley Snipes (Shadow Henderson), Giancarlo Esposito (Left Hand Lacey), Robin Harris (Butterbean Jones), Joie Lee (Indigo Jones), Bill Nunn (Bottom Hammer), Cynda Williams (Clarke Betancourt). Talented trumpeter Bleek Gilliam is obsessed by his music and indecisive about his girlfriends Indigo and Clarke. But when he is forced to come to the aid of his manager and childhood friend, Bleek finds his world more fragile than he ever imagined. 129 min. DVD 581; VHS 999:2089

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Mutiny (1999)

Directed by Kevin Hooks. Cast: Michael Jai White, Duane Martin, David Ramsey, Matthew Glave, David Barry Gray. In 1944, a Victory ship exploded at the Port Chicago navy base near San Francisco killing 320 and wounding hundreds more. The victims were mostly untrained African-American sailors, forced to do the dangerous (and segregated) job of loading live munitions. When 50 of the shaken survivors refused to continue the hazardous duty without proper training and equipment, the most explosive military trail in the nation's history began... 90 min. 999:2861

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My Brother's Wedding (1999)

Directed by Charles Burnett. Cast: Everett Silas, Jessie Holmes, Gaye Shannon-Burnett, Ronald E. Bell, Dennis Kemper, Sally Easter. Pierce Mundy works at his parents' South Central dry cleaners with no prospects for the future and his childhood buddies in prison or dead. With his best friend just getting out of jail and his brother busy planning a wedding to a snooty upper-middle-class black woman, Pierce navigates his conflicting obligations while trying to figure out what he really wants in life. Bonus features: Both versions of My brother's wedding (118 min. director's cut and the 83 min. 1983 version) ; Killer of sheep cast reunion video ; Killer of sheep trailer ; Burnett's new short on Hurricane Katrina, Quiet as kept, 2007, 5 min. 83, 118 min. DVD 8738

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Hozic, Aida A. "The House I Live In: An Interview with Charles Burnett." Callaloo. 17(2):471-91. 1994 Summer

Thompson, Cliff. "The Devil Beats His Wife: Small Moments and Big Statements in the Films of Charles Burnett." Cineaste. 23(2):24-27. 1997

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Thompson, Clifford. "Good Moments in a Tough World: The Films of Charles Burnett." Cineaste. Spring 2008. Vol. 33, Iss. 2; p. 32 (4 pages)

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White, Armond. "Sticking to the soul: Charles Burnett." Film Comment. Jan/Feb 1997. Vol. 33, Iss. 1; pg. 38, 4 pgs

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Native Son (1986)

Directed by Jerrold Freedman Cast: Oprah Winfrey, Matt Dillon. Motion picture based on Richard Wright's novel. 112 min. Video 999:388

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New Jack City (1991)

Directed by Mario Van Peebles. Cast: Wesley Snipes, Ice T, Mario van Peebles, Judd Nelson. Gangster film about a young, rich, smart drug baron who thinks he's untouchable, and the tough, street-smart cops determined to bring him down. 101 min. DVD X880; vhs 999:1165

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NightJohn (1996)

Directed by Charles Burnett. Featuring Beau Bridges, Carl Lumbly, Bill Cobbs, Lorraine Toussaint, Allison Jones. When a new slave named NightJohn is brought to the plantation, he opens a whole new world for Sarny because he has forbidden talents -- he can read and also he can teach. As she learns to read she learns the power of words and the unconquerable strength of the human spirit. 96 min. 999:2925

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Hozic, Aida A."The House I Live In: An Interview with Charles Burnett." Callaloo. 17(2):471-91. 1994 Summer

Kim, Sojin; Livengood, R. Mark. "Interview with Charles Burnett." Journal of American Folklore v111, n439 (Wntr, 1998):69 (5 pages).

Thompson, Cliff. "The Devil Beats His Wife: Small Moments and Big Statements in the Films of Charles Burnett."Cineaste. 23(2):24-27. 1997

Once Upon a Time...When We Were Colored (1995)

Directed by Tim Reid. Cast: Al Freeman Jr., Phylicia Rashad, Leon. Re-creates the world of a black community in the rural South in the years from 1946 to 1962, as hardline segregation gradually fell to the assault of the civil rights movement. It is a memory of the close bonds of family, friends and church that grew up to sustain such communities, in a society where an American version of apartheid was the law. [from Roger Ebert review, Chicago Sun Times, 1/26/1996. Based on Clifton L. Taulbert's autobiography of the same name (Main Stack F349.G54.T38 1989) 99 min. 999:1626

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Cripps, Thomas. "Once Upon a Time ... When We Were Colored." (movie reviews) American Historical Review v102, n1 (Feb, 1997):250 (2 pages).

Holden, Stephen. "Once Upon a Time ... When We Were Colored." (movie reviews) New York Times v145 (Fri, Jan 26, 1996):B13(N), C17(L), col 1, 13 col in.

One Eight Seven (187) (1997)

Directed by Kevin Reynolds. Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, John Heard, Kelly Rowan, Clifton Gonzalez Gonzalez. Dedicated high school science instructor Trevor Garfield is a man with a passion for learning. Garfield is skilled, smart, committed: the total package as a teacher. But he's also human. And what he confronts in a school turned increasingly into a battlefield may be more than he can bear. Maybe he'll quit teaching ... or caring ... or maybe he'll take justice into his own hands. 119 min. 999:3067

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Panther (1995)

Directed by Mario Van Peebles; script by Melvin Van Peebles. Cast: Kadeem Hardison, Bokeem Woodbine, Joe Don Baker, Courtney B. Vance, Marcus Chong, Tyrin Turner, James Russo, Mefertiti, M. Emmet Walsh. The story of the rise and fall of a 1960s black radical movement that captured the imagination of its time. Memoirs by its founders and others have suggested that the Black Panthers never had the power or numbers they claimed, but they served a historic purpose, creating the image of an armed, militant "self-defense" group that was an alternative to the nonviolent philosophy of Martin Luther King [from Roger Ebert's review, Chicago Sun Times, 5/03/1995. Video 999:1629

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Phat Girlz (2006)

Directed by Nnegest Likke. Cast: Mo'Nique, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Godfrey, Kendra C. Johnson, Joyful Drake, Jack Noseworthy, Eric Roberts. Jazmin is a sassy, tart, talented, and plus-size woman who lives in a world that insults and rejects her because she's fat - or is the emotional abuse she heaps on herself the real problem? She is a department store employee with fashion designer dreams who has created a designer line for full-figured ladies, but flounders until she wins a Palm Springs vacation. There she meets a handsome Nigerian doctor named Tunde. He cherishes Jazmin's full figure as a mark of beauty. But can Jazmin overcome her self-loathing and accept Tunde's love? 99 min. DVD 6124

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The Piano Lesson. (1995)

Director, Lloyd Richards. Cast: Charles S. Dutton, Alfre Woodard, Carl Gordon, Tommy Hollis, Lou Myers, Courtney B. Vance. In this story of an Afro-American family caught between their heritage and a dream for the future, the Charles family clashes over the fate of a magnificent, carved piano that carries their family's story from their days as slaves. Boy Willie wants to sell the piano to buy a farm--the same fields their family worked as slaves. But his sister, Berniece, refuses to part with it. For her, the piano is their very soul, a legacy of pride and struggle that symbolizes their survival as a family. To resolve the conflict they must first deal with the past. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by August Wilson. 104 min. Video 999:2051

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Play'd: A Hip Hop Story (2002)

Directed by Oz Scott. Cast: Rashaan Nall, Merlin Santana, Faizon Love, Clifton Powell, Sharissa, DeRay Davis, Dex Elliott Sanders, Toni Braxton. Jax is a rising hip hop phenomenon who has it all, but wants more. Leaving his New York life behind, he signs with an infamous L.A. gangsta producer - and ignites a violent bi-coastal turf war that explodes out of the studio and onto the streets. 87 min. DVD 1683

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Player's Club (1998)

Directed by Ice Cube. Cast: Ice Cube, Bernie Mac, Monica Calhoun, A.J. Johnson, Alex Thomas, Lisaraye, Jamie Foxx, John Amos. For gorgeous and smart Diana there is no choice but to work her way through college. It is difficult to resist the money that the club owner of the Players Club offers her to strip. She avoids the pitfalls of dancing by trusting no one except the respectable and funny DJ. But her naive cousin joins the club and gets into all sorts of trouble. Diana has to figure a way out for both of them before they go down with the building. DVD special feature: 2 music videos from the platinum soundtrack (We be clubbin and My loved one)103 min. DVD 4469; also vhs Video 999:2815

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Poetic Justice (1993)

Director, John Singleton. Cast: Janet Jackson, Tupac Shakur, Regina King, Joe Torry. A mismatched pair pushed together on a road trip from South Central Los Angeles to Oakland find themselves reluctantly attracted to each other, when they are confronted once again by the shocking violence they thought they'd left behind. 109 min. DVD 7394; vhs 999:2814

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Rosewood (1997)

Directed by John Singleton. Cast: Jon Voight, Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle, Bruce McGill, Loren Dean, Esther Rolle, Elise Neal, Robert Patrick, Michael Rooker. In this powerful fact based drama, a black town in Florida is burned to the ground in 1923 by a white mob, its people murdered because of a lie. But some escape and survive because of the courage and compassion of two extraordinary people, a heroic World War I veteran and a shopkeeper. Based on true events from the book Like judgement day: the ruin and redemption of a town called Rosewood by Michael D'Orso. 142 min. DVD 7384; vhs 999:1826

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School Daze (1996)

Directed by Spike Lee. Cast: Larry Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Tisha Campbell, Kyme, Joe Seneca, Art Evans, Ellen Holly, Ossie Davis. This music-filled, off-beat contemporary comedy takes an unforgettable look at black college life. Dap and Big Brother Almighty conflict over the Greek frat system while the Wanna-be's and Jigaboo's conflict over self-identity and self-esteem. 114 min. DVD 529; VHS 999:2194

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She Hate Me (1991)

Directed by Spike Lee. Cast: Anthony Mackie, Kerry Washington, Ellen Barkin, Monica Bellucci, Jim Brown, Brian Dennehy. Executive John Henry Jack Armstrong gets fired when he informs on his bosses' business dealings. Desperate to make a living, he accepts his lesbian ex-girlfriend's offer for cash to impregnate her and soon he has a line seeking his services. 138 min. DVD 3719

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She's Gotta Have It (1991)

Directed by Spike Lee. Cast: Tracy Camila Johns, Redmon Hicks, John Canada Terrell, Raye Dowell, Joie Lee. Nola and her three boy friends try to cope with the fact that she doesn't want to give up any of them. Video Disc special features: includes material censored from the original theatrical release; audio commentary by director Spike Lee, cinematographer, Ernest Dickerson and sound designer, Barry Brown; outtales; original theatrical trailer; She's Gotta Have It music video; still photographs with audio commentary by Spike Lee's brother and photographer, David Lee; memorabilia; NIKE advertisements featuring Spike Lee and Michael Jordan. Film soundtrack on digital tracks and analog track 1. A running commentary by Spike Lee, Ernest Dickerson, Barry Brown and Monty Ross is on analog track 2 and can be listened to separately while watching the film. 88 min. Video Disc 118; VHS 999:3218

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Soul Food (1997)

Directed by George Tillman, Jr. Cast: Vanessa L. Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, Michael Beach, Mekhi Phifer, Jeffrey D. Sams, Irma P. Hall, Gina Ravera, Brandon Hammond. Sunday dinner at Mother Joe's is a mouth-watering, 40-year tradition. As seen through the eyes of her grandson Ahmad, love and laughs are always on the menu, despite the usual rivalries simmering between his mom Maxine and her sisters Teri and Bird. But when serious bickering starts to tear the family apart, the good times suddenly stop. Now it's up to Ahmad to get everyone back together and teach them the true meaning of soul food. 114 min. DVD 719

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The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973)

Directed by Ivan Dixon. Cast: Lawrence Cook, Jack Aaron, Don Blakely, Paul Butler, Paula Kelly. Disgusted by tokenism in the C.I.A., the organization's first black officer uses his training in organizing an army made up of gang members to destroy the white power structure in America. Based on the novel by Sam Greenlee. 102 min. DVD 9210

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Stomp the Yard (2007)

Directed by Sylvain White. Choreographer, Dave Scott. Cast: Columbus Short, Meagan Good, Ne-Yo, Darrin Henson, Brian White, Laz Alonso, Valarie Pettiford, Harry Lennix. After the death of his younger brother D.J. a troubled 19-year-old street dancer from Los Angeles is able to bypass juvenile hall by enrolling in the historically black Truth University in Atlanta, Georgia. His efforts to get an education and woo the girl he likes are sidelined when he discovers 'stepping,' a traditional dance performed by African-American fraternities. He soon finds himself in the middle of a fierce rivalry between the top two campus fraternities. Both want and need D.J.'s fierce street-style dance moves to win the highly coveted national step show competition. Special features : Battles. rivals. brothers - the story of Stomp the yard; filmmaker commentary; extended dance sequences : Get Buck and Opening battle; deleted scene : The clean up; gag reel. 116 min. DVD 7633

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Straight Out of Brooklyn. (1991)

Noted as the directorial debut of Matty Rich (he was 19 when he made the film), this is the story of a young man desperate to get out of the Brooklyn projects where he, his family and his friends live. He feels trapped there, surrounded by drugs and danger, so he and his friends pull a robbery to obtain the funds to take them out of Brooklyn forever. 83 min. 999:1443

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Sucker Free City (2004)

Directed by Spike Lee. Cast: Ben Crowley, Ken Lueng, Anthony Mackie, Darris Love, Laura Allen, John Savage, Kathy Baker. Racial tension erupts and emotions collide when three young men from different ethnic backgrounds perpetrate low-level crimes that eventually infringe upon each other's neighborhoods. A riveting look at the gang culture of San Francisco. 113 min. DVD 5119

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Summer of Sam (2000)

Directed by Spike Lee. Cast: John Leguizamo, Mira Sorvino, Adrien Brody, Jennifer Esposito, Anthony La Paglia, Ben Gazzara. In the summer of 1977 in New York City, a man called the Son of Sam commits numerous murders. As friends in a small Italian neighborhood become obsessed with the idea that the Son of Sam is someone nearby, the madman's plague of terror becomes the catalyst that prompts relationships to fall apart and trust to disintegrate into dread. 142 min. DVD 402

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Talk To Me (1983)

Directed by Kasi Lemmons. Cast: Taraji P. Henson, Cedric the Entertainer, Martin Sheen. Based on the true story of outspoken ex-convict and iconic radio personality Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene. This powerful biopic details the life and career of the media figure whose voice instilled the black community with hope during the turbulent 1960s. After talking his way onto the Washington, D.C. airwaves in the era of free love Greene, emboldened by the inspirational soul music and rapidly-expanding social consciousness that defined the decade, openly courts controversy as his put-upon producer Dewey Hughes runs interference. Special features: Deleted scenes; "Who is Petey Greene?" featurette; recreating P-Town. 119 min. DVD 9600

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10,000 Black Men Named George (2002)

Director, Robert Townsend. Cast: Andre Braugher, Karen Eyo, Charles S. Dutton, Mario Van Peebles, Ardon Bess, Carla Brothers, Kedar Brown, Amanda Brugel, Joel Gordon. A dramatization of the true story of the formation of the first black-controlled union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Asa Philip Randolph, a black journalist establishes a voice for the forgotten workers of the Pullman Rail Company, where all black porters were simply named "George", after George Pullman, the first person to employ emancipated slaves. 95 in. DVD 1850

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Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005)

Directed by Darnell Martin. Cast: Halle Berry, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Michael Ealy, Nicki Micheaux, Lorraine Toussaint, Ruby Dee, Terrence Dashon Howard, Gabriel Casseus, Artel Kay`aru, Kevin Daniels, Henry Brown. A drama set in the 1920s, where free-spirited Janie Crawford's search for happiness leads her through several different marriages, challenging the mores of her small town. Based on the novel by Zora Neale Hurston. 113 min. DVD 4785

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3 Strikes (2000)

Directed by D. J. Pooh. Cast: Brian Hooks, David Alan Grier, Faizon Love, N'Bushe Wright. With two strikes against him, Rob Douglas has two choices; either clear his name or go back to jail to face a twenty five year sentence. 82 min. DVD 5700

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To Sleep with Anger (1990)

Directed by Charles Burnett. Cast: Danny Glover, Paul Butler, Mary Alice, Carl Lumbly, Vonetta McGee, Richard Brooks, Sheryl Lee Ralph. A visitor from the Deep South brings superstition into a divided black household in central Los Angeles. More than a domestic drama about the effect of storyteller/trickster Glover, its a story of cultural differences between parents and children, and how there should be no place for those who cause violence and strife. 102 min. DVD 3592; vhs 999:2020

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Waiting To Exhale (1995)

Directed by Forest Whitaker. The story of four African-American women who journey through a modern labyrinth of husbands and lovers, jobs and makeovers. Based on the novel by Terry McMillan (Main Stack PS3563.C3868.W35 1992) 124 min. DVD 7502; vhs 999:1810

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The Walking Dead.(1995)

Directed by Preston A. Whitmore. Cast: Allen Payne, Eddie Griffin, Joe Morton. Five young marines leap out of a helicopter and into the unknown. They all joined the marines for different reason, but they find themselves in the same place-- bound together in a desperate struggle for survival-- lost in a jungle minefield on a suicide mission. 89 min. 999:1313

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The Wash (2001)

Directed by DJ Pooh. Cast: Cast: Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, George Wallace, Angell Conwell, Bruce Bruce. Dee Loc and Sean are two roommates in desperate need of some cash. With their car repossessed and the rent due, they get jobs at a local car wash. It seems to be the perfect solution - getting paid, chasing the ladies and their "side deals" have never been so lucrative. The two are in enough trouble when their boss, with ties to the underworld, gets kidnapped. Now the roommates have to figure out how to get their boss back. Special features: Production commentary - D.J. Pooh, Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg; bloopers; alternate main title sequence; music video - "Bad intentions" Dr. Dre featuring Knoc-Turn'al; cast & crew interviews; theatrical trailer; interactive menus; scene access. 97 min. DVD 2570

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Watermelon Man (1970)

Directed by Melvin Van Peebles; featuring Godfrey Cambridge, Estelle Parsons, Howard Caine, Mantan Moreland. 1970 Comedy concerning a white suburban bigoted insurance man who wakes up one morning to find he has turned into a black man. Now he is a white bigot in black skin who has to contend with a shocked wife, his kids, angry neighbors, cold shoulders at the office and a back seat on the bus. 97 min. 999:1170

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The Watermelon Woman. (1996)

Written and directed by Cheryl Dunye. Cheryl, a young black woman working in a video store, is making a documentary about an obscure black actress from the 1930's. When she discovers that the actress (known as "the Watermelon Woman") had a white lesbian lover, Cheryl finds a white women lover for herself. 79 min. DVD 3614; vhs 999:1830

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Interview with Cheryl Dunye in Lavender Limelight

White Chicks (2004)

Director Keenan Ivory Wayans. Cast: Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Jaime King, Frankie Faison, Lochlyn Munro, John Heard, Busy Philipps, Terry Crews, Brittany Daniel. Marcus and Kevin are brothers who work for the FBI and take on a case to escort socialite sisters Brittany and Tiffany Wilton from JFK Airport to their hotel in the Hamptons. Once there, two higher-ranking agents will take over the girls' protection. The extra security is needed because Brittany and Tiffany have been targeted by a serial kidnapper. With the help of an FBI lab scientist, the very much African-American Kevin and Marcus will be transformed to pass for Brittany and Tiffany. The agents must lure the kidnapper to take the fake girls so the socialites will stay safe. 115 min. DVD 3099

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