Veiled Aristocrats: Based on a Novel by Charles W. Chesnutt

Micheaux's second sound feature, like his first sound feature "The Exile" (1931), was a remake of an earlier silent picture, in this case 1925's "The House Beyond the Cedars". Existing today solely in a foreshortened version (like many Micheaux productions, the victim o...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

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Bibliographische Detailangaben
1. Verfasser: Chesnutt, Charles W. (VerfasserIn)
Weitere Verfasser: Micheaux, Oscar (RegisseurIn), Chenault, Lawrence (SchauspielerIn), Fleming, Walter (SchauspielerIn), Tucker, Lorenzo (SchauspielerIn)
Format: Video Software Buchkapitel
Sprache:Undetermined
Veröffentlicht: London BFI [2016]
Schlagworte:
Zusammenfassung:Micheaux's second sound feature, like his first sound feature "The Exile" (1931), was a remake of an earlier silent picture, in this case 1925's "The House Beyond the Cedars". Existing today solely in a foreshortened version (like many Micheaux productions, the victim of local censorship boards), this "passing" drama concerns one John Walden (Lorenzo Tucker), a light-skinned northern lawyer who returns to his southern hometown to offer his similarly light-skinned sister Rena (Lucille Lewis) an opportunity to "better" herself by posing as the ward of his benefactor Judge Straight (Lawrence Chenault), thus in effect "joining" the white community. Rena soon attracts the interests of a white suitor (Barrington Guy) but is torn between the advantages of her new life and her love for childhood friend Frank Fowler (Carl Mahon), a dark-skinned local businessman. The choice between two, fundamentally "separate" worlds is clear in this heartfelt drama but, like "The Exile" before it, one wishes to see the earlier, now lost silent feature upon which it is based, if only to compare how the endlessly talky scenes and unimaginative camera set-ups were handled in the original silent drama. As such, as with all Micheaux sound features, the incongruous inclusion of varied musical acts - in this case, the maid, cook, and chauffeur improbably "celebrating" Rena's ultimate choice of the black suitor with a five minute scat singing and tap dancing sequence - actually does much to liven up the leaden proceedings a bit! [www.zekefilm.org]
Beschreibung:1 Blu-ray-Disc (44 Min.) schwarz-weiß

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