[New York: Astor Pictures], 1948. Vintage original 8 x 10″ (20 x 25 cm.) black-and-white print still photo. Date stamp and newspaper clipping on verso, near fine.
A very scarce portrait of the three actors (Harris Gaines, Verlie Cowan and Yvonne Machen) from Micheaux’s epic final feature film which, sadly, is now lost.
[New York]: Sepia Art Pictures, [1939]. Vintage original 78 x 41″ (198 x 104 cm.) three sheet film poster, conserved on linen, very good.
A genuinely scarce poster for a pre-WWII Black cast feature comedy film written, directed by, and starring Eddie Green — demonstrating that Oscar Micheaux was not the only African American film director in the 1930s. Very little information is available about this comedy, which appears to be itself every bit as elusive as this poster. Costar Babe Matthews was married to Green and, in the 1930s, she was a very popular vocal artist whose repertoire contained everything from gospel to blues.
Np: Micheaux Productions, [1935]. Set of eight (8) vintage original 8 x 10″ (20 x 25 cm.) black-and-white print still photos, with scattered pinholes and marginal wear, overall very good+ or better.
Oscar Micheaux’ crime drama, also released under the title MURDER IN HARLEM, is a remake of his lost silent film THE GUNSAULUS MYSTERY (1921), a fictionalized account of the 1913 murder trial in Georgia of Leo Frank for the murder of Mary Phagan.
In this film, an African American man is framed for the murder of a white woman, but an author-turned-attorney manages to figure out what really happened and gets his client acquitted.
Paul Robeson was a famous African-American athlete, singer, actor, and advocate for the civil rights of people around the world. During the first half of the 20th Century, he rose to international prominence in a time when segregation was legal in the United States, and Black people were being lynched by racist mobs, especially in the South.
(African American film) Np: Oscar Micheaux, [1938]. Vintage original 11 x 14″ (28 x 36 cm.) lobby card, USA. There are a few scattered staple holes and stains, VERY GOOD. SWING is an Oscar Micheaux feature about an African American attempting to be the first Black producer to mount a show on Broadway, but he has trouble with his star singer (Cora Green). This card shows Green seated at a bar, with one man on either side of her.
Oscar Michaeux (writer) New York: Book Supply Co., [1944] Vintage original 22 x 15” (56 x 39 cm.) book store poster, USA. One light horizontal fold, one small marginal tear, NEAR FINE. A book store poster for what was the fifth of Micheaux’s seven novels. Any book store posters of[…]
Vintage original 41 x 27″ (104 x 69 cm.) one sheet poster, USA. Leroy Collins, Myra Stanton, dir: Oscar Micheaux; Astor. Backed with conservation paper, with minor touch-ups along fold lines, very good+.
An extremely scarce poster for Oscar Micheaux’ last movie, an epic adaptation of his novel The Wind from Nowhere.
Sadly, this is a lost film. Richards 63
Vintage original 11 x 14” (28 x 36 cm.) title lobby card, USA. July Jones, Inez Newell, Spencer Williams (actor and director); Sack. A rare example of the directorial career of Spencer Williams (1893-1969).
Although Williams has been best remembered for his performance in the lead role of Andy Brown on the groundbreaking TV series Amos n’ Andy (1951-1953), he had a long career long before that, as a film actor, and as one of the very earliest African American movie directors.
“Williams’ work as a filmmaker came under reassessment in the 1970s. Along with Oscar Micheaux, he remains one of the pioneering black directors, who, no matter what his stylistic and technical flaws and deficiencies, was devoted to personal filmmaking.” (Bogle, p. 485.)
“This race movie is much like old-time ethnic theater, a series of skits and routines connected here by a plot which gives each actor a chance to showcase his/her particular talent or attitude… By most standards, this might be considered an atrocity of a picture but JUKE JOINT’s got spirit and some kick and punch.” (Bogle, pp. 123-4.) Minor toning, NEAR FINE.
Vintage original 10 x 8” (25 x 20 cm.) photo, USA. Minor creasing, NEAR FINE. Dir: Victor Fleming; MGM. Extremely scarce photo of gifted African American character actor. Oscar Polk is pictured on the Selznick lot during filming of the epic classic film. Besides this film, Polk’s credits include THE GREEN PASTURES, CABIN IN THE SKY, and two Oscar Micheaux films. The studio has printed on back some descriptive text, labeling his character as “FAITHFUL AND TRUE.”
Vintage original 8 x 10” (20 x 25 cm.) photo, USA. Ethel Moses, dir: Oscar Micheaux; Micheaux Pictures Corporation. FINE.
A great portrait of a pensive Ethel Moses. This is a story about a beautiful young woman (Moses) who is supporting herself by posing nude as an artist’s model and causes a resultant scandal when her circle of friends and family find out.
Vintage original 41 x 27” (102 x 68 cm.) one sheet poster, USA. July Jones, Spencer Williams, Rosalie Larrimore, dir: Spencer Williams; Sack Amusement Enterprises. On linen, with conservation to various chips and tears at borders and folds, with a mend to the letter “S” in “Street,” VERY GOOD-.
Although director Williams has been best remembered for his performance in the lead role of Andy Brown on the groundbreaking TV series Amos n’ Andy (1951-1953), he had a long career long before that, as a film actor, and as one of the very earliest African American movie directors. “Williams’ work as a filmmaker came under reassessment in the 1970s. Along with Oscar Micheaux, he remains one of the pioneering black directors, who, no matter what his stylistic and technical flaws and deficiencies, was devoted to personal filmmaking.” (Bogle, p. 485.) The film is a musical comedy melodrama set on the famed Beale Street of Memphis, home of the Memphis and St. Louis Blues. Filming was done in Dallas and San Antonio, Texas.
Vintage original 16 x 12″ (41 x 31 cm.) window card poster, USA. William Edmonson, Ardelle Dabney, dir: Oscar Micheaux; Micheaux Film.
This is the only example of this poster (or ANY poster) for this film which I have ever had in my inventory. It turned up recently, because it had been used as cardboard backing inside a picture frame. It was trimmed down from an original size of 22 x 14″ (56 x 36 cm.) to fit inside the frame, but that would have allowed for a lot of blank space. I am offering this poster without attempting to reconstruct the missing area, since the vast part of the actual printed area is present.
“George Eldridge Van Paul, the son of a white father and a black mother, is brought up to believe that he is completely white. He falls in love with Hester Morgan, a black girl, but when she learns that he is white, she refuses to see him. George is later told by his mother of his black heritage, and he becomes proud of his race. Hester then accepts his proposal of marriage.” – AFI.com
This is a lost film. I have never seen ANY other image from this film, and this poster is apparently all that has survived. Aside from having been trimmed, poster is near fine, overall VERY GOOD-.
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