Birthright (1938 film)
Birthright | |
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Directed by | Oscar Micheaux |
Written by | Oscar Micheaux |
Based on | Birthright by T. S. Stribling |
Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography | Robert Marshall |
Production company | Micheaux Film |
Distributed by | Micheaux Pictures Corporation |
Release date |
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Running time | 74 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Birthright is a 1938 American drama film directed, co-produced and co-written by Oscar Micheaux and starring Carman Newsome. This is a talkie remake of Micheaux's 1924 silent film of the same name; both were adapted from white author T. S. Stribling's eponymous 1922 novel. Starring J. Homer Tutt, Micheaux's 1924 film was highly controversial for its graphic depiction of racism. The film is now considered lost.[1]
Plot
A black Harvard graduate faces racism and discrimination after he returns to his small hometown in Tennessee, where he hoped to develop a school similar to Tuskegee Institute or Hampton Institute, both historically black colleges.[2]
Cast
Production
The Birthright remake was first scheduled for release in 1937, but in January 1938 it was reported that filming was still taking place in Ridgefield, New Jersey.[citation needed] The crew was estimated to number 15 members.
Release
The exact date of the film's theatrical release is unclear, though it most likely occurred at some point in 1938. By mid-March 1939, the film was playing in theaters in Oakland, California.
Black patrons of Oakland's Lincoln Theater threatened to boycott all black films (also known as race films) after having seen Birthright and Micheaux's 1935 film Temptation, as they accused the films of stereotyping blacks in the same manner as did mainstream Hollywood productions.[1]
Legacy
Although the 1924 film is considered lost, the portion of the 1939 version that survives was restored under Library of Congress supervision and has been preserved in its AFI Collection. Along with other Micheaux films, Birthright is available on The Criterion Channel.[citation needed]
References
- ^ a b "AFI|Catalog". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
- ^ Larry Langman, David Ebner. Hollywood's Image of the South: A Century of Southern Films (2001), p. 95 ISBN 0-313-31886-7. "Birthright (1939), Micheaux. Dir. Oscar Micheaux; Sc. Oscar Micheaux; Cast includes: Carman Newsome, Alec Lovejoy, Ethel Moses. Advertised as "A story of the Negro and the South," Oscar Micheaux's drama is based on the novel by T. S. Stribling."
External links
- Birthright at IMDb
- Articles with short description
- Short description is different from Wikidata
- 1938 films
- Template film date with 1 release date
- All articles with unsourced statements
- Articles with unsourced statements from June 2022
- Articles with unsourced statements from July 2023
- 1939 films
- Films directed by Oscar Micheaux
- 1939 drama films
- Race films
- American black-and-white films
- American drama films
- Films based on American novels
- 1930s American films
- 1930s English-language films
- English-language drama films
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- 1930s drama film stubs