369-373 Paul Robeson: Portraits of an Artist

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Lino · #26 Post by **Lino** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 11:14 am

nazarin wrote:It's too bad we won't get a restored SHOW BOAT with the box, although it was released as a Criterion LD some years ago. I think it's only currently available on VHS, though that may be OOP, I'm not sure.

That one's coming soon from Warner.

Anonymous · #27 Post by **Anonymous** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 8:36 am

What a wonderful idea this set is! I'll definitely get a copy.

Mr Pixies · #28 Post by **Mr Pixies** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 10:54 pm

This set is exciting, out for Black History month too. I didn't see that mentioned, must have been obvious. I'm taking African American history next semester, if I have to do a research paper on anyone, this will be a great resource, and an excuse to buy it. From the IMDB reviews, Borderline sounds really interesting.

Daze · #29 Post by **Daze** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:57 am

Oscar Micheaux is the Edward D Wood Jr of race cinema -- passionate, original, weird, incompetent. Here's hoping Criterion releases more of his stuff.

blindside8zao · #30 Post by **blindside8zao** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 2:03 am

friend of mine is taking an african american film history class, I'm going to have to recommend this to her.

Anonymous · #31 Post by **Anonymous** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 7:23 am

Daze wrote:Oscar Micheaux is the Edward D Wood Jr of race cinema -- passionate, original, weird, incompetent. Here's hoping Criterion releases more of his stuff.

GOD'S STEPCHILDREN and THE GIRL FROM CHICAGO should definitely be on Criterion.

Ashirg · #32 Post by **Ashirg** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 7:51 am

GOD'S STEPCHILDREN is being released next week by Alpha

nazarin · #33 Post by **nazarin** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 10:40 am

Daze wrote:Oscar Micheaux is the Edward D Wood Jr of race cinema -- passionate, original, weird, incompetent. Here's hoping Criterion releases more of his stuff.

I love this analogy! More of his films available on DVD would be great. =D>

portnoy · #34 Post by **portnoy** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 11:35 am

Daze wrote:Oscar Micheaux is the Edward D Wood Jr of race cinema -- passionate, original, weird, incompetent.

Thanks, Hoberman.

HerrSchreck · #35 Post by **HerrSchreck** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 11:47 am

Gregory wrote: Perhaps Schreck holds a candle for one or two of them?

Sorry guys.. I been dancing around these films for years-- BODY & SOUL always interested me but just never slapped it in. I have SONG OF FREEDOM which sort of worked for awhile during the dock/amateur singing scenes, but I just sorta fell out of it & never finished it when the African stuff started in. I'll obviously go back to it after this announcement.

Honestly I'm shocked they pushed out a box on this versus so many other boxes potentially possible. I'm sure the rights on these weren't that expensive-- that must've been a consideration. I always thought of Robeson's work to be one of those sums that is greater than the parts... The film's are not the man, the man was majesterial, noble, lined with atomic talent, iron balls & fortitude, but the films... never met any hardcore devotees & completists. I don't even think Kino who had all this stuff of vhs (minus the doc & maybe one film) would put out this box. And that says a hell of a lot because they've got the balls of a bull elephant.

#36 Post by **zedz** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 4:10 pm

Of the films included here, the one that sounds most interesting is Borderline. There's a baffled pan on imdb that's catnip to me:

some guy from Akron wrote:I've never seen a silent film so odd like this one is. It was extremely confusing due to the lack of inter-titles. I don't know why they just didn't add more, I doubt the people sitting in the theater when it was originally released knew what it was about either. This film isn't stupid like "The Giant Spider Invasion" or "Godmonster of Indian Flats", but just as weird in it's own right. All in all, this film is just plain strange and not much else.

Anybody seen this?

Actually, I'm really looking forward to this set, even though I don't have high expectations for most of the films, simply because so much of this is terra incognita for me.

nazarin · #37 Post by **nazarin** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 7:33 pm

zedz wrote:Anybody seen this?

Actually, I'm really looking forward to this set, even though I don't have high expectations for most of the films, simply because so much of this is terra incognita for me.

I have not seen it, as it is rather rare. Check out this link.

where Borderline is referred to as "a lost classic of the British avant-garde." I wonder if this is the print that will be used as the source material for Criterion's DVD, as the article also indicates "a DVD release of the film [is scheduled for] late 2006."

scotty · #38 Post by **scotty** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 10:45 am

Great to see Micheaux in the collection, though I was hoping for Within Our Gates (1919).

HistoryProf · #39 Post by **HistoryProf** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 11:10 pm

Wow...as someone who is always on the lookout for material to use in my U.S. history classes, this is a must buy for me. Talk about left field. I am familiar with Robeson's life, but never in a million years expected something like this from Criterion. Should be able to find it in the $60ish range...for 8 films that's a steal!

Orphic Lycidas · #40 Post by **Orphic Lycidas** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 4:37 am

This Criterion set is a very, very pleasant surprise. I almost couldn't believe it when I saw they were putting this out. As has been stated here before most of these films don't amount to much. "Sanders of the River" is an embarrassment -- a paean to British imperialism -- (during its premiere Robeson and his wife got up and left the theater. They returned later but he refused to perform). "Jericho" starts up interestingly enough but is little more than B-movie silliness. Robeson is tremendous in both "Body and Soul" and "The Emperor Jones" but they're "alright" films. Robeson considered "The Proud Valley" (about the plight of Welsh coal miners) to be his best film but I've neither seen it or "Native Land."

"Borderline" is supposed to be the big winner here. I've never managed to see the film but a friend of mine who has seen it seems to be under the impression that it's one of the great silent films. It's supposedly real avant-guarde. I'm surprised the set does *NOT* include "Song of Freedom" and "Big Fella" - two of his most enjoyable films. Is there a reason for this? It's a real let-down. Some concert footage as part of the extras would have been a great bonus.

Robeson & film is a pretty sad story. The loss is tremendous. Sergei Eisenstein was pretty set on making a film version of the life of Toussaint L'Ouverture (leader of the Haitian Revolution) with Robeson. Needless to say it never materialized, nor did the various proposals to adapt Robeson's Broadway "Othello" for the big screen. Nevertheless, this box set is a real good thing in my book.

HerrSchreck · #41 Post by **HerrSchreck** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 4:45 am

Orphic Lycidas wrote: I'm surprised the set does *NOT* include "Song of Freedom" and "Big Fella" - two of his most enjoyable films. Is there a reason for this? It's a real let-down.

Hint hint..

They never never ever step on each other's toes, as one distributes so much of the other's catalog. If it's out on one, chances are you'll never see it out on the other.

Narshty · #42 Post by **Narshty** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 6:16 am

Anyone else notice this?

The Emperor Jones is a standard-definition digital transfer mastered from the 2001 restoration print created by the Library of Congress, the most complete version of the film available.

Strange that the most significant film in the set is the one with, technically at least, the least impressive transfer and the first standard-def transfer Criterion have come out with in several years. I'll presume the existing transfer is either so good they couldn't see the point of doing another, or getting hold of the original elements was like getting a refund from the Inland Revenue (but leaving it out of the boxset clearly wasn't an option).

Anonymous · #43 Post by **Anonymous** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 12:05 pm

Ashirg wrote:GOD'S STEPCHILDREN is being released next week by Alpha

Apparently it's already available.

There's also an extremely cheap DVD of THE GIRL FROM CHICAGO (with three other rare films) that I've never seen before. I ordered it and will report here about the quality as soon as I receive it.

Ashirg · #44 Post by **Ashirg** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 12:54 pm

Murder in Harlem is also being released by Alpha.

*Me in 3 weeks says it's already available

Gregory · #45 Post by **Gregory** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 7:02 pm

Jonathan Turrell, in On Five, wrote:His film [Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist] isn't about Robeson's politics and remained remarkably neutral on the subject (there's only one politically leaning line in the narration). It's about Robeson, the man, and his amazing achievements.

This separation really doesn't sense to me. His politics were inextricably linked to his convictions and to who he was. I'm not arguing the film should have necessarily gone extensively into the political matters, but leaving them out completely makes the subject much more two-dimensional.

Anonymous · #46 Post by **Anonymous** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 5:40 pm

I got the Spencer Williams - Oscar Micheaux 4 films on one disc today. It includes SON OF INGAGI, GIRL IN ROOM 20, LYING LIPS and Micheaux's masterwork THE GIRL FROM CHICAGO (which I love, and which was my reason for buying this DVD). The transfer for GIRL FROM CHICAGO is extremely cheap, obviously taken from an old tape. Anyway, I'm happy to have it on DVD, as seeing Micheaux films in a theatre is extremely difficult and rare nowadays.

toiletduck! · #47 Post by **toiletduck!** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 6:08 pm

Carsten Czarnecki wrote:Anyway, I'm happy to have it on DVD, as seeing Micheaux films in a theatre is extremely difficult and rare nowadays.

In a convenient coincidence, the Siskel Film Center's Spring Lecture Series is titled African American Auteurs and will feature fourteen films, focusing solely on the work of Micheaux, Williams, Charles Burnett, and Spike Lee, with lectures/discussions led by Jacqueline Stewart of Northwestern University. The full schedule won't be up until late January, but the first screening is Micheaux's WITHIN OUR GATES, on January 30.

Hope that's of use to someone other than myself.

-Toilet Dcuk

EDIT: Schedule's up -- From Micheaux: WITHIN OUR GATES; THE SYMBOL OF THE UNCONQUERED; BODY AND SOUL; & GOD'S STEP CHILDREN. From Williams: THE BLOOD OF JESUS; GO DOWN, DEATH!; DIRTY GERTIE FROM HARLEM, U.S.A.; & JUKE JOINT.

Anonymous · #48 Post by **Anonymous** » Thu Feb 08, 2007 9:57 am

toiletduck! wrote:From Micheaux: GOD'S STEP CHILDREN. From Williams: THE BLOOD OF JESUS

Two absolutely amazing films! They are available on separate DVDs including LYING LIPS and GIRL IN ROOM 20 from oldies.com

J Wilson · #49 Post by **J Wilson** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 12:09 pm

Gregory wrote:
Jonathan Turrell, in On Five, wrote:His film [Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist] isn't about Robeson's politics and remained remarkably neutral on the subject (there's only one politically leaning line in the narration). It's about Robeson, the man, and his amazing achievements.
This separation really doesn't sense to me. His politics were inextricably linked to his convictions and to who he was. I'm not arguing the film should have necessarily gone extensively into the political matters, but leaving them out completely makes the subject much more two-dimensional.

I don't really understand that description by Turrell, as that film is very much about Robeson's politics, specifically using Robeson's evolving performances of "Ol' Man River" as a running theme to showing how he progressed politically based on the way he changed the lyrics. The politics are more personal than public, but they're there anyway.

Having worked my way through the set, I will agree with those who argue that most of these films aren't especially great; even JERICHO, which Robeson was apparently most proud of and had the firmest control over, is fairly disjointed and awkward, burdened by unfunny comedy (mainly from Wallace Ford as Robeson's sidekick) and some unintentionally funny bits.

BORDERLINE is Kenneth Macpherson's worshipful ode to Eisensteinian montage, and it took me multiple sittings to get through it. Lost classic? Not for me, but others can decide for themselves. It asks a lot of the viewer and it just didn't interest me enough to respond. It's got some lovely shots in it, at least.

NATIVE LAND is a fascinating piece of agit-prop with Robeson only working as narrator, but he provides a stellar performance. It's calculated to make you angry, filled with re-creations of various events from the files of Robert Lafollette's Senate investigation into union-breaking. Plenty of slimy, callous behavior from big business types who trample all over the Bill of Rights. As propaganda, it's great stuff.

Gregory · #50 Post by **Gregory** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 4:58 am

J Wilson wrote:I don't really understand that description by Turrell, as that film is very much about Robeson's politics, specifically using Robeson's evolving performances of "Ol' Man River" as a running theme to showing how he progressed politically based on the way he changed the lyrics. The politics are more personal than public, but they're there anyway.

Just watched the documentary and was impressed and also relieved that it didn't skirt all the political issues that necessarily were a challenge to approach in such a short overview of his life. It seems to me now that what Jonathan Turrell must have meant was that the film didn't approach his political views in terms of a polemic and wasn't even "about" Robeson's politics first and foremost. Rather, it used the politics as a means to understand his creative development (e.g. Ol' Man River as you note) and his reception as an artist.

I noticed what seemed to be a little mistake in the documentary. Near the end, the narration announces that when Robeson sang Ol' Man River to the workers in Australia in 1960 he changed the lyrics once again, from "we must keep fightin'..." to "I must keep fightin'..." but the previous performance of the song shown in the film had contained the very same "I must keep fightin'" line.