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A Few Words About A few words about...™ Pioneers of African American Cinema -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

Robert Harris

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Robert Harris
Any self-respecting cinephile can rattle off the names of the great filmmakers of the last century. They're all there at the tip of one's tongue, ready for discussion.

But what if someone were to ask what your favorite Oscar Micheaux production happened to be?

Or how you felt about Herbert Jeffrey's performance in a simple B western, The Bronze Buckaroo (1939), directed by Richard C. Kahn?

Now, thanks to a very brave move on the part of Kino Lorber, with the cooperation of multiple archives, including The LoC, MOMA, GEH and UCLA, you can educate yourself and have an opinion.

This wonderful five-disc set was not created for its entertainment value. I presume most sales will be to libraries, universities and toward film study, which means that anyone with a true interest in film history should seriously consider supporting the release, even if that means requesting that your local library acquire a copy.

You'll find no numerical ratings at the end of this few words, as that's not what's of importance here.

Some of the offerings are extracts, many show rather artistic nitrate decomp, splices, missing footage, inclusive of entire reels, scratches...

Included are shorts, documentary footage revealing the era in which they were created, and entire feature films.

Over the past century, these are not films that had studio support, not that studio support helped silent product in most situations, and only found preservation funding through the work of domestic and international archives, and collectors.

We are actually lucky that what has survived is available, as some of it comes down the fate.

By the way, Oscar Micheaux was one of the most famous black filmmakers (1884-1951). He began as a true hyphenate, in 1919, producing, directing and writing, with The Homesteader. Over the next three decades, he would create over forty films, some of which are included in this release, many preserved from original 35mm elements.

While there may be several boxed sets arriving in 2016 that act as education tools, and make films that might otherwise have been unavailable, potential Blu-ray acquisitions, this will remain of extreme importance.

Next up? Yiddish cinema?

As to Herb Jeffries, who passed away in May of 2014, just short of his 101st birthday, he was one of those actors who showed a totally positive image for blacks, during the Stepin Fetchit era. Although he identified himself as black, he was born of a white mother, and a father of mixed ancestry. He was a baritone, and one of the great singing cowboys.

There's a great deal to be learned from this set, which also comes with a beautifully produced 76 page book.

Very Highly Recommended

RAH
 

bigshot

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Stephen
The Blood of Jesus is one of the most amazing films I've ever seen. I first saw it on VHS back in the early 80s and I am finally going to be able to see it properly. This set is definitely not a curate's egg for museums and libraries. It's a vital, important collection of works that have been plowed under by comparitively lesser Hollywood entries. I wouldn't give feint praise to this set. I would say that it is one of the most important box sets of the year.
 

bigshot

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And by the way, Stepin Fetchit broke barriers and was a fantastic entertainer, popular with both black and white audiences. He is one of my personal heroes.
 

moviepas

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Herb J was born as Herb Jeffrey in Detroit/Mi in 1913 and died nearly 101 years later in West Hills/Cal. His Dad was Afro-Sicilian and his Mom was of Irish descent. He usually used the spelling Jeffrey when he sang and made records. He was a pleasant singer of his time.


I have ordered the set and I have many other small production films from the 30s and 40s on DVD. One lady who appeared in some films was Jackie Mabley who worked as Moms Mabley and late in her life, in the 1970s, Mike Douglas had her on one of his weekday shows.

There is a swag of Yiddish- films that have been on VHS and DVD from Brandeis University but no Blue Rays. The DVDs have better subtitles and some have older burnt in subtitles under new better to read subtitles.

Some were made in Poland by a producer/director who also made others in USA. Molly Picon played in Poland in Yidl Met Dem Fidl. A non-musical version of Fiddler on the Roof was made before 1940 as Tevye der Milliker or similar. In the 1970s on a Detroit radio station there was a Jewish Hour of theater music around 1pm on a Thursday. I heard a few editions.
 

Robert Harris

Archivist
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Senior HTF Member
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Robert Harris
Herb J was born as Herb Jeffrey in Detroit/Mi in 1913 and died nearly 101 years later in West Hills/Cal. His Dad was Afro-Sicilian and his Mom was of Irish descent. He usually used the spelling Jeffrey when he sang and made records. He was a pleasant singer of his time.


I have ordered the set and I have many other small production films from the 30s and 40s on DVD. One lady who appeared in some films was Jackie Mabley who worked as Moms Mabley and late in her life, in the 1970s, Mike Douglas had her on one of his weekday shows.

There is a swag of Yiddish- films that have been on VHS and DVD from Brandeis University but no Blue Rays. The DVDs have better subtitles and some have older burnt in subtitles under new better to read subtitles.

Some were made in Poland by a producer/director who also made others in USA. Molly Picon played in Poland in Yidl Met Dem Fidl. A non-musical version of Fiddler on the Roof was made before 1940 as Tevye der Milliker or similar. In the 1970s on a Detroit radio station there was a Jewish Hour of theater music around 1pm on a Thursday. I heard a few editions.


An occasional problem with some of the yiddish films, is that surviving prints will have subs.
 

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