United States
1933
105 minutes
Black and White
1.33:1
English
370
Of all Paul Robeson’s eleven starring film performances, by far his most iconic was his breakthrough in the big-screen adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones (1933). He was already a legend for his stage incarnation of Brutus Jones, a Pullman porter who powers his way to the rule of a Caribbean island, but with this, his first sound-era film role, his regal image was married to his booming voice for eternity. With The Emperor Jones, Robeson became the first African-American leading man in mainstream movies and, he said, gained a deeper understanding of cinema’s potential to change racial misconceptions. Previously censored, The Emperor Jones is presented here in its most complete form.
| Brutus Jones | Paul Robeson |
| Smithers | Dudley Digges |
| Jeff | Frank Wilson |
| Undine | Fredi Washington |
| Dolly | Ruby Elzy |
| Lem, the ruler | George Stamper |
| Treasurer | Blueboy O'Connor |
| Court crier | Rex Ingram |
| Marcella | Jackie "Moms" Mabley |
| Director | Dudley Murphy |
| Based on the play by | Eugene O'Neill |
| Screenplay | DuBose Heyward |
| Script supervisor | William C. De Mille |
| Cinematography | Ernest Haller |
| Art direction | Herman Rosse |
| Sound | Joseph Kane |
| Production manager | J. Edward Shugrue |
| Music | Frank Tours |
| Vocal arrangements | J. Rosamond Johnson |
| Editing | Grant Whytock |
FEATURED ON THE DISC PAUL ROBESON: ICON WITH THE SHORT TRIBUTE TO AN ARTIST
Eugene O’Neill’s groundbreaking The Emperor Jones is making waves again. The controversial 1920 play is back, in a heralded new off-Broadway production starring...
Called by some the Great Forerunner and others the Tallest Tree in Our Forest, Paul Robeson is without peer in the annals of modern American civilization. His was a life rich with intellectual and emotional complexity and poignancy, unfolding during the United States’ most eventful times, a long...
The Emperor Jones was the film that established Paul Robeson (1898-1976) as a screen star. Capturing for posterity the portrayal that brought Robeson fame, Emperor was a turning point—the culmination of his early career and a groundbreaking showcase for the work of a black leading...
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