Murder in Harlem
1935 film by Clarence Williams, Oscar Micheaux
- 1935 (1935)
Running time
Murder in Harlem (also released as Lem Hawkins Confession and Brand of Cain) is a 1935 American race film written, produced and directed by Oscar Micheaux, who also appears in the film. It is a remake of his 1921 silent film The Gunsaulus Mystery.
Basing the works on the 1913 trial of Leo Frank for the murder of Mary Phagan,[1] Micheaux used the detective genre to introduce different voices and conflicting accounts by his characters. In July 2021, the film was shown in the Cannes Classics section at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.[2]
Plot
An African-American man is framed of the murder of a white woman, but a white man is responsible. Author-turned-attorney Henry Glory is hired by the accused man's sister to defend him. Glory pieces the crime together, and the white killer is revealed. The film is loosely based on the real life case of Leo Frank. However, it changes the details of the real case, which was highly prejudicial against Frank due to his being a Jewish man in Georgia. Unlike in the film, Frank's guilt is often viewed with great skepticism due to him never receiving a fair trial.[3][4]
Cast
- Clarence Brooks as Henry Glory
- Dorothy Van Engle as Claudia Vance
- Andrew S. Bishop as Anthony Brisbane
- Alec Lovejoy as Lem Hawkins
- Laura Bowman as Mrs. Epps
- Bee Freeman as The Catbird
- Alice B. Russell as Mrs. Vance
- Eunice Wilson as Singer
- Lorenzo McClane as Arthur Vance
- David Hanna as Undetermined Role
- "Slick" Chester as Detective
Soundtrack
- "Harlem Rhythm Dance" (Music and lyrics by Clarence Williams)
- "Ants in My Pants" (Music and lyrics by Clarence Williams)
See also
References
- ^ "Oscar Micheaux and Leo Frank: Cinematic Justice Across the Color Line", Film Quarterly, Summer 2004. Archived April 13, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "2021 Cannes Classics Lineup Includes Orson Welles, Powell and Pressburger, Tilda Swinton & More". The Film Stage. 23 June 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
- ^ "Overview: Lem Hawkins’ Confession", Turner Classic Movies.
- ^ J. Ronald Green, Straight Lick: The Cinema of Oscar Micheaux, Indiana University Press, 2000, p. 174.
External links
- Murder in Harlem at IMDb
- Murder in Harlem is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
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Films directed by Oscar Micheaux
- The Homesteader (1919)
- Within Our Gates (1920)
- The Brute (1920)
- The Symbol of the Unconquered (1920)
- The Gunsaulus Mystery (1921)
- The Dungeon (1922)
- The Hypocrite (1922)
- Uncle Jasper's Will (1922)
- The Virgin of the Seminole (1922)
- Deceit (1923)
- Birthright (1924)
- A Son of Satan (1924)
- Body and Soul (1925)
- Marcus Garland (1925)
- The Conjure Woman (1926)
- The Devil's Disciple (1926)
- The Spider's Web (1926)
- The Millionaire (1927)
- The Broken Violin (1928)
- The House Behind the Cedars (1927)
- Thirty Years Later (1928)
- When Men Betray (1929)
- The Wages of Sin (1929)
- Easy Street (1930)
- A Daughter of the Congo (1930)
- Darktown Revue (1931)
- The Exile (1931)
- Veiled Aristocrats (1932)
- Ten Minutes to Live (1932)
- Black Magic (1932)
- The Girl from Chicago (1932)
- Phantom of Kenwood (1933)
- Harlem After Midnight (1934)
- Murder in Harlem (1935)
- Temptation (1936)
- Underworld (1937)
- God's Step Children (1938)
- Swing! (1938)
- Lying Lips (1939)
- Birthright (1939)
- The Notorious Elinor Lee (1940)
- The Betrayal (1948)
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