SmugKitZine Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

a_baron Before watching this film and certainly before judging it, there are things you should bear in mind. First, the quality of the actual celluloid leaves much to be desired, and the film jumps in places. Secondly, although by 1935 blacks had already made an enormous impact on American popular culture, this was primarily through music. Oscar Micheaux, who made this, was a rarity, so although by 2015 standards this low budget monochrome leaves much to be desired, it was not a bad effort for the son of a slave, even if he had been making films for more than a decade.Yes, the script is a bit wooden, and the extended absurd cameo at the beginning about the book salesman is superfluously irrelevant and then some, but this was based on Micheaux's own experience. The film itself is a thinly veiled reworking of the murder of Mary Phagan by Leo Frank. Although there have been repeated attempts over the past hundred years to absolve Frank of this crime and put the blame on his Negro sidekick, the complete documentation from the case has now been placed on-line, and it is difficult to conclude otherwise than that fanciful as Jim Conley's story may sound, he was telling the truth.That being said, certain agenda-driven special interest groups continue to beat the drum of anti-Semitism, with the absurd implication that in 1913 a low class Negro was higher up the food chain than a white, college educated businessman. Those same mischief-makers were very active when this film was made, so it is possible that the twist in the end of the story was formulated by Micheaux to avoid problems with distribution.

tnrcooper This is the first movie directed by an African-American man. Done in 1935, it was exceedingly difficult for him to find places to film it, to put together financing, and to get any sort of distribution. See the movie for its historical importance.The theme of the film, based on the case of Leo Frank, deals with a black man being railroaded for a murder he didn't commit. There is some great acting in the film, particularly from Alec Lovejoy as the man who covers for his boss. The heroine of the film, Claudia, played by Dorothy Van Engle is graceful and cool as the sister who rightfully believes in her brother's innocence and will fight for it. In a just world, she would have been a massive star. She shines effortlessly in every scene she's in. Also noteworthy is the woman at the end of the film who is bursting with a desire to tell detectives what she knows. She offers a powerfully restrained confession. There is some excellent work here. The version I downloaded from Archive.org was poorly lighted in places and had some skipping in the middle, but it's still a powerful indictment of the cynicism of a white factory owner who will sell his black employees out in a New York minute, regardless of their involvement. The greatest credit should go to Micheaux who had to move heaven and earth to get this film made and distributed - an honor which cannot be taken from him.

dbborroughs Black night watchman finds the body of a dead white woman on the job and is accused of the crime.Good but unremarkable crime drama set interestingly in a world thats both black and white. Many of the so called race films have casts that are entirely black, here there is a mix, which is rather unique. The problem with the film is that although it was made in 1935 it moves and behaves like a film five or six years earlier. Its slow and creaky nature reminds me of a film like Sinister Hands or The Shadow Laughs.Its a good little story but there is a good chance you'll get bored with it and start speeding through it (I did)

Single-Black-Male This film was the inspiration for Micheaux to write 'The Story of Dorothy Stanfield' eleven years later. The story is actually about her husband, Nathan Stanfield, who is living in hard times as a black medical doctor. It touches some very sensitive issues.