Oscar Micheaux

 Oscar Micheaux




Within Our Gates (1920)

Body and Soul (1925)

The Exile (1931)

The Girl from Chicago (1932)

Birthright (1939)





RANKED:

5. The Girl from Chicago (1932)


Oscar Micheaux continued to experiment with sound in the 1930s with his 1932 film "The Girl from Chicago." This melodrama focuses on a woman who falls for an FBI agent. The film is considered notable in Micheaux's catalog.



4. The Exile (1931)


Considered the first film by and for black audiences, "The Exile" depicts characters constantly separated from one another. Their difference in opinions, intentions and even race create exiles out of them all. One impressive feat of Micheaux's film is his use of sound involving the musical asides. From singers to bands, to dancers, Micheaux practices incorporating sound in his new filmmaking ventures.



3. Birthright (1939)


"Birthright" is a sound adaptation of Micheaux's silent work of the same name. In the film, a man moves to the South to build a school for the black youth. There, he faces obstacle after obstacle as white men in power throw every crooked law his way. It becomes apparent that the problem of racial hatred not only lies in the hearts of white citizens but in the very echelons of government and regulation. 



2. Body and Soul (1925)


"Body and Soul" is Oscar Micheaux's condemnation of religious ideology and the undying trust it yields from its followers. In the film, an escaped convict pretends to be reverend so that he can steal from his congregation. Not only this, he rapes and steals from the daughter of one of his loyal followers. The film is a bleak depiction of how one family gets brutalized by someone who calls himself a man of the Lord. Micheaux seems to be ushering people to stop their blind following of others and be more skeptical.



1. Within Our Gates (1920)


"Within Our Gates" is the earliest surviving film by a black filmmaker. The film is perhaps one of the most important films in existence. Many claim that it is a direct response to D.W. Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation." In the film, Oscar Micheaux focuses on the story of a black woman who travels north to secure funding for a black school in the Deep South. Along the way, Micheaux boldly demonstrates the complexity of humanity, both black and white. He also jumps around in time and space to create a tapestry of America itself. "Within Our Gates" is a revelation of a film that showcases how bigotry and propoganda infects the minds of both black and white alike. Its demonstration of social inequity, racial violence, and civil discord allowed films to gain in social intelligence for generations to come.

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