Directed by Oscar Micheaux • 1931 • United States
Starring Eunice Brooks, Stanley Morrell, Nora Newsome
THE EXILE is the earliest surviving sound feature by an African American filmmaker. Director Oscar Micheaux responds to the arrival of sound with a change in his visual style, indulging in lengthy dialogue exchanges with few cuts and minimal camera movement. Much of Hollywood went through this same stylistic regression during the dawn of sound, until they wrestled themselves free of the restrictive technology of filming with synchronized audio.
Up Next in Part 1: Feature Films
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The Girl from Chicago
Directed by Oscar Micheaux • 1932 • United States
Starring Carl Mahon, Star Calloway, Alice B. RussellA remake of director Oscar Micheaux’s now-lost 1926 silent film THE SPIDER’S WEB, THE GIRL FROM CHICAGO is another film that explores the cultural rift between the urban and the rural, set in b...
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Ten Minutes to Live
Directed by Oscar Micheaux • 1932 • United States
Starring Lawrence Chenault, Willor Lee Guilford, Lorenzo TuckerResisting the stagebound atmosphere of THE EXILE, Oscar Micheaux found ways to shoot a talking picture on location, without cumbersome and expensive audio recording equipment. He did...
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Veiled Aristocrats
Directed by Oscar Micheaux • 1932 • United States
Starring Lucille Lewis, Lawrence Chenault, Walter FlemingA remake of director Oscar Micheaux’s (now lost) 1925 film THE HOUSE BEHIND THE CEDARS, VEILED ARISTOCRATS exists in incomplete form, but the missing footage does not impair one’s enjoymen...
