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Two Knights of Vaudeville

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Pioneers of African American Cinema

Pioneers of African American Cinema Teaser

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Up Next in Part 2: Shorts and rarities

  • Two Knights of Vaudeville

    Directed by Unknown • 1915 • United States
    Starring Jimmy Marshall, Frank Montgomery, Florence McClain

    The Ebony Film Corporation may have been a white-owned company, but African American producer Luther Pollard used it as a means of getting black faces on the silver screen, as in this slapstick...

  • Mercy, the Mummy Mumbled

    Directed by R. G. Phillips • 1918 • United States

    One of Ebony Film Corporation’s most ambitious comedies is, like most of their surviving work, tragically marred by the decomposition of the nitrate film stock. Fortunately, enough of the storyline shines through that it may still be appreciated ...

  • A Reckless Rover

    Directed by C. N. David • 1918 • United States
    Starring Sam Robinson

    Chased from his apartment by a policeman, ne'er-do-well Rastus Jones (Sam Robinson) finds refuge in a Chinese laundry, where he wreaks havoc and has a memorable encounter with an improperly filled opium pipe. A RECKLESS ROVER p...