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 comedy short. Luther often worked in collaboration with his brother Fritz, a star athlete who later became the first African American head coach in the NFL.
Up Next in Part 2: Shorts and rarities
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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 ...
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A Reckless Rover
Directed by C. N. David • 1918 • United States
Starring Sam RobinsonChased 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...
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By Right of Birth
Directed by Harry A. Gant • 1921 • United States
Starring Clarence Brooks, Anita Thompson, Webb King
This precious four-minute clip represents the only surviving work of the Lincoln Motion Picture Company (founded in 1916 by brothers Noble and George Johnson). BY RIGHT OF BIRTH was the final pr...
