source: Murder in Harlem

Moviecut—Murder in Harlem

This is a film you'd want to watch only as a curio piece. It's not very well acted or directed. It's been recently restored, and in the public domain, so you can get your hands on a very clean copy if you so desire. Most people don't know this: the story is based on a true story, only the guy was a white Jew engineer who in 1912 was wrongly convicted of killing a 16 year old girl at his shop. His sentence was ultimately commuted, but then he was lynched by some prominent people -- like the former governor of Georgia and a former mayor! The affair spurred on the creation of the Jewish anti-defamation league! Now, this movie obviously appropriated a lot of the true storyline and compacted it into a detective sort of movie. It's very slow, and somewhat boring, overall, but the historical value is that it was made by an all black film company which made maybe 45-ish films over the years targeted to the US black population and shown in black only movie theatres. An interesting observation for these films is that the black population is nearly always depicted as a rainbow of different character types, middle class, hucksters, family oriented, etc, -- not a bunch of thugs like most black themed movies of today. Sort of refreshing, even if the movie itself is relatively boring.

It's film noir from an early African American movie producer. It's set in 1932 and 1935 in Harlem, New York. It tells the story of the murder of a white woman initially blamed on an African American watchman at the factory. In 1935 Arthur Vance (Lorenzo McClane) was one of two African American watchmen at a chemical company in Harlem. The company's director, Anthony Brisbane (Andrew S. Bishop), asks him to come to the office briefly in the afternoon but then sends him home and tells him to return at 6:00 pm. Later on his shift, Vance discovers the body of a young white woman. The police and several notes at the scene point the finger at him. The film then flashes back to 1932, where we meet African American Henry Glory (Clarence Brooks) selling a novel he authored door-to-door. Misunderstanding the directions of a buyer who recommends a potential purchaser across the street, Henry arrives at a different door and meets and is attracted to Claudia Vance (Dorothy Van Engle), a good-looking young woman who also buys a book. Unfortunately, next door to Claudia's apartment is a place run by the Catbird (Bee Freeman), a shady operation. On a later visit, Henry is robbed and thinks Claudia has set him up. Back in 1935, we learn that Claudia is Arthur Vance's brother. Henry Glory is now an attorney, and Claudia asks him to represent Arthur. Together, they try to solve the mystery. We meet the other watchman, Lem (Alec Lovejoy), the white woman who was murdered, and her volatile boyfriend. "Murder in Harlem" is valuable from a history-of-film perspective. The acting is clunky, and the surviving film has a few gaps that make some scenes choppy. But the movie includes some awesome African American music of the era. Oscar Micheaux is the earliest essential African American movie producer, beginning in the silent film era.

Just watched this Oscar Micheaux-directed movie on YouTube. Based on the Mary Phagan murder case of which a Leo Frank was the accused one, a black night watchman sees a dead white woman on his rounds, and first tries to call his boss. Somehow the police find out and this particular watchman gets arrested even though he says he didn't do it. I'll stop there and just say the story goes back to before the beginning quite a few times which may get you confused as the narrative goes on if you're not paying enough attention. Some of the performances seem stiff but Alec Lovejoy, playing Lem Hawkins, seems somewhat of a comic relief when he does some of his kowtowing to his white boss or does a good acting turn expressing concern about what his possible fate might be if he doesn't follow orders. There's also some good musical numbers whenever there's a restaurant scene. The print I saw on YouTube skipped some frames but for the most part, I understood what was going on. In summary, Murder in Harlem was an okay murder mystery drama.

Murder in Harlem (1934) ** 1/2 (out of 4) A black watchman is doing his rounds when he stumbles across the body of a white woman. He calls the police but he's eventually arrested for the crime. Soon a lawyer is on his case trying to find out who was really behind the crime. MURDER IN HARLEM is a fairly entertaining race film from director Oscar Micheaux who was of course the leading black director during this period. A lot of times the race films from this era didn't feature any white people but that's not the case here as the director was allowed a pretty good cast as well as an interesting story to work with. Obviously, the director was still hampered with a very low-budget that didn't allow much technical advantages. The cinematography is the biggest issue here and especially during a few scenes where the camera zooms towards the actors, cuts off the top of their heads and then has to re-arrange the shot. Of course, normally you'd be asking for a second take but that wasn't possible when you're working with this type of budget. The one big advantage this film had over several of the early sound films from Micheaux is that the performances were very good. Dorothy Van Engle gets most of the praise for her performance as the girlfriend and rightfully so as she comes across quite strong and certainly helps carry the picture. Clarence Brooks, Andrew Bishop and Alec Lovejoy all add very good support. MURDER IN HARLEM is a very good example of a race movie that could have been so much more had it had the budget and technical advantages of what was going on in Hollywood. As it stands, the film is certainly very much worth watching but one can only think of what it could have been.

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.

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)

An interesting movie. You may have to watch it a few times to really understand and seem interesting, it took quite a few times because at first it seemed boring but since I'm understand Micheaux and his actors and actresses...I get it. The movie is about a black night watchman who's accused of killing a white girl which he didn't do but the watchman and his boss(who done it) try to put it on another watchman which is Claudia's brother played by Dorothy Van Engle and she along with Henry Glory try to bring her brother justice. Dorothy provides Henry with the determination and will to clear her brother and in love all the time, Henry and Claudia profess their love. Dorothy Van Engle light shines throughout all this movie. She's the most appealing and most beautiful of Black Cinema and movie history period. Dorothy could of rivaled the leading white ladies of Hollywood if Hollywood wasn't so afraid for Dorothy fit the beauty standards and acting talents of Hollywood. Dorothy Van Engle was the first black woman on screen to be glamorous and elegant not Lena Horne, a coincidence is Lena and Dorothy were friends as children. If I was to compare, Dorothy Van Engle, I would say is the Black Dolores del Rio or vice versa. Dorothy has the sweetness of Ruby Keeler, the glamour and impeccable dressing of a Kay Francis(Van Engle made her own clothes for the movies she was in) and appeal, charm, and naturalness of a Myrna Loy. Dorothy Van Engle was the first positive black woman on the screen. Intelligent, smart, ambitious, sure, spoke proper English but wasn't snooty and still possessed the Black heritage. Dorothy's body language, gestures, attitudes were right on time. You forgot her color and look at her talent, the same you would a white actors and actress. The best parts are the nightclub scenes where Van Engle really is exuberant and sensational Eunice Wilson who is always a treat to see sing and dance and in her few scenes, she was called, the best of the female dancers in the 1930's. She also was in a few black cinema movies, especially in the first movie made in color by blacks. Clarence Brooks plays his role fine. All this wasn't seen in Hollywood or even today with Blacks. So audiences were very appreciative of Black Cinema and its actors and actresses for providing them with role models. These types of films gave Blacks chances to play substantial roles and sparked an interest in wanna be actors and actresses in Black Cinema instead of begging Hollywood for a chance they never would get. Most didn't make a lot in Black Cinema but became movie stars with the Black Press giving them publicity, but the best parts were they could be dignified, respectful, classy, beauty, able to tell a story and challenge the stereotypes in a movie which would use their talents favorably.

I believe that Oscar Micheaux is one of the most prolific and uncredited Director of our time. Today, many do not know about this African American Director who became the First Independent African American Movie Director. Oscar Micheaux had his own marketing machine when it came to production of his movies. Beginning in the 1920s, Oscar Micheaux began to create a new market, the African American movie goer. Not only did he make "Murder in Harlem" on a shoestring budget, he also made movies that dealt with the era. Oscar Micheaux singlehandedly got African-American movie goers into the movie houses. Oscar Micheaux taught the new cinema goer what they should expect from a movie. Micheaux addressed African American life in his movies and gave the viewer something to be proud of. Yes, in some of his movies we saw characters such as Lincoln Perry (the lazy servant character), but we also saw strong professional characters such as: Robert Earl Jones (Father of Actor James Earl Jones),William Graves (The Attorney Actor), Lorenzo Tucker (Movie Heartthrob) and Francine Everett(Our African American Beauty). Too some viewers, "Murder in Harlem" isn't one of Micheaux' best efforts, however, to me, Micheaux played to the themes of life in Harlem. Affluence and Poverty, Professional Life and the Underworld. Good vs. Evil. See this movie when you get a chance!!!