Body and Soul (1925), the best-known silent film of pioneer black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, offered Paul Robeson, the great singer/actor/athlete, his first opportunity in films. Robeson has a dual role, playing both an escaped convict who presents himself as a minister, and the convict's upstanding brother. The "bad" brother extorts from the owner of a gambling house and betrays an honest girl, bringing them both to ruin. Although it was a theme that proved controversial with his audiences, Micheaux turned several times to the subject of corruption and dishonesty among the clergy.

Made by black filmmakers for black audiences, Body and Soul has an all-black cast except for one white actor, whose supporting character is shown selling rancid meat - a symbol of the exploitation of blacks. The crew was largely African American as well, although Micheaux employed some white cameramen who worked cheaply because they were not in the cinematographers' union.

Robeson (1898-1976), the son of a minister who had been an escaped slave, had attended Rutgers University, where he excelled in baseball, basketball, track and football; and Columbia Law School. By 1924, when his wife Essie concluded arrangements for Paul to star in Body and Soul, Robeson had already distinguished himself on the concert stage. For his film debut, his wife obtained a contract that called for a salary of $100 per week, plus 3% of the gross after the first $40,000 in receipts.

Robeson appeared at the request of Eugene O'Neill in his plays All God's Chillun Got Wings and The Emperor Jones, also starring in the 1933 film version of the latter work. He made a handful of other films, notably singing "Ol' Man River" in Show Boat (1936), but his leftist political views aroused great controversy, and he made his final movie appearance in Tales of Manhattan (1942). He continued his concert career in Europe through the 1960s and has become an outstanding symbol of black consciousness and pride.

Producer/Director: Oscar Micheaux
Screenplay: Oscar Micheaux, from his novel
Cast: Paul Robeson (The Reverend/Reverend Brother), Mercedes Gilbert (The Girl), Julia Theresa Russell (Her Mother), Lawrence Chenault (Former Jailmate), Marshall Rogers (Speakeasy Proprietor).
BW-103m.

by Roger Fristoe