{"id":40296,"date":"2018-03-17T21:46:44","date_gmt":"2018-03-18T04:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=40296"},"modified":"2021-01-24T13:50:10","modified_gmt":"2021-01-24T20:50:10","slug":"emperor-jones-the-1933","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=40296","title":{"rendered":"Emperor Jones, The (1933)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;It takes a silver bullet to kill Brutus Jones.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Poster-300x238.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"238\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-40297\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Poster-300x238.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Poster-128x101.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Poster-768x609.jpg 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Poster.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen Pullman porter Rufus Jones (Paul Robeson) accidentally kills a friend (Frank Wilson) in a craps game, he&#8217;s sent to a prison chain gang, but manages to escape to a Caribbean Island, where he&#8217;s bought by a white trader (Dudley Digges) and eventually comes to rule the island &#8212; for awhile.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>African-Americans<\/li>\n<li>Fugitives<\/li>\n<li>Paul Robeson Films<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptations<\/li>\n<li>Ruthless Leaders<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary writes that this &#8220;curious adaptation of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Emperor_Jones\">Eugene O&#8217;Neill[&#8216;s] play<\/a>&#8221; &#8212; inspired by the United States&#8217; occupation of Haiti and the rise to power of repressive <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Vilbrun_Guillaume_Sam\">President Vilbrun Guillaume Sam<\/a> &#8212; suggests &#8220;that one of [Jones&#8217;] crimes is that he comes to regard himself as <em>better<\/em> than his people, but in fact this character is shown to be <em>better<\/em> than the rest,&#8221; given that &#8220;of the blacks in the film, Jones is the only one with dignity or intelligence&#8221;, and he &#8220;certainly doesn&#8217;t fit in with the blacks in Harlem or the equally uncivilized natives.&#8221; He adds that &#8220;it&#8217;s good seeing a defiant black man on the screen, particularly in 1933, and one wonders how white audiences of the day reacted to Jones &#8212; or, more likely, Robeson &#8212; standing up to a white guard and outsmarting the others&#8221;. (According to <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Emperor_Jones_(1933_film)\">an unsubstantiated claim on Wikipedia<\/a>, &#8220;particularly in the South, the response [to the film&#8217;s release] was virulent: more than forty lynchings erupted in its opening week across the South where it wasn&#8217;t showing yet.&#8221;) Peary notes that &#8220;this is one of Robeson&#8217;s few opportunities to play a black man whose role isn&#8217;t to improve the lot of whites&#8221; but &#8220;it&#8217;s probable Jones is <em>punished <\/em>at the end because he overstepped his bounds when he didn&#8217;t kowtow to whites.&#8221;  <\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s truly challenging to know how to respond this film, which paradoxically broke new ground by starring an African-American in a strong leading role while simultaneously presenting countless problematic elements &#8212; including ample use of the &#8220;n&#8221; word and stereotypical presentation of most blacks as either religious naifs, clueless natives, or wily hucksters. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.blackstudies.ucsb.edu\/people\/jeffrey-stewart\">Jeffrey C. Stewart<\/a>&#8216;s &#8220;academicky&#8221; but insightful commentary on the Criterion DVD release helps contextualize the story as one of internalized colonialism, with whitewashed Jones eager to take an imperial stance rather than work with and for &#8220;his people&#8221; (especially ironic given Robeson&#8217;s notorious Communist leanings in real life), and is recommended. This curious tale of ambition run amok remains troublesome on multiple levels, but Robeson&#8217;s commanding performance is well worth a watch, and film fanatics will want to at least be familiar with this pre-Code oddity.   <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fine cinematography and art direction<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Still.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Still-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-40299\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Still-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Still-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Still-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Still-768x432.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Still2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Still2-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-40300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Still2-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Still2-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Still2-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Still2-768x432.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Still5.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Still5-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-40298\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Still5-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Still5-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Still5-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Emperor-Jones-Still5-768x432.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, for its historical relevance. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0023985\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/timesmachine.nytimes.com\/timesmachine\/1933\/09\/20\/99929307.pdf\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/74043\/the-emperor-jones#articles-reviews?articleId=24068\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.qnetwork.com\/review\/1779\">Q Network Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;It takes a silver bullet to kill Brutus Jones.&#8221; Synopsis: When Pullman porter Rufus Jones (Paul Robeson) accidentally kills a friend (Frank Wilson) in a craps game, he&#8217;s sent to a prison chain gang, but manages to escape to a Caribbean Island, where he&#8217;s bought by a white trader (Dudley Digges) and eventually comes to rule the island &#8212; for awhile. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: African-Americans Fugitives Paul Robeson Films Play Adaptations Ruthless Leaders Response to Peary\u2019s Review: Peary&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=40296\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40296"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65630,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40296\/revisions\/65630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}