Murder in Harlem

Murder in Harlem (also released as Lem Hawkins Confession and Brand of Cain) is a 1935 American race film written, produced and directed by Oscar Micheaux, who also appears in the film. He remade his 1921 silent film The Gunsaulus Mystery.

Murder in Harlem
Directed byOscar Micheaux
Clarence Williams (cabaret sequence) (uncredited)
Written byOscar Micheaux (novel The Story of Dorothy Stanfield)
Oscar Micheaux (screenplay)
Clarence Williams (cabaret sequence) (uncredited)
Produced byAlice B. Russell (producer)
Oscar Micheaux (producer) (uncredited)
StarringSee below
CinematographyCharles Levine
Release date
1935
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Basing the works on the 1913 trial of Leo Frank for the murder of Mary Phagan,[1] Micheaux used the detective genre to introduce different voices and conflicting accounts by his characters. In July 2021, the film was shown in the Cannes Classics section at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.[2]

Plot

An African-American man is framed of the murder of a white woman, but a white man is found to be responsible. Author-turned-attorney Henry Glory is hired by the accused man's sister to defend him. Glory pieces the crime together, and the white killer is revealed. The film is loosely based on the real life case of Leo Frank. However, it changes the titular aspect of the real case, in that it was highly prejudicial due to Frank being a non-white Jewish man in rural Georgia. Unlike in the film, Frank's guilt is often viewed with great skepticism due to him never receiving a fair trial. Another difference between this film and the real life case it was inspired by, is that Frank's film character is portrayed as white and played by a white actor, whereas the real Frank was racially Jewish. [3][4]

Cast

Soundtrack
  • "Harlem Rhythm Dance" (Music and lyrics by Clarence Williams)
  • "Ants in My Pants" (Music and lyrics by Clarence Williams)

See also

References
  1. "Oscar Micheaux and Leo Frank: Cinematic Justice Across the Color Line", Film Quarterly, Summer 2004. Archived April 13, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  2. "2021 Cannes Classics Lineup Includes Orson Welles, Powell and Pressburger, Tilda Swinton & More". The Film Stage. 23 June 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  3. "Overview: Lem Hawkins’ Confession", Turner Classic Movies.
  4. J. Ronald Green, Straight Lick: The Cinema of Oscar Micheaux, Indiana University Press, 2000, p. 174.


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