The Emperor Jones (1933)

Director:

Dudley Murphy

Writers:

Eugene O'Neill (play)
DuBose Heyward (screenplay)

Release Date:

29 September 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

At a Baptist prayer meeting, the preacher leads a prayer for Brutus Jones, who is leaving to become a railway porter...

Plot Keywords:

African American | Dictator | Emperor | Island | Gambling

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Paul Robeson	...	Brutus Jones
Dudley Digges	...	Smithers
Frank H. Wilson	...	Jeff (as Frank Wilson)
Fredi Washington	...	Undine
Ruby Elzy	...	Dolly
George Haymid Stamper	...	Lem (as George Stamper)

Runtime:

72 min | 76 min (2003 restored version) | USA:80 min (original version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

UK:A | Canada:G (Ontario) | USA:Approved (PCA #1316-R, 29 August 1935 for re-release) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Finland:(Banned) (1934) | Finland:K-16 (1936)

Filming Locations:

Eastern Service Studios, Astoria, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

John Krimsky and Gifford Cochran Inc.

Trivia:

About a half-hour of completely original material was added to the movie adaptation in order to give the main character, Brutus Jones, a more detailed backstory, leaving only about 45 minutes from Eugene O'Neill's play.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "American Masters: Paul Robeson: Here I Stand" (1999)

Soundtrack:

I'm Travelin'

An Interesting Failure

Playwright Eugene O'Neill's early work often combined memorable characters and stories with social commentary and innovative theatrical concepts--and among his first great successes was THE EMPEROR JONES, which starred perhaps the single finest black actor of the 1920s and 1930s, the legendary Paul Robeson. When United Artists purchased the screen rights, Robeson went with the package, and this 1933 film was the result.

The story concerns a black man of the depression era who lacks the moral stamina to resist the various temptations set before him, and who ultimately finds himself on a remote island where he uses his superior intellect and physically intimidating presence to set himself up as "Emperor." But his own past troubles have hardened him. Instead of ruling in justice, he uses his position to bleed the population--and they revolt against him.

But regretfully, this film isn't half as good as it could have been or a quarter as good as it should have been. On the stage, THE EMPEROR JONES had tremendous irony, for in so crushing his subjects Brutus Jones has essentially recreated the white American society that crushed him. Moreover, the staging was uniquely powerful, with the vast majority of the story played out as Jones runs through the jungle in an effort to escape his revolting subjects, all the while recalling the various events of his life that led him to the present moment. But the film version pretty much throws all of this out the window, preferring to downplay O'Neill's social commentary and reducing Jone's race through the jungle to a few scenes at the film's conclusion.

Robeson is a memorable actor, but he was still very new to the screen when this film was made, and although he is powerful his performance here is rather stagey in comparison with his later screen work. And while the film is occasionally interesting in a visual way, it simply doesn't have the courage to go all the way with O'Neil's original vision. Fans of Robeson, O'Neil, and early 1930s film will find it an interesting failure, but most others should give it a miss.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer