Directed by Dudley Murphy
Written by DuBose Heyward
Based on the play by Eugene O’Neill
Starring Paul Robeson, Dudley Digges, Frank H. Wilson, Fredi Washington and Ruby Elzy
USA, 1933
Paul Robeson stars as a railway porter who turns to a life of crime, escapes prison and eventually finds himself washed ashore an island in the West Indies where he declares himself emperor. After a few years’ reign of terror, he finds himself on the run when his “people” have had enough. Lost in the jungle, he is haunted by images from his past as he grapples with his own sanity.
Robeson also played this role onstage, where the entire play was just that last part – Robeson losing his mind in the jungle. So it was one long monologue after the other. It’s a great performance on the screen, so I can only imagine how great it was on stage. Robeson’s performance is great here as he’s able to play many sides of a character, from a nice guy to an evil one and everything in between, including insanity. He also gets to show off his singing voice, which is a force to be reckoned with.
Ultra-famous playwright Eugene O’Neill wrote the play this film was based on. I haven’t been keeping track or anything but of all the movies I’ve seen this month so far, this one uses the n-word the most frequently, among both white and Black characters. Apparently this is true to O’Neill’s script, which was criticized even in its own time. O’Neill’s defense was he based the language on the way an African-American guy he knew spoke. In any case, it’s jarring, and worth a warning before you watch.
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