Synopsis
Unscrupulously ambitious, Brutus Jones escapes from jail after killing a guard and, through bluff and bravado, finds himself the emperor of a Caribbean island.
The Emperor Jones
1933 Directed by Dudley Murphy
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Alternative Titles
Kejser Jones, 琼斯皇, O Imperador Jones, Імператор Джонс, Αυτοκράτορας Τζόουνς
Releases by Date
Premiere
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USA
New York City, New York
Theatrical
29 Sep 1933
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USA
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USA
19 Sep 1933
- Premiere New York City, New York
29 Sep 1933
- Theatrical
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Two administrative notes to mention before I get to the actual review:
One: I actually saw this movie Sunday night and was going to post this yesterday; however, the Paul Reubens news threw a spanner into the works. I chose something 75 minutes long due to my having to troubleshoot some Internet/cable issues before selecting this.
Two: I made the right decision recently to create a list off-line of whatever films are mentioned to me… whether someone asks me if I’ve viewed something & I haven’t or recommendations. Not all the ones I’ve heard in recent months are in that list; it’s too much of a hassle to try and find all the comments left but at a rather methodical pace…
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A rather unspectacular film about the corruption of greed and the lust for power. This honestly reminded me a lot of Scarface, I'm curious if this was influenced by the original, as they were released around the same time. It got really crazy at the end as it took a major tonal shift when it became more spiritual at the end which felt sort of out of place, but it was a pretty fun time overall.
Part of my Black Cinema Challenge, for a film released in the 1930s.
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robeson towers over everyone else here - both literally (he is the biggest man in almost every scene, and he is shot like he's 7 feet tall - i was shocked to google that he was a respectable, but not remarkable 6'3") and metaphorically - he's the singing, laughing, swaggering heart of the film, and the reason to watch.
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This unsubtle projection of white fears about Black ambition has in some ways improved with time, offering a red hot and sexually potent Paul Robeson at the peak of his gifts, preserved in amber. It's a powerful role that comes close to ZouZou in seeming from another planet, given its context among other American depictions of Blackness. Robeson demanding that white Dudley Diggs light his cigarette seems as shocking and inconceivable for its time as Poitier slapping Larry Gates, and must have had them filling their diapers.
By 1933 audiences in the pre-code era knew to ignore tacked-on moralistic endings, and I hope Harlem audiences, who got a slur-excised version of the film, did just that. -
60/100
Excerpted from my second post on the history of race films. Quick way to say all is that Robeson is allowed to be magnificently terrifying here in a way that one never sees in the 30s; everything good about him papers over the more problematic elements of O'Neill's play, and the inevitable issues of adaptation. Dudley Murphey's barreling direction and the 72-minute runtime ensure the thing moves, at least. But read on:In 1933, [Paul] Robeson headlined his first major project, what would prove to be the most controversial race film of the 30s, coinciding with his ideological awakening and embrace of pan-Africanism and communism. The film, Emperor Jones, was an adaptation of the Eugene O’Neill play of the…
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“Talk polite, white man. I’m boss here.”
A fascinating though imperfect pre-Code film, worth seeing for legendary Paul Robeson.
Highlights:
- The strength and intelligence of the main character, a black man named Brutus Jones. He’s far from virtuous, but rises from a railroad porter to authoritarian by outsmarting and dominating those around him, both white and black, making this a very unique film for the period (and indeed, for decades).- Paul Robeson’s performance, which was Oscar-worthy. He has great screen presence and such power in that voice. To know what he stood for off-the-screen in his activism over his life makes seeing him here special. He also successfully fought the producers against filming in the South, where he…
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This one is a classic with stellar ratings, yet I understood little of it. Like how the main character went from a stone quarry to being washed up on an island in under a minute of screen time. I also missed what landed him in the woods when he had a cushy throne to sit on. Oh well, I guess I just owe this one a rewatch. As is my opinion of it is just that it's a confusing dialogue-driven old flick, and I'm just not a fan. I will say, on the plus side, the actor does a fine job at acting crazy in act three, which probably plays into the high ratings this one has.
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The final fifteen minutes are as thrilling as the first fifteen are interminable. Whenever this is striving towards grandiosity, it is incredible. Sadly, much of it is "Grandpa fell asleep in the corner with TCM on"-core.
I gotta wonder if this directly influenced Delroy Lindo's climatic scenes in Da 5 Bloods.
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Sure, director Dudley Murphy and screenwriter (and, naturally, co-creator of Porgy and Bess) DuBose Heyward's adaptation of the controversial Eugene O'Neill play The Emperor Jones is more historically important than it is necessarily great. And the way the white creatives here appropriate the signifiers of early 20th Century Black culture (and the blase use of the "n-word"), by comparison, makes Quentin Tarantino seem like a saint! Once one scrapes past the grime, there's a rich, provocative, subversive, and prescient movie here, one elevated by the presence of lead actor Paul Robeson, one of the 20th Century's most noteworthy individuals. (Seriously, read up on him if you're not familiar.) The film starts off rather rough, playing in some ways like a…
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While basic and stereotypical, this film is entirely just a showcase for Paul Robeson, giving him plenty of time to show off every talent he's got. And, of course, Robeson is an absolute joy to watch. He's a master of his craft and you really see it. It's a shame the film never meets his level.
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Preposterous and frequently demeaning, but I still enjoyed the hell out of The Emperor Jones.
Based on Eugene O'Neill's play, the subject matter is a bit problematic today. I was pretty surprised to learn that there was a revival in London as late as 2005. The film apparently has an additional 30 minutes of original material to give Brutus Jones more of a backstory. While that does come with some extra racist overtones, it does make his character dynamic. This is an episodic film, and each episode is kind of jaw dropping in how wild and sordid it is.
From the outset, it was cool to see a nearly all black movie in 1933 that didn't star Amos and Andy.…
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This was from the Criterion Collection boxed set of the finest of films starring Paul Robeson, which unfortunately I sold, thinking it was going to be upgraded to blu ray anyways, for money to get my son Julian the things he needed to go back to school. Here, Robeson is an outstanding presence, and it's to his merit as a fine actor, but to his eventual misfortune as an immensely talented human being who at a time of great racial injustice and prejudice just happened to be black, so he had to slum in films, like this one, of primitive quality.