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| name = Murder in Harlem
| name = Murder in Harlem
| image = Murder in Harlem (1935 film).jpg
| image = Murder in Harlem (1935 film).jpg

| image_size =
| caption =
| caption =
| director = [[Oscar Micheaux]]<br>[[Clarence Williams (musician)|Clarence Williams]] (cabaret sequence){{Citation needed|date=May 2011}} (uncredited)
| director = [[Oscar Micheaux]]<br>[[Clarence Williams (musician)|Clarence Williams]] (cabaret sequence){{Citation needed|date=May 2011}} (uncredited)
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| music =
| music =
| distributor =
| distributor =
| released = 1935
| released = {{Film date|1935}}
| runtime = 102 minutes
| runtime = 102 minutes
| country = United States
| country = United States
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'''''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''''' (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. It is a remake of his 1921 [[silent film]] ''[[The Gunsaulus Mystery]]''.


Basing the works on the 1913 trial of [[Leo Frank]] for the murder of Mary Phagan,<ref>[http://www.filmquarterly.org/issue_5704_right.html "Oscar Micheaux and Leo Frank: Cinematic Justice Across the Color Line"], ''Film Quarterly'', Summer 2004. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100413193019/http://www.filmquarterly.org/issue_5704_right.html |date=April 13, 2010 }}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thefilmstage.com/2021-cannes-classic-lineup-includes-orson-welles-powell-and-pressburger-tilda-swinton-more/ |title=2021 Cannes Classics Lineup Includes Orson Welles, Powell and Pressburger, Tilda Swinton & More |work=The Film Stage |access-date=25 June 2021}}</ref>
Basing the works on the 1913 trial of [[Leo Frank]] for the murder of Mary Phagan,<ref>[http://www.filmquarterly.org/issue_5704_right.html "Oscar Micheaux and Leo Frank: Cinematic Justice Across the Color Line"], ''Film Quarterly'', Summer 2004. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100413193019/http://www.filmquarterly.org/issue_5704_right.html |date=April 13, 2010 }}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thefilmstage.com/2021-cannes-classic-lineup-includes-orson-welles-powell-and-pressburger-tilda-swinton-more/ |title=2021 Cannes Classics Lineup Includes Orson Welles, Powell and Pressburger, Tilda Swinton & More |work=The Film Stage |date=23 June 2021 |access-date=25 June 2021}}</ref>


== Plot ==
== 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.<ref>[http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=5819 "Overview: Lem Hawkins’ Confession"], Turner Classic Movies.</ref><ref>J. Ronald Green, [https://books.google.com/books?id=w1zFLK2geOAC&pg=PA165&lpg=PA165&dq=%22Murder+in+Harlem%22+micheaux&source=web&ots=54mofVOCQB&sig=eOu_fv7NSun2E64HQ9SPbABkdsg&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result ''Straight Lick: The Cinema of Oscar Micheaux''], Indiana University Press, 2000, p. 174.</ref>
An African-American man is framed for the murder of a white woman, but a white man is 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 details of the real case, which was highly prejudicial against Frank due to his being a Jewish man in Georgia. Unlike in the film, Frank's guilt is often viewed with great skepticism due to his never receiving a fair trial.<ref>[http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=5819 "Overview: Lem Hawkins’ Confession"], Turner Classic Movies.</ref><ref>J. Ronald Green, [https://books.google.com/books?id=w1zFLK2geOAC&dq=%22Murder+in+Harlem%22+micheaux&pg=PA165 ''Straight Lick: The Cinema of Oscar Micheaux''], Indiana University Press, 2000, p. 174.</ref>


== Cast ==
== Cast ==
*[[Clarence Brooks (actor)|Clarence Brooks]] as Henry Glory
*[[Clarence Brooks (actor)|Clarence Brooks]] as Henry Glory
*Dorothy Van Engle as Claudia Vance
*[[Dorothy Van Engle]] as Claudia Vance
* [[Andrew S. Bishop]] as Anthony Brisbane
* [[Andrew S. Bishop]] as Anthony Brisbane
*Alec Lovejoy as Lem Hawkins
*Alec Lovejoy as Lem Hawkins
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== Soundtrack ==
== Soundtrack ==
*"Harlem Rhythm Dance" (Music and lyrics by Clarence Williams)
*"Harlem Rhythm Dance" (Music and lyrics by [[Clarence Williams (musician)|Clarence Williams]])
*"Ants in My Pants" (Music and lyrics by Clarence Williams)
*"Ants in My Pants" (Music and lyrics by Clarence Williams)


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{{DEFAULTSORT:Murder in Harlem}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murder in Harlem}}
[[Category:1930s films]]
[[Category:1935 films]]
[[Category:1935 films]]
[[Category:1935 drama films]]
[[Category:1935 drama films]]
[[Category:1930s mystery drama films]]
[[Category:1930s mystery drama films]]
[[Category:English-language films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Films based on American novels]]
[[Category:Films based on American novels]]
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[[Category:Remakes of American films]]
[[Category:Remakes of American films]]
[[Category:American mystery drama films]]
[[Category:American mystery drama films]]
[[Category:American mystery films]]
[[Category:1930s English-language films]]
[[Category:American films]]
[[Category:1930s American films]]
[[Category:Mystery films]]
[[Category:English-language mystery drama films]]




Latest revision as of 23:03, 4 November 2024

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

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. It is a remake of his 1921 silent film The Gunsaulus Mystery.

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

[edit]

An African-American man is framed for the murder of a white woman, but a white man is 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 details of the real case, which was highly prejudicial against Frank due to his being a Jewish man in Georgia. Unlike in the film, Frank's guilt is often viewed with great skepticism due to his never receiving a fair trial.[3][4]

Cast

[edit]

Soundtrack

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

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  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.
[edit]


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