Lying Lips

I thought this was a good film considering the time in which it was shot and the low budget Micheaux had to work with. He was a pioneer for other African American film makers including Spike Lee and Robert Townsend. Though the acting is not superior,this was the best we could get at the time. This was one of the few times that African Americans were able to see others on the screen that actually looked like them, without donning black face. We as modern day viewers can not appreciate how much went into a film; as we are used to films with lighting effects, soundtracks, multi-million dollar budgets, and lucrative distribution deals. Micheaux set the pace early in the film game and many others are following his lead.

Lying Lips (1939)

** (out of 4)

Rather bizarre murder mystery from director Oscar Micheaux who's best remembered for Within Our Gates. An innocent woman (Edna Mae Harris) is sent to prison for murdering her aunt while her best friend and a Detective (Robert Earl Jones) try to find the real killers. This was my third film by the director but the first sound feature. His direction is pretty good throughout but you really have to question his screenplay, which starts off rather silly and just gets stranger from there. The case is eventually cracked when the Detective takes one man to a haunted house so that a ghost will scare the truth out of him. The performances are all pretty bad and yes, that Robert Earl Jones is the father of James Earl Jones.

I think this is a great find! Seeing African Americans in roles like detectives back in 1939 when they couldn't even use the same drinking fountain is awesome! It has some bad acting for sure haha but again..... nice find of a movie.

Words cannot describe how horrendous the acting in this movie was. The methods of actors have, over the years, improved by leaps and bounds. Now I'm not one of those people who can't stand all actors form the first half of the century. Even I know that back in the 1930s and 40s there were people who understood the craft. However, Edna Mae Harris is not one of those people. She gives a performance so atrocious, it baffles me that she ever worked again. Not only her, but every other actor who appears on screen (with the exception of Robert Earl Jones) couldn't act themself out of a paper bag. In addition to the bad acting, the film is also marred by sloppy editing and poor direction. Considering the other cinematic achievements of Oscar Micheaux, one would expect more from him. "Lying Lips" was easily one of the hardest movies I've ever had the misfortune of sitting through.

FINAL VERDICT: 1/10

Night club singer Edna Mae Harris can belt out a tune, but she's a good girl who won't go to parties with the club's customers. When she finds her aunt murdered in bed, there's enough evidence to convict her, but boyfriend Carmen Newsome dedicates his life to finding out who realy killed the lady.

Oscar Micheaux's movie start with Miss Harris singing some excellent standards, like "You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby", but after the halfway mark of this mystery, there's no more singing or dancing. Instead there's Newsome and Robert Earl Williams tracking donw leads in jig time. The camerawork by Lester Lang is pretty good here, but like other Micheaux sound films, the line readings are pretty poor.