Assassinato no Harlem

"I'm all by myself, free, sugar-cured, and single." "Hot diggity dog, right down my alley."

Oscar Micheaux's take on a real-life murder case from 1913, in which Leo Frank, a factory manager in Georgia, was convicted of the murder of a recently laid-off machine operator, Mary Phagan, who was just 13 years old (and had been working since age 10). The case was notorious in its era, especially when a mob of some of Georgia's prominent citizens kidnapped Frank from prison and lynched him, outraged over his death sentence having been commuted. He was Jewish, you see, and antisemitic sentiment ran high. Adding to the ugly event, the murderers and those around them brazenly sold postcards and souvenirs from the lynching afterwards, which apparently sold like hotcakes. Woven into the case were a couple of African American men, Newt Lee (the night watchman who discovered the body), and Jim Conley (the janitor who was convicted of being an accomplice after the fact, but who many modern day historians believe may have committed the crime).

It's certainly a fascinating case on which to base a film, and Micheaux had done so previously in his lost silent version, The Gunsaulus Mystery (1921). As disentangling the conflicting accounts of what had happened from the principals was complicated in real-life, Micheaux shows us multiple versions of the events ala Kurosawa's Rashomon. While the recounting of the murder in flashback was tediously drawn out in places, overall the storytelling was reasonably good, and helped considerably by the acting and costuming were a step above some of Micheaux's lower-budget efforts in the sound era. The women in particular were strong, starting with the sister of the night watchman (Dorothy Van Engle), who showed great range in a role that was intelligent, empowered, and sweetly seductive. Also wonderful in smaller parts were the sassy prostitute who lived next door (Bee Freeman), the wise maid (unknown, argh), and the murder victim herself (sadly also unknown).

As with many of Micheaux's other efforts, there are breaks with little musical interludes to liven things up, something I love about his films. Here, look for the tap dancer whose shiny satin outfit is set off by the dark background at 46:14, and Eunice Wilson performing "Harlem Rhythm Dance" at 53:36.

One of the things the films captures is just how much danger black people faced at the hint of being involved in violence against whites. The night watchman (Lorenzo McClane) is immediately suspected and understands the grave potential consequences early on. Later, the janitor (Alec Lovejoy) is shown to be coerced into helping cover up the crime for the factory manager (Andrew S. Bishop). While his character snivels annoyingly and even does a little jig when tossed a quarter, we feel how powerless he is, and how Micheaux sympathized with him. As part of his extended flashback while on the witness stand, he's in his boss's office with him for literally 13 minutes, which was far too long, though I did smile when he broke the fourth wall to tell the viewer "That white man's got something up his sleeve." That also mirrored the night watchman breaking the fourth wall to stare at the viewer when he finds the body early on, conveying a knowing sense of dread over the trouble he could be in as a black man standing over a dead white woman.

The fictional framing device of the author turned detective (Clarence Brooks) and his encounter with night watchman's sister in the first half hour felt weirdly glued on to this story, and was probably unnecessary. More unfortunate was making Phagan older, and inventing a vindictive, jealous boyfriend, one who says "D*** b****, you" upon finding her, and then strangles her unconscious body. It was ludicrous and muddled the story, even if I liked the little Leopold and Loeb reference slipped in by the boy who initially informed the detective about him.

The biggest sin, however, was in making Leo Frank white instead of Jewish, and by making him ultimately not guilty of anything beyond covering up the crime, finding a way of leaving out the horrific real-life lynching. Just imagine if Micheaux had confronted the antisemitism as bravely as had confronted the racism against black people, and had told the story in a simpler way, true to the facts (and accepting his view that the night watchman and janitor were both innocent). This could have been a masterpiece. Maybe he had conflicted feelings about Frank's conviction, and that's why he invented the character of the boyfriend. Regardless, I think he missed the most compelling part of the story, the lynching, sacrificing it for lesser things.

I believe that Oscar Micheaux is one of the most prolific and uncredited Director of our time. Today, many do not know about this African American Director who became the First Independent African American Movie Director. Oscar Micheaux had his own marketing machine when it came to production of his movies. Beginning in the 1920s, Oscar Micheaux began to create a new market, the African American movie goer.

Not only did he make "Murder in Harlem" on a shoestring budget, he also made movies that dealt with the era. Oscar Micheaux singlehandedly got African-American movie goers into the movie houses. Oscar Micheaux taught the new cinema goer what they should expect from a movie. Micheaux addressed African American life in his movies and gave the viewer something to be proud of. Yes, in some of his movies we saw characters such as Lincoln Perry (the lazy servant character), but we also saw strong professional characters such as: Robert Earl Jones (Father of Actor James Earl Jones),William Graves (The Attorney Actor), Lorenzo Tucker (Movie Heartthrob) and Francine Everett(Our African American Beauty).

Too some viewers, "Murder in Harlem" isn't one of Micheaux' best efforts, however, to me, Micheaux played to the themes of life in Harlem. Affluence and Poverty, Professional Life and the Underworld. Good vs. Evil. See this movie when you get a chance!!!

The script is not tight, as there are unnecessary long parts and it is sometimes confusing. However, the general crime story is amusing and quite important, as it addresses serious issues together the parallel (and underdevelopped) love story: structural racism that make the black and the poor as being seen as suspucious and not owners of civil rights. Oscar Micheaux was a black pioneer in cinema in the United States, and his cinegraphy does matter. I may add that this particular film by him is much more interesting than most of the early mainstream white-made flicks produced in Hollywood under authoritarian Hays Code then and through subsequent years. The casting (mostly but not entirely black, what was interesting and unusual those years) has an acceptable, but not very skilled, performance. Sometimes, they seemed artificial and mechanic while saying their lines, and that includes the actors and actress in the leading roles: Clarence Brooks, Dorothy Van Engle and Andrew Bishop. There is, however, a great exception: Alec Lovejoy did a great job, with a very expressive and convincing performance, mostly as a comic relief but als with drama moments.

Just watched this Oscar Micheaux-directed movie on YouTube. Based on the Mary Phagan murder case of which a Leo Frank was the accused one, a black night watchman sees a dead white woman on his rounds, and first tries to call his boss. Somehow the police find out and this particular watchman gets arrested even though he says he didn't do it. I'll stop there and just say the story goes back to before the beginning quite a few times which may get you confused as the narrative goes on if you're not paying enough attention. Some of the performances seem stiff but Alec Lovejoy, playing Lem Hawkins, seems somewhat of a comic relief when he does some of his kowtowing to his white boss or does a good acting turn expressing concern about what his possible fate might be if he doesn't follow orders. There's also some good musical numbers whenever there's a restaurant scene. The print I saw on YouTube skipped some frames but for the most part, I understood what was going on. In summary, Murder in Harlem was an okay murder mystery drama.

This film was the inspiration for Micheaux to write 'The Story of Dorothy Stanfield' eleven years later. The story is actually about her husband, Nathan Stanfield, who is living in hard times as a black medical doctor. It touches some very sensitive issues.