The Emperor Jones

Based On the book by Eugene O'Neill

The Emperor Jones is a 1933 American pre-Code film adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's 1920 play of the same title, directed by iconoclast Dudley Murphy, written for the screen by playwright DuBose Heyward and starring Paul Robeson in the title role (a role he played onstage, both in the US and UK), and co-starring Dudley Digges, Frank H. Wilson, Fredi Washington and Ruby Elzy. The film was made outside of the Hollywood studio system, financed with private money from neophyte wealthy producers in Gifford A. Cochran and John Krimsky, who were best known for bringing the 1932 German film Mädchen in Uniform to American audiences. It was the only film produced by the two (Cochran stopped as a producer after a failed American rendition of The Threepenny Opera that same year). It was filmed at the Paramount studios in Astoria, Queens with the beach scene shot at Jones Beach Long Beach, New York.

Summary: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Release date:

1933

Director:

Dudley Murphy

Cast:

Paul Robeson, Brandon Evans, Billie Holiday, Rex Ingram, Fritz Pollard

Genre:

Drama

Country:

United States

Language:

English

Year page:

1933 in adaptations