Oscar Micheaux: The Great and Only (58 page)

Michaux, William (brother), 7, 16, 18–19

Micheaux, Alice B. Russell (second wife), 222–25, 230, 239, 240, 242–43, 249, 263, 265, 297, 320, 330, 332

after death of OM, 346

death of, 347

jobs of, during making of movies, 304–5

Micheaux, Orlean McCracken (first wife), 61–62, 64, 66–68

death of, 111–12

finding investors for
The Homesteader,
120–24

first article in
Chicago Defender,
68–69

marriage of, 69–71, 73

pregnancy of, 77–79

return to Chicago after miscarriage, 79–82

separation from OM, 86–87

Micheaux, Oscar ambiguities/mysteries of, 1–3, 14

attempt to return to movie making after World War II, 327–31

attempts to get married, 60–61

bankruptcy filing of, 232

beginning of “talkies” and, 227

birth of, 7

censors and, 238

cinematic skills of, 142–43

cities and, 26

closing of Chicago office, 220–21

Communism and, 299–301

consensus about darkness of skin of, 14

on control of pictures, 266–67

criticism of black community and, 12–13

death of, 344–45

dreams/premonitions and, 142

drought of 1911

and, 82–86

early Chicago jobs of, 18–20

education of, 10–11

experiences traveling in South of, 169–70

falling in love with Scottish blonde, 52–55

falling out with Swan Micheaux, 230–32

family history of, 3–9

Fayette Pictures and, 249–50

as filmmaker, 127–28, 163

films of, 2.
See also
specific film final years of, 343–44

finances of, 225–26

fondness for Chicago, 26

ghost films of, 190–91, 262

Harlem Renaissance and, 247–49

headstone for, 348

hitting bottom in 1932, 270–72

as homesteader, 37–42, 45–52

“Jessie” and, 16–17, 34, 35–36, 44, 58–59

Jews and, 100–103, 167–68

job as porter with Pullman

Company, 20–26

Hubert Julian and, 305–9

lawsuit with father-in-law, 95–98

Leo Frank trial and, 100–103

marriage to Alice B. Russell, 222–25

marriage to Orlean McCracken, 69–71

messages in films of, 142

motivations of, as filmmaker, 273

move to Chicago, 15–21

move to New York City, 150–52

as moviegoer, 107–8

musical tastes of, 36

new recognition of, 348–49

novels of.
See
specific novel n-word and, 135

partnership with Brechner and Schiffman, 249–50

politics of, 298–99

profitability of films of, 144–46

purchase of land on Rosebud

Reservation, 27–34

rediscovery of, 346–50

relationship with father-in-law, 74–77

religion and, 8, 134

Alfred Sack and, 286–90

as salesman, 12–13, 131–35, 290–91

separation from Orlean, 86–87

Sioux City, Iowa and, 104–5

as storyteller, 142

talent for casting, 277–79

travel as tonic for, 135–39

Lorenzo Tucker and, 260.
See also

Tucker, Lorenzo views of, on black population, 266

visit to South America by, 34–35

World War II novels of, 322

Micheaux, Swan (brother), 148–49, 152, 169, 174–75, 184, 196–97, 220

falling out with OM, 230–32

final years of, 238

Micheaux Book and Film Company, 121, 131

Midnight Ace, The
(film), 234–35, 237

Miller, Flournoy, 190, 191

Millionaire, The
(film), 226–27, 231

Mills, Florence, 178, 288

Mills, Jerry, 123

Molitor, R. H., 91

Moore, Charles S., 127, 241, 243, 252, 254

Morrell, Stanleigh, 252

Moses, Ethel, 288, 290, 297

Moss, Carlton, 7, 248, 265–67, 315

Muse, Clarence, 302

Musser, Charles, 204

 

National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), 221, 350

Neuforth, Karen P., 5

Newsome, Carman, 291, 297, 301, 304, 308

Newsome, Nora, 252, 259, 278

Noisette, Katherine, 239, 243, 252, 277–78

Norman, Richard E., 159, 178, 183, 228–29, 247, 290

Norman Film Manufacturing

Concern, 159, 178

Notorious Elinor Lee, The
(film), 306–10, 311

n-word, OM and, 135

 

Olcott, Chauncy, 36

Oney, Steve, 101, 281

Oscar Micheaux Award, 349

Ottley, Roi, 319

Ovington, Mary White, 221

 

Page, O. J., 4

Parks, Gordon, 349

Pathé Exchange, 195

Peele, Walley, 198

Pekin Stock Company, 124

Peterson, Bernard L., 190

Peterson, Bernard L., Jr., 226
n

Peyton, Dave, 129

Phagan, Mary, 100–101, 275

Phantom of Kenwood, The
(film), 262, 271

“pink slip” pictures, 133

Poitier, Sidney, 349

Preer, Evelyn, 126, 138
n,
178, 186, 194, 205, 212, 227–28, 229–30, 259, 297

in
Birthright,
198

in
The Brute,
147–48

death of, 277

in
Deceit,
172–73

in
The Gunsaulus Mystery,
167–68

in
Within Our Gates,
141–42

premonitions, Micheaux and, 142

Pullman, George, 21

Pullman Palace Car Company, 20–21

 

race pictures, 113, 120, 218–20

banner year for, 302

costs of doing business for, 183–84

during Depression, 284

World War II and, 328

racial intermarriage, 54

Reagan, Ronald, 349

Regester, Charlene, 206, 348, 349

Reid, Tim, 349

religion, in Micheaux films, 134

relinquishment system, 63–64

Reol Productions, 159, 247

Rhinelander, Leonard K., 206–7, 234

Roanoke, Virginia, 174–76

filming in, 179

OM establishes branch in, 171

Robeson, Paul, 181, 190, 203–4, 205, 206, 222, 347

Robinson, Bill “Bojangles,” 284

Rosebud Reservation, 29–30

Rosenwald, Julius, 101

Royal Gardens Film Company, 159, 247

Russell, Alice B.
See
Micheaux, Alice

B. Russell (second wife)

Russell, Julia Theresa, 205, 222, 223

Russell, Mary Malloy, 223

Russell, Sylvester, 149, 219–20, 235

 

Sack, Alfred N., 285–86, 311

Sack, Lester, 285, 311

Sack Amusement Enterprises, 273, 284, 286–90, 290, 302, 347

Sanborn, Gertrude, 259

Santino, Jack, 22

Savini, R. M., 340

Schiffman, Frank, 219, 249, 257–58, 260, 267, 270

Selig Polyscope studios, 123, 123
n

Sewell, Alma, 180

Sharp, Saundra, 350

Shuffle Along
(musical), 190–91

Sioux City, Iowa, 104–5

Sissle, Noble, 190, 262

Slaughter, E. Bismarck, 127

Slide, Anthony, 109

Smith, Grace, 226, 268

Smith, Inez, 126

Smith, Lillian (Eugenia), 319

Snelson, Floyd G., Jr., 247

Son of Satan, A
(film), 191, 202–3

Spaulding, C. C., 266

Spence, Louise, 138
n,
143–44

Spider's Web, The
(film), 213–15

remake of, 268–69

Spoor, George K., 329

Spoor, Marvin, 329

Stanton, Myra, 330, 334

Stewart, Thomas W., 122

Story of Dorothy Stanfield, The
(Micheaux) (novel), 291, 320–22

Strausbaugh, John, 63

Strenge, Walter, 254

Stribling, T. S., 191–93, 297

Sutton, Susie, 252

Swing!,
292–93, 298

Symbol of the Unconquered, The
(film), 215

censors and, 155–56

discovery of copy of, 348

filming of, 154–55

plot of, 152–54

 

talkies, 227

for black audiences, 229

black-audience theaters and, 246–47

Tatum, E. G., 147, 226

Taylor, Clyde, 247, 284

Temptation
(film), 286–88

Ten Minutes to Live
(film), 263–65, 267, 268

Thirty Years Later
(film), 231, 233–34

Thomas, D. Ireland, 117, 181, 182, 184, 196

Thompson, Edward, 228, 229

Thompson, Sister Francesca, 125
n,
126, 229

Thompson, Walker, 154

Thompson, William H., 109

Thurman, Wallace, 151

Tolliver, C. Tiffany, 174, 199, 212

Townsend, Babe, 262

Tribble, Andrew, 254

Tucker, Lorenzo, 235–37, 239, 240–42, 249, 252, 259, 260–61, 263, 264, 265, 287, 291, 319–20, 328, 343

OM and, 260

Tutt, J. Homer, 198, 234, 252, 297

Tyler, George, 255

 

Ulrich, Lenore, 228

Underworld
(film), 288–90

Universal Negro Improvement

Association, 158

 

Van Engle, Dorothy, 263, 278, 279

VanEpps-Taylor, Beti Carol, 12, 15, 96–97, 167

Vann, Robert L., 117, 145

Veiled Aristocrats
(film), 260–62, 268

Veiled Aristocrats
(Sanborn) (novel), 259

Verwayen, Percy, 212

Virgin of Seminole, The
(film), 178, 182–83

 

Wade, John, 158

Wages of Sin, The
(film), 237–38, 264

Walton, Lester A., 149

Washington, Booker T., 7–8, 66, 99, 298

Waters, Ethel, 226

Webb, Frank J., 111

Webster, Freddie, 291

West, Cornel, 349

West Coast Lafayette Players, 228, 229

Wexler, Haskell, 308

When Men Betray
(film), 239, 264

Whipper, Leigh, 154, 229

White, Dana F., 100, 158

White, James W., 96

White, Walter, 344

Whitney, Salem Tutt, 194, 198, 234, 245, 252, 297

“Wilderness Trail, The.”
See Symbol of the Unconquered, The
(film) Wilkes, Mattie, 154

Wilkes, Mattie V., 213

Williams, Clarence, 279

Williams, Ethel, 262

Williams, Frances, 303, 304

Williams, Gladys, 308, 332

Williams, Spencer, 284–85

Wilson, Frank, 262

Wind from Nowhere, The
(Micheaux) (novel), 313–15, 319

Wister, Owen, 25

Within Our Gates
(film), 137–39, 141–44, 156

censors and, 140–41

discovery of copy of, 347

filming of, 139–40

overview of, 141–44

Wright, Richard, 248, 299, 321

Wyeth, Sidney (alter ego of OM), 8, 99, 103, 150, 167, 190, 280, 308, 316, 321