Lawrence Chenault

The role of African Americans in the recovery years of the Great Depression is the subject of this informational short, which offers an idealized depiction of life in a segregated society. The highlight, by far, is rare footage of Orson Welles’s “Voodoo Macbeth,” produced in 1935 for the New York Negro Unit of the WPA’s Federal Theatre Project.

Gangsters in Harlem make plans to commit a kidnapping.

A movie producer offers a nightclub singer a role in his latest film, but all he really wants to do is bed her. She knows, but accepts anyway. Meanwhile, a patron at the club gets a note saying that she'll soon get another note, and that she will be killed ten minutes after that.

A young woman plans to marry, but her mother and brother--a lawyer--don't like her prospective husband and scheme to prevent the marriage.

An educated, upscale young black musician marries a woman from a lower socioeconomic class to get her out of the clutches of her stepfather.

Rena is a young woman of mixed race. Although she is romantically pursued by an upwardly mobile African American named Frank, Rena does not decide in his favor. Her appearance allows her to pass for white, as she is of majority European ancestry, although she has grown up in the black community. She meets and falls in love with George Tryon, a young white aristocrat. But as their relationship deepens, Rena believes she has to acknowledge her African ancestry. Considered a lost film.

A man pursues the vice lord who killed his daughter, but his journey leads to self-discovery and the desire for a better life.

Screenplay adapted from Charles Chestnutt's novel.

A minister is malevolent and sinister behind his righteous facade. He consorts with, and later extorts from, the owner of a gambling house, and betrays an honest girl, eventually driving them both to ruin.

Aileen Kennibrew, a charming and beautiful girl calls on one Richard Ellis, a motion picture producer, who is impressed by her modesty, refined personality and striking carriage and is persuaded to "try" her out in the movies. She makes good, and altho' elevated after a few pictures to stardom, becomes obsessed with an overwhelming desire to go on the stage. Finally securing a part with a dramatic stock company, she fall in love with a character man, who, unknown to her, is of degenerate character. Giving him all her love, however, she sets out to reform him with the usual result—but that's the story!