A con man poses as a preacher in this fascinating rarity from 1925. From the studio of pioneering Black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, this crime-ridden critique of religion was a scandal to the censors, and it received both praise and condemnation upon its release.
Oscar Micheaux had an unusual start in the film industry. He began his career as a homesteader, writing a novel about his experiences, The Conquest: The Story of a Negro Pioneer. In order to maintain artistic control over the work, he decided to form his own studio, the Micheaux Film and Book Company, to produce The Homesteader, an adaptation of his novel. Other films followed, frequently dealing with mob violence, lynching, and other injustices faced by the Black community of the 1920s.
Like The Homesteader, Body and Soul was based on a novel by Micheaux that he adapted for the screen. For the role of the alleged preacher (also playing a dual role as his own twin), Micheaux secured Paul Robeson, a concert singer who would make his screen debut here. Widely regarded for his deep and distinctive baritone voice, he seemed (and seems) a surprising choice for a silent film. But in Body and Soul, we have a rare chance to see his acting talents front and center.
The film’s depictions of race, and Micheaux’s artistic decisions as a Black filmmaker, were widely discussed in the Black press of the day. The Baltimore Afro-American lauded Micheaux’s combination of “brains and art,” while other papers decried Micheaux’s reliance on dangerous stereotypes. For reasons unknown, Paul Robeson himself never discussed his role in this film–the first and only time he worked with a Black director.
The legacy of Oscar Micheaux is often overlooked in the history of silent cinema. Micheaux’s films were the first by a Black filmmaker to be screened for white audiences, introducing many to authentic Black artistry for the first time. Today, the majority of his films are lost, but with the help of Turner Classic Movies and other organizations, his legacy is beginning to revive. In recent years, Body and Soul has been screened on television and at festivals, and was included in the Pioneers of African-American Cinema collection from Kino Lorber, along with other extant films of Micheaux.
November is silent film month. Don’t miss your chance to see Body and Soul, one of the few surviving artifacts from a groundbreaking Black filmmaker, living and working in the era of Jim Crow.
Movies at Mechanics' has welcomed film enthusiasts for classic cinema screenings and salons on Friday evenings for over 20 years. Join us for fresh popcorn, lively discourse, and your favorite films the first three Fridays of the month. Hosted by Lara Gabrielle, film writer and author of Captain of Her Soul: The Life of Marion Davies.
