Hammer's third film, it is the earliest to exist in its entirety as "The Public Life of Henry the Ninth" is lost and, much like the Nixon tapes, 18 minutes of "The Mystery of the Marie Celeste" are missing. The film stars the legendary singer and actor Paul Robeson, an early champion of civil rights whose very left-wing views were a major source of controversy, as a London dockworker Johnny Zinga, a black Briton (with an American accent!) who seeks to reconnect with his ancestral roots in Africa. He has a beautiful singing voice, which eventually leads to him being hired by the opera composer Gabriel Danizetti. In the process, he discovers that he is descended from the ancient kings of the African island of Casanga, which has been ruled by witch doctors since his ancestor disappeared in 1700.
While the plot is certainly far-fetched, it is an interesting and important, if obscure, film when it comes to the development of the depiction of black people on screen. Robeson, who may have been the first actor to be given final approval of the editing of a film which he didn't direct himself, sought to "give a true picture of many aspects of the life of the coloured man in the West. Hitherto on the screen, he has been characterised or presented only as a comedy character. This film shows him as a real man." When it comes to the character of Johnny Zinga, I think that Robeson was largely successful as he does indeed across as a real person in spite of the storyline's unlikely developments. He was not only a wonderful singer but a very good actor too with a speaking voice almost as good as his singing voice.
Elizabeth Welch is good as his wife Ruth who, unlike most black women in 1930s and later films, is likewise treated like a real person rather than a Mammy figure. Other than Robeson, the best actor in the film is Ecco Homo Toto in his first of sadly only two film appearances as the wise Casangan Mandingo. When it comes to the supporting characters, however, most of them - both black and white - are unfortunately stereotypes with Johnny's friend and later servant Monty being the worst example of that. The scenes in Africa are rather cringeworthy by modern standards but the film's heart was in the right place and they were still far better than depictions of Africa in most other films and film serials of the era. In spite of the fact that the witch doctors in control of Casanga have deliberately cut the island off from European influence, both Mandingo and Endomo, the current witch doctor, speak fluent English. Endomo is quite fond of using the word "palaver," which is of Portuguese origin.
Overall, this is not exactly "Roots" but it was hugely progressive for its time in its depiction of Johnny and Ruth as people who happened to be black rather than as insulting or at least embarrassing caricatures of black people. It is also notable as one of the few films then or now to explore or even depict the black British population of the 1930s. The film is perhaps a little too idealistic for its own good but it still makes for a very entertaining watch.
While the plot is certainly far-fetched, it is an interesting and important, if obscure, film when it comes to the development of the depiction of black people on screen. Robeson, who may have been the first actor to be given final approval of the editing of a film which he didn't direct himself, sought to "give a true picture of many aspects of the life of the coloured man in the West. Hitherto on the screen, he has been characterised or presented only as a comedy character. This film shows him as a real man." When it comes to the character of Johnny Zinga, I think that Robeson was largely successful as he does indeed across as a real person in spite of the storyline's unlikely developments. He was not only a wonderful singer but a very good actor too with a speaking voice almost as good as his singing voice.
Elizabeth Welch is good as his wife Ruth who, unlike most black women in 1930s and later films, is likewise treated like a real person rather than a Mammy figure. Other than Robeson, the best actor in the film is Ecco Homo Toto in his first of sadly only two film appearances as the wise Casangan Mandingo. When it comes to the supporting characters, however, most of them - both black and white - are unfortunately stereotypes with Johnny's friend and later servant Monty being the worst example of that. The scenes in Africa are rather cringeworthy by modern standards but the film's heart was in the right place and they were still far better than depictions of Africa in most other films and film serials of the era. In spite of the fact that the witch doctors in control of Casanga have deliberately cut the island off from European influence, both Mandingo and Endomo, the current witch doctor, speak fluent English. Endomo is quite fond of using the word "palaver," which is of Portuguese origin.
Overall, this is not exactly "Roots" but it was hugely progressive for its time in its depiction of Johnny and Ruth as people who happened to be black rather than as insulting or at least embarrassing caricatures of black people. It is also notable as one of the few films then or now to explore or even depict the black British population of the 1930s. The film is perhaps a little too idealistic for its own good but it still makes for a very entertaining watch.