Ebony Film Corporation was a film company established in Chicago in 1915 as Historical Feature Film Company.[1] Its films were distributed "exclusively" by General Film Company. The company's films and its depictions of African Americans caused outrage and opposition from African Americans.[1] The company used a logo of a monkey in blackface.[2] The business folded in 1919.[3]
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The company produced two-reel Westerns, newsreels, and documentaries[4] as well as several short comedy films with African American casts depicting degrading racial stereotypes. A Reckless Rover is a 1918 slapstick comedy film that survives in the Library of Congress' collection. The film credits C. N. David as its director and features a man who does not want to get out of bed pursued by bumbling Keystone Cops style antics. He is put to work in a Chinese laundry and various antics ensue.[5] Sam Robinson starred in several of Ebony's slapstick comedy films. Luther J. Pollard was credited as a producer.[6][7]
One of the company's advertisements listed its film offerings and teased the coming of a film adaptation of Eldred Kurtz Means' story "Good Luck in Old Clothes" s from the Tickfall Tales series.[8] The film was produced.[9]
Filmography
edit- The Shooting Star (1915)
- Two Knights of Vaudeville (1915),[10] extant
- Spying the Spy (1915), an extant detective comedy that parodies The Birth of a Nation[3]
- Shine Johnson and the Rabbit's Foot (1917)
- Wrong All Around (1917)
- Dat Blackhand Waitah Man (1917)
- A Reckless Rover (1918), extant
- Mercy, the Mummy Mumbled (1918), extant
- The Bully (1918)
- A Black Sherlock Holmes (1918)
- Black and Tan Mix Up (1918)
- Some Baby (1918)
- A Busted Romance (1918)
- Firing the Fakir (1918)
- When You Hit, Hit Hard (1918)
- Are Working Girls Safe? (1918)
- The Porters
- The Janitor
- A Milk Fed Hero (1918)
- Busted Romance (1918)[11]
- Good Luck in Old Clothes (1918)[12] an adaptation of the E. K. Means atory that appeared in the 'mAll Story Weekly
- Spooks (1917)
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Hemann, Mitch (17 January 2017). "The Rise and Fall of Ebony Films". Norman Studios. Retrieved 2021-07-30.
- ^ Waterman, Richard W. (9 October 2019). "The dark side of the farce: racism in early cinema, 1894–1915". Politics, Groups, and Identities. 9 (4). Informa UK Limited: 784–806. doi:10.1080/21565503.2019.1674670. ISSN 2156-5503. S2CID 214140441.
- ^ a b "Ask Geoffrey: What's the Story with Ebony Films in Logan Square?". WTTW News.
- ^ Trenholm, Richard. "How Oscar Micheaux defied Hollywood to make the first all-black feature film". CNET.
- ^ "A Reckless Rover". The Criterion Channel.
- ^ "Luther J. Pollard". The New York Times. 13 October 1977.
- ^ Luther J. Pollard: Ebony Film Corp by Kevin Scott Collier (2017)
- ^ "Good Luck in Old Clothes (1918)". IMDb. 30 July 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021. Film Card, Ebony Film Corporation (1918)
- ^ Good Luck in Old Clothes at IMDb.
- ^ Hoberman, J. (August 10, 2016). "'Pioneers of African-American Cinema': Black Filmmaking Aborning (Published 2016)". The New York Times.
- ^ "Chicago Film Office — Movies Filmed in Chicago".
- ^ Massa, Steve. "Slapstick Divas: The Women of Silent Comedy".
External links
edit- Ebony Film Company films on IMDb
- Ebony Film Corporation at daaracarchive