A nightclub singer is wrongfully convicted of murder. A detective with romantic motivation, sets out to prove her innocence.
Description
2015.167.13.1ab: 16mm black and white films.
2015.167.13.1cd: Original metal, 16mm film reels.
2015.167.13.1e: 35mm Film Canister.
Nightclub singer, Elsie Bellwood, refuses to go out with two Italian customers who want to sponsor a party with some of the showgirls, despite the urgings of her white boss, Farina. Farina decides to call on her black manager, Benjamin Hadnott, to try to convince her, but Ben refuses and quits his job. That evening, Elsie has dinner with Ben, who tells her that he has been studying to become a detective. Believing he is trying to conceal his unemployment, Elsie decides to take care of Ben until he gets a new job. One evening, Elsie is summoned to her Aunt Josie's, only to find that Josie has been killed. When the police arrive, the white police lieutenant decides to arrest Elsie, even though black detective Wanzer believes she is innocent. Desperate, Elsie gives Ben's address to Wanzer, and he and Ben agree to do what they can to help her. Elizabeth Green, Elsie's cousin, suggests a possible motive for the murder when she tells the police that Elsie had taken out a large insurance policy on her aunt. Meanwhile, Elsie's cousins, "John" and "Clyde," who have been hired by Farina to replace Ben, claim they saw Elsie leave the club for a half hour around the time of the murder. Although she denies their statement, Elsie is convicted of the murder. When Ben and Wanzer learn that "Ned" Green, Elizabeth's husband, was in love with Josie, they question Reverend Bryson, a longtime friend of the family, who tells them the story of Ned: Elizabeth forced Ned to marry her by tricking him into believing that she was pregnant. When Ned found out that she had lied, he left her without waiting for an annulment. Elizabeth and her unscrupulous brothers then followed Ned to the north, where he went to be near his true love, Josie. John and Clyde eventually found Ned and forced him to return to Elizabeth. Now, years later, Ned has disappeared again, and to help find him, Ben suggests that he and Wanzer abduct John and tell him they are taking him for a ride to haunted Tolston Manor. When they accuse John of killing Josie, he admits that he lied to shift the blame to Elsie. Ned, it is learned, decided he would kill Josie if she did not run away with him. When the police realize that the frame-up was planned in order to get the insurance money from Elsie, Elsie is released from prison. Once reunited with Ben, Elsie gives him the money, which he puts into a trust fund for their 'children'.
Source: AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Accessed August 11, 2016 (http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=2284)
"Spirit of You" is a dramatic film based on the life of American heavyweight boxer Joe Louis. The lead character, Joe Thomas, is played by Joe Louis himself.
Description
2015.167.19.1ab: 16mm black and white films.
Jefferson Thomas, a black foundry worker, is seriously injured when a heavy castor falls on his legs. No longer able to support his family, Jefferson's young son, Joe, decides to leave school and take a job. Many years later, Joe, now grown, gives his family all his savings and leaves Birmingham to make something of himself. Joe hitchhikes to Detroit, where he gets a job as a dishwasher and meets Creighton "Crickie" Fitzgibbons. When Crickie and Joe lose their jobs, they find work at a storage and shipping company, but are soon fired from the job when a foreman hits Crickie and Joe knocks him out with one punch. Impressed with his fighting abilities, Crickie encourages Joe to enter the Golden Gloves boxing tournament, and he is soon billed in the newspapers as the 'Dark Destroyer'. After winning the finals, manager Frankie Walburn offers to handle him as a professional. Joe accepts after consulting with his mother Nora, who now lives in the city, and who tells him to be honest and fair. As Joe wins bouts, Flora Bailey, a nightclub singer at the Bluebird Cafe´, who is in cahoots with gambler Duke Emblin, takes an interest in him. Their involvement worries Frankie, whose concern that he is ignoring his training antagonizes Joe. When Mary and Joe's sister Eleanor, visit Flora, they implore her to help get Joe back on track, but because Duke is now betting against Joe, Flora encourages his nightlife and drinking. Joe is knocked out in a match, and as he prepares for the heavyweight championship bout against Jack Stanley, he confesses to Flora that he loves Mary. When Flora sees that he does not have his heart in the fight, she brings Mary, now a schoolteacher, to the ring, and her presence spurs Joe to defeat Stanley in a knockout. Afterwards, he and Mary are guests of honor at a banquet at which Flora sings"
Source: AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Accessed on August 12, 2016 (http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=2226)
A lobby card for the movie "Lying Lips". The card is comprised of an image of a woman (Edna Mae Harris) wearing a red hat, red and white checkered jacket, and green top and standing in front of a high desk or bench presumably at a courthouse or police station. Behind her is a man (Robert Earl Jones) in a brown suit with a red tie and a hat. Next to them is a man dressed as a police officer and sitting on the other side of the desk is a man in a blue uniform. The man sitting behind the desk is writing in a book. In the background a door is visible. In the upper proper right corner is text that reads [OSCAR MICHEAUX/ presents/ LYING LIPS]. In the lower proper left corner there is a box with text that reads [EDNA MAE HARRIS/ The Personality Girl/ And an All Star/ COLORED CAST].
A lobby card for the movie "Lying Lips". The card is comprised of an image of women standing in two lines to form a v-shape and wearing different colored bikinis. They are standing in front of a stage where a band is playing. The women have one arm raised and another arm out by their sides in a diagonal formation. The men in the band are all wearing tuxes. There are red curtains visible in front of the stage and green plants at the side. In front of the women there are people sitting at tables. In the upper proper right corner is text that reads [OSCAR MICHEAUX/ presents/ LYING LIPS]. In the lower proper left corner there is a box with text that reads [EDNA MAE HARRIS/ The Personality Girl/ And an All Star/ COLORED CAST].
A lobby card for the movie "Lying Lips". The card is comprised of an image of a woman (Edna Mae Harris) dancing with her right arm raised toward her head. She is wearing a dark red dress with a sheer black overlay that ties at a small bow at her neck. There are yellow embroidered flowers on the overlay. There are men and women smiling and dancing behind her. A woman in a bright yellow dress is dancing with a man in a tux in the background. In the upper proper right corner is text that reads [OSCAR MICHEAUX/ presents/ LYING LIPS]. In the lower proper left corner there is a box with text that reads [EDNA MAE HARRIS/ The Personality Girl/ And an All Star/ COLORED CAST].
This lobby card for Lying Lips depicts four people, three men and one woman. Starting at the right of the card is a man sitting at a tall desk looking at the other three people. He is wearing a dark blue long sleeve shirt. The second man is wearing a police officer's uniform and is standing to the right of the woman depicted. The third man is standing behind the woman and is wearing a dark suit, red tie, and dark hat. The woman is wearing a plaid coat over a green shirt and a red hat. In the bottom right hand corner, the lobby card has text in blue and green that reads "With/ Edna Mae Harris/ The personality girl/ and an all-star/ colored cast."