- Directed by
- Murphy, Dudley, American, 1897 - 1968
- Subject of
- Robeson, Paul, American, 1898 - 1976
- Written by
- O'Neill, Eugene, American, 1888 - 1953
- Subject of
- Digges, Dudley, Irish, 1879 - 1947
- Wilson, Frank Henry, American, 1886 - 1956
- Washington, Fredi, American, 1903 - 1994
- Elzy, Ruby, American, 1908 - 1943
- Owned by
- D.C. Public Library, American, founded 1896
- Date
- 1933
- Medium
- acetate film
- Dimensions
- Duration (Reel 1): 26 Minutes
- Length (Film): 950 Feet
- Duration (Reel 2):
- Length (Film):
- Caption
- The Emperor Jones tells the story of Brutus Jones and his rise to prominence as a Pullman Porter, and later a self-proclaimed Emperor. Unfortunately due to his own greed and carelessness, Jones is later forced to escape the village he once ruled out of fear for his life. By the film’s end, Jones is so haunted by his past that he becomes manic and is subsequently killed by his former guards. Directed by Dudley Murphy in 1933, The Emperor Jones was originally written as a play by Eugene O’Neill and marks the motion picture debut of Paul Robeson.
- This film was a part of the Washington D.C. Public Library's circulating 16mm film collection housed at the Martin Luther King Jr. Central Library. The collection is particularly noted for the wide variety of African American and African diaspora content.
- Description
- A feature film with the title The Emperor Jones. It consists of two (2) reels of black-and-white 16mm acetate film with optical sound.
- The film follows Brutus Jones (Paul Robeson) who was recently hired as a Pullman porter. After inadvertently killing another man, Jones is imprisoned where he kills a guard for attacking another inmate. Brutus then flees to the Caribbean on a steam ship and settles on one of the islands where he befriends a local merchant, Smithers (Dudley Diggers).
- Place used
- Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
- Place filmed
- Astoria, Queens, New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
- Place depicted
- Surrey, Jamaica, Caribbean, North and Central America
- Collection title
- DC Public Library Film Collection
- Classification
- Time-based Media - Moving Images
- Movement
- Harlem Renaissance (New Negro Movement)
- Topic
- Actors
- Film
- Pullman Porters
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Object number
- 2017.55.74.1ab
- Restrictions & Rights
- Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.




